Sunday Reads, Chinese Audibles
– This rather slight yet nevertheless astonishing shift in emphasis on nothing less than Kim Jong Il’s last on-site inspection: the supermarket visited on December 15 was in fact a joint venture with China.
A blockade on this particular fact had existed since the Dear Leader’s death, with nothing less than a CCTV crew going in and interviewing a floor manager, who described, as she gestured at some bright green cooking pans, how the Dear Leader said:
These are nice cooking pans; housewives will like these.
No mention was made of the Chinese provenance of the pans or the entire store. Thus, no sooner does one imagine that the CCP is losing control of its information environment than a suprise is had. And no wonder the North Korean government had to assert that Kim died on his train, otherwise the myth of his “last” on-site inspection would have been draped in a Chinese flag, so to speak.
– Walter Russell Mead at American Interest has a new post about Sino-North Korean relations, beautifully titled “China Cringes as North Korea Thumps Chest.”
– North Korean rhetorical attacks on South Korean President Lee Myung-bak are hardly new, but it does seem fresh to have them placed in the mouths of an association of Korean-Chinese. What has yet to be seen, however, is a general North Korean support of China in the PRC’s disputes with South Korea regarding fishing rights and territorial waters.
– KCNA English is now very much back to normal, with subtle messages and mirroring proceeding apace. Interesting examples with micro-analysis here, here, and, most interestingly with regard to the youthification of the Korean Workers’ Party, here.
– Finally, Jeffrey Wasserstrom recommends an essay from MacLean’s on echoes of Maoist pomp and atrocity in funereal Pyongyang.
And the other place which the Kims visited the same day is also a joint venture, this time British:
http://www.phoenixcommercialventures.eu/hana-electronics-jvc
No one seems to have picked this up.
Thanks, Aidan! Just picked up on some similar info from British Embassy in Seoul (good source of info as well).
Adam,
I have never heard of this organization, GAKC (General Assembly of Koreans in China) before. Is it really a Korean-Chinese organization or a China-based organization for North Koreans residing in China?
By the way, that piece by Walter Russell Mead could have been written 10, 5 or 2 years ago without anything altered. It offers nothing, nothing new at all. The same can be said of the “intelligent” comments posted below the piece. These days any fat ass sitting in Washington DC can write a piece about North Korea and gets a pay check.
Nor have I, JCM! I think the KCNA never gives the pinyin because then it might actually be possible to track it (or its figment) down. In my estimation, it’s probably more likely some of the higher-ups in the Rason Hotel (NK-owned) in Yanji. One might also ask Isaac Stone Fish or Jeremy Page, two reporters with extensive experiences in Yanbian. But in the meantime, I think your latter guess is much closer to the mark.
I think the pay checks come faster if the pontificator believes in spending large sums on bunker-busting weapons and missile defense! But then again, there are people like Jon Feffer who make a living as an opponent of American military action, not to mention the somewhat less analytical but still very prevalent Christine Ahn. At the same time, who gets more face time with Congress at hearings, etc? I think Nicholas Eberstadt trumps them both. Thus the need for an analyst here to do “Think Tank Watch” and do baseball-card style stats ratings on them all!
Adam,
Whether I agree with them is a separate matter, I have a lot of respect for NK watchers like Feffer and Eberstadt, you know people who actually study and follow North Korea religiously. Who is this Walter Russell Mead guy? I mean even I could have written a piece like his. So insightful. So eye-opening. Wow. Reminds me of of those half-assed western reporters who cover China who spend a lot of time rehashing the same stuff over and over again. Spending a mere two weeks, two months, two years in China makes one a China Hand these days.
Juche, this is where the debate about “does Huntsman actually speak Chinese” is a worthwhile one when applied to academia, analyst community, etc. I’m all for a “quarterback ranking” type of statistical profile, more game theory in analyzing who is writing what and what sources it is based upon. Basically now it appears that some people can become “North Korea experts” (I don’t put myself in that category, by the way, it’s hard enough to lay claim to expert on “Chinese North Korea policy and discourse”) simply by reading a little Bradley Martin and keeping up with Chosun Ilbo. I’m exaggerating, but you get my point.
Adam,
You are certainly a North Korea expert (along with Michael and Curtis) in my book! You have some of the best first-hand experiences with regard to China-NK border areas and you are perhaps the most prominent western scholar on China-NK relations.
Very kind of you to say, Juche, but definitely can’t be ranked with those two you mentioned. I will endeavor to keep bringing the experiential element forward here and elsewhere, although rather far from the border at the moment (London, actually).