The First Precinct Reports

I had to reach out to reader Brendan Brown, who teaches English to dozens of young North Korean refugees, on what they think of Hwang Jang-Yop’s Exile Committee for North Korean Democracy. It’s a small sample of a small sample to be sure, but the initial result is an overwhelming vote of no confidence:

We had a discussion in my class about Hwang late last year and the class feeling was unanimous that he was tainted by his previous position in the regime. Some students said that if he was to become leader of ‘NK in Exile’ a rival organisation would set up.

Brendan qualifies this by saying that the dozen-odd students, all in their 20s, were much more interested in studies than politics, so no word on that rival organization so far. I’ve asked Brendan to get some more reaction from his new students, but when the time is right, since they are understandably uncomfortable talking about politics.

That’s doubly disappointing, because Hwang, for all his faults, would probably still be a spectacular improvement over Kim Jong Il, given the influences to which he’s been exposed since 1997. The best thing that could come of the announcement of even a flawed exile government would be debate and the accretion of groups with different visions. Disagreement within a united framework with basic common goals is the foundation of democracy. What’s desperately needed is for someone who disagrees with Hwang’s vision to offer an alternative platform, and who can still work with the ECNKD on the fundamental goal of overthrowing the current regime.