Ixtab
02-05-2006, 06:47 AM
This is from a discussion I had with someone on another internet forum.
Thought this paper might be a better indication of the situation
in North Korea than what's coughed up by our resident NK 'expert'.Is this an allusion to me?
I ask if this is an allusion to me, because scarcely anything in that article contradicts any of my beliefs. None of the stories therein published -- even if we take such stories at face value (i.e., if we disregard the fact that the vast majority of defectors come from a single province, meaning that they are not representative of the country as a whole; if we disregard the fact that any people, desperate to win asylum, have a strong incentive not only to embelish their stories but to present themselves as innocent victims; if we disregard the fact that many of the 'defectors' subsequently return on their own initiative; if we disregard the fact that Japanese and South Korean journalists have a tradition of paying interviewees, adding yet another incentive to embelish stories; if we disregard the fact that the South Korean national intelligence service, in their psychological war against the north, have been known, even by American journalists such as Barabra Demick of the LA Times, to ensure that interviewed defectors portray the north in a negative light; if we disregard the fact that some defectors have been caught lying, not by the DPRK, but by Japan and South Korea; in short, if we do not apply to the DPRK all the canons of critical thinking which we would otherwise apply, in an effort to blacken the image of the DPRK as much as possible) -- contradict a single belief of mine.
The information from former high ranking official Hwang Jang-yop alone
points to a terrible scenario there, indeed.Please quote something in the article which you think I would disagree with. I have read it, and I see little information which I would outright deny. What an erroneous perception you must have of my convictions, if you are presenting this essay as something which would somehow disaffirm any of my beliefs in any significant way. Indeed, some of the points made therein greatly reinforce some of my beliefs.
The chief flaw of the article, however, in my opinion, is its failure clearly to state the causes of the DPRK's economic and social problems -- creating a distorted perception of reality. It would be rather like posting a bunch of stories relating to the hardships of Sri Lanka tsunami victims, to describe the situation of affairs under the "evil" presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga. This sort of propaganda, of course, is the commonest, for it is the easiest to create (merely have to collect a bunch of stories of people's hardships, but leave the causes unspecified).
Thought this paper might be a better indication of the situation
in North Korea than what's coughed up by our resident NK 'expert'.Is this an allusion to me?
I ask if this is an allusion to me, because scarcely anything in that article contradicts any of my beliefs. None of the stories therein published -- even if we take such stories at face value (i.e., if we disregard the fact that the vast majority of defectors come from a single province, meaning that they are not representative of the country as a whole; if we disregard the fact that any people, desperate to win asylum, have a strong incentive not only to embelish their stories but to present themselves as innocent victims; if we disregard the fact that many of the 'defectors' subsequently return on their own initiative; if we disregard the fact that Japanese and South Korean journalists have a tradition of paying interviewees, adding yet another incentive to embelish stories; if we disregard the fact that the South Korean national intelligence service, in their psychological war against the north, have been known, even by American journalists such as Barabra Demick of the LA Times, to ensure that interviewed defectors portray the north in a negative light; if we disregard the fact that some defectors have been caught lying, not by the DPRK, but by Japan and South Korea; in short, if we do not apply to the DPRK all the canons of critical thinking which we would otherwise apply, in an effort to blacken the image of the DPRK as much as possible) -- contradict a single belief of mine.
The information from former high ranking official Hwang Jang-yop alone
points to a terrible scenario there, indeed.Please quote something in the article which you think I would disagree with. I have read it, and I see little information which I would outright deny. What an erroneous perception you must have of my convictions, if you are presenting this essay as something which would somehow disaffirm any of my beliefs in any significant way. Indeed, some of the points made therein greatly reinforce some of my beliefs.
The chief flaw of the article, however, in my opinion, is its failure clearly to state the causes of the DPRK's economic and social problems -- creating a distorted perception of reality. It would be rather like posting a bunch of stories relating to the hardships of Sri Lanka tsunami victims, to describe the situation of affairs under the "evil" presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga. This sort of propaganda, of course, is the commonest, for it is the easiest to create (merely have to collect a bunch of stories of people's hardships, but leave the causes unspecified).