Should the Goalkeeper Fear the Reaper?

Should we fear for the North Korean soccer team? Professor Sung Yoon Lee, in a must read analysis for GQ, explains why (at least in North Korean terms) their fate isn’t likely to be a severe as some people fear — and if there is a Korea authority who truly belongs in GQ, it’s Sung Yoon Lee. I tend to think that if North Korea was using the World Cup as a propaganda ploy, then it has to know that if it does something terrible to the players or the coach, the word would get out. They’re not as good at keeping secrets as they used to be.

The history of repressive regimes using sports for propaganda purposes goes back at least as far as Berlin in 1936, and it was common knowledge that the Soviets sent minders to watch their traveling athletes carefully, prevent defections, and limit their exposure to our decadent ways:

In fact, I don’t think the World Cup turned out to be quite the propaganda success North Korea had hoped for, given the immediate speculation that its players would face punishment after the big loss to Portugal. This story, for example, says that the “World Cup seems like good publicity for the rogue state,” but then links to a called, “The Countless Luxury Mansions Of Kim Jong-il.” Nice.

In any event, I still question FIFA’s decision to invite the North Koreans to the game at all.

Update: Robert links to a very good essay in Newsweek that reaches conclusions similar to those I had here.