You’d think that the perils of responding to public opinion polls in North Korea would be obvious enough already.
Open News is reporting that discontent with the “feudal” succession of Kim Jong-Eun is so great that people are even expressing their dissent publicly, with the presumed exceptions of the anjeonbu and bowibu. These agencies are now so concerned about the spread of dissent that they’re adopting an unusual method to reveal the heretics:
“After the meeting of party representatives, public sentiment of North Korean citizens is low. The National Security Agency and party institutions have even ordered companies, village offices and the People’s Committee to hold public-opinion polls in order to capture impure elements and to find out citizens’ tendencies towards the succession,” delivered the source from Jagang-do frontier, North Korea, on October 4th. [Open News]
Yes, I know, we can’t verify any of this, but we’ve seen plenty of other reports of similar substance now.
Joshua, I don’t know whether you’ve seen this, and it is a blurb unrelated to Kim Jong-Eun… but, a recent English Chosun Ilbo piece stated that Robert Park gave an interview to KBS (has it been his first interview to either US or ROK media?).
He stated he will never be able to have a relationship or marriage as a result of the sexual torture he underwent in the DPRK.
In an unrelated story, Christian activist Robert Park breaks his silence and confirms my analysis:
He also confirmed that he had been tortured and that the DPRK devises complex schemes to intimidate and control its population. This story has legs, folks, and is far from over – at least in the Christian community.
And to the rest of us, KCJ, it just confirms our analysis that Robert Park (and Aijalon Mahli Gomes) shouldn’t have gone in the first place.
But let’s analyze Mr Park’s latest brush with the media for what it might tell us:
We’ve already covered the “humiliating sexual torture” bit. I wasn’t so certain before, but now I’m becoming more and more convinced that Robert Park is a latent homosexual (the suicidal tendencies which include going to North Korea to “sacrifice” himself in the first place, the narrative about not being ever able to be with a woman, etc.) he has now engineered a perfect cover to hold off the church ajummas and his own parents who might have pushed him to settle down.
His apology and his flowery praise of North Korea:
Okay, then.
Instead, he strengthened the regime’s hand. Please, no more day-trippers to North Korea.
(Joshua – I apologize that these comments aren’t connected to your original post)
KCJ-
This reminds me of the Patty Hearst story- when she was kidnapped in Berkeley from the SLA and was forced to read carefully written communiques from her captors. They abused her, broke her down and then brainwashed her -slightly. She never fully switched over to their side, but she had to play along if she wanted to live. Then of course she needed major therapy when she was released from the SLA.
However, Park wasn’t kidnapped, but I believe the torture tactics were similar.
I find this part of the Park article particularly sad:
He added that to prevent him from divulging the details of his detention, the security forces carried out humiliating sexual torture. “As a result of what happened to me in North Korea, I’ve thrown away any kind of personal desire. I will never, you know, be able to have a marriage or any kind of relationship.”
By the sounds of this, he still needs professional help. God redeems all things. ALL THINGS.
Darn it. My lengthy response to KCJ got stuck in the spam filter, so I turned it into a post.
I hope those people are smart enough to avoid this trap (and are used to voting “Yes” on whatever Dear Leader proposes) and tell the Thought Police exactly what they want to hear.
Kushibo, you will not find a should/should not statement by me in any of my posts as to whether Park or Gomes were justified. I simply praised their zeal and willingness to sacrifice for the liberty of the enslaved North Koreans, who are the most persecuted Christians on earth. Furthermore, I believe they are prophetic signs of the surge of missionaries into North Korea that will occur in the near future.
Your cheap shots at Robert Park and seedy innuendoes are both unfounded and unneccessary. He has been through hell. He is resolute in his commitment to bringing aid the to the Christians in the DPRK and to attack the idolatry of Jucheism. I do not agree with Robert Park’s theology or methods, but neither have I walked in his boots.
I believe you have judged to harshly my friend. In any event, I never intended to make this discussion all about the person of Robert Park, but that his (and Gomes’) incursion into the darkest hell hole on earth is an indicator of the Christian missionary zeal that will not subside until there are Churches operating above ground in North Korea unmolested by the monstrous state religion of Kim Il Sungism.
KCJ, you say you don’t provide a “should” statement, but you have praised the move. Predictably, someone who thought along the same lines (Aijalon Mahli Gomes) did the thing you praised. I’m not saying you are responsible, but clearly I am not out of place for calling this all kinds of stupid with detrimental consequences if people do it again.
So yes, I will continue to bash Mr Park, particularly when he inserts himself into the media yet again, lest someone else follow in his foolish footsteps. If someone wants to follow their heart and show their godly love for humankind, they should work with the groups helping ferry refugees out of China.
As for my cheap shots, I would say that Mr Park’s possible latent or closeted homosexuality, the likelihood of which I now believe is higher than before, would go a long way toward explaining his self-destructive behavior, and the sooner he gets a grip on that, the more likely it is that he will survive to be an old man, and a happy one at that.
OP:
The media rise of Kim Jong-un within North Korea, despite Western media fascination with it, is looking more and more like fantasy and speculation.
I agree with you that the Western fascination with Jong-Eun is out of all proportion to its real significance, but there’s a stronger basis to report Jong-Eun’s anointing than there is to suggest that the regime is interested in Chinese-style reforms.
Joshua wrote:
Well, not only that, but they also seem to be filling in the blanks with speculation being reported as solid intel.
I’m not so sure about that, Joshua. At least since KJI’s visit to China in September, the KCNA reports have been leaving a few hints about Chinese-style reforms and economic cooperation with the northeastern provinces.
If I’m right, the question is whether this move is coming from Pyongyang (which did try on its own to do Chinese-style reforms back in 2002) or if it’s coming from Beijing, which is insisting on economic reform in exchange for allowing the transition (or in exchange for something else). Frankly, I don’t know the answer.
Now a good question would be: What to do if China really succeed at making North Korea behave, economically and politically, more like China?
Joshua, I want to emphasize that I didn’t mean that to be argumentative in any way. I believe there really are signs that North Korea will try (or be forced to try) Chinese-style reforms. And since I’m also a believer in your Plan B approach, I think it’s worth considering how to bring the two together if we start to see real economic reform in North Korea that could become a push factor in North Korea, Ã la China, for far greater personal freedom (even if democracy is still lacking).
Unfortunately Kushibo, your ad hominem attcks on Park disqualify any serious analysis I would otherwise consider from your keyboard.
I am in favor of anything that erodes the stranglehold Jucheism has on its citizenry. Park is the first foreigner who ever entered North Korea with a demand for Kim Jong Il to repent, release its political prisoners, and allow NGOs to provide aid for the people. The fact that he is American and Christian is not lost on the KWP and its propaganda priests.
KCJ and Kushibo, just to add to the pun fun, “hominem” is the accusative form of “homo”.
Pauline? You are mistaken. Paul’s teaching is from heaven, not Paul.
We can argue for days and days whether Paul was a true convert or whether this supreme persecutor of Christians adopted an if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em strategy to become A.D.’s first Manchurian Candidate, but the fact remains that my views are such that bringing up the possibility that Robert Park is a latent or closeted homosexual is NOT an attack on him, which goes to your earlier point that I was making “an ad hominem attack on Mr Park” by suggesting that.