N.Korea:Three Pillars of Regime,Personality Cult,Military,and Food Distribution,Collapsed

Future Korea ^ | 03/03/05 | Sakurai Yoshiko(translation in Korean: Lee Young-hoon)

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[TigerLikesRooster]

It is obvious that N. Koreans hate China and have fondness toward America, because it is Chinese government which rounds up N. Korean refugees and turns them over to N. Korean authorities, knowing full well that they will be sent to prison camps. "When N. Korean people would be freed from Kim Jong-il regime, it would be not China but America, Japan, and S. Korea where N. Koreans would want helps," he says.

[Captain Rhino]

Very insightful. Thanks for the hard work in translating this from Korean to English.

[prion]

Izvestiya, a major Russian daily, even commented that N. Korea's economic reform is 'the event comparable to The Fall of Berlin Wall' and went on to say, 'N. Korea signed the death warrant of its system.'

It reads to me like the Russian is describing "the Fall of the Berlin Wall" as a bad thing!

Thanks for the translation. This is most interesting.

[DoctorMichael]

Interesting take from Japan.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #5

Yeah, Russian could have mixed feeling about it.:)

[Brian Allen]

Good post, thank you.

Appears that Roh Moo-hyun is but the visible symptom of all of South Korea's home-made ills -- rather than its leader.

And that he is to South Korea what that other execrable appeaser of tyrants and terrorists, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is to Spain.

[martin_fierro]

Kamsa ham naeda for the translation!

[mesoman7]

Fascinating article! When I was stationed in Korea during the '80s, the presidents were all former senior military officers. Naturally, they were rabidly anti-N. Korea and would do anything to hasten the collapse. Now, with much more liberal leadership...well, this article pretty spells it out. Granted, during the '80's the S. Korean govt was pretty heavy-handed, but the economy grew exponentially. You could see the change from month to month. Of course, in the '90s, the S. Korean economy tanked when the leadership styles changed. Go figure.

I guess I can see some of the concern that a collapse would send a flood of refugees into S. Korea. It would be a drain on the economy much the same as what happened in Germany when the Berlin wall fell. Nevertheless, I think this would be preferable to being incinerated in a full-scale war. But then again, liberals just can't seem to figure that out...

[Drammach]

Thank you for the translated posting...
Articles like this, close to the source and able to see what is going on first-hand, are indispensible for understanding the N. Korean situation.
Too often we here in the states are left with nothing but guess work... asking questions without answers..

Let us hope the fall is swift, and bloodless.. for the people that is..
This is the first article I have ever read that claims the N. Korean people are Pro-American..
I am amazed..
I was burdened with the impression that Kim's stalinist state had indoctrinated the people to hate America to the point of blind fanaticism...

Please put me on your "PING" list..

[Thud]

Thank you.

[PowerAmp]

Thanks for a great post.

Presumably this article began life in Japanese in the Japanese business magazine "The Diamond Weekly" This picture fits what I hear when I visit Japan and South Korea. The South Koreans I talk to often have romanticized views of the North, and a fear of shouldering the economic costs associated with a North Korean collapse. It is easy to get the feeling that South Koreans believe that somehow Americans are to blame.

In Japan, on the other hand, it is much more common to hear opinions that are very close to what President Bush an Secretary of State Rice are saying. The Japanese have been deeply affected by the North Korean kidnappings of their citizens.

Also more on the reporter Yoshihiko Sakuai:

Born in Vietnam, Sakurai graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1969 and started her career as a journalist with the Tokyo branch of the Christian Science Monitor 1971.

From 1980 through 1996 she was a very popular and well-respected newscaster and commentator on Nippon Television Network (NTV), one of Japan's highest-rated national commercial networks. Once called "the best woman in Japanese public life" by a member of the Japanese Diet, Sakurai is active in the Foreign Correspondence Club and Japan National Press Club and was honored by the Society of Japanese Women in Radio and Television and the International Society for Promoting International Understanding.

Her book AIDS Hanzai: Ketsubyo Kanja no Higeki (AIDS Crimes: The Tragedy of Hemophiliacs) and her probing tv-interviews exposed Japan's tainted blood scandal. Sakurai revealed the poor response of health officials and drug firms to the dangers of HIV infection from contaminated blood. The fight to help hemophiliacs who contracted AIDS through blood donations received much energy and attention through her efforts. This was a major accomplishment as the stigma associated with AIDS is still great in Japan.

The book was awarded with Japan's most prestigious prize for nonfiction. Nearly two years after its publication the Ministry of Health and Welfare and five drug companies finally publicly disclosed their roles in the distribution of risky blood products.

Sakurai has also been active to assist the parents of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents and often speaks publicly on this issue.

"Japan is a country where the government does not respect life," she once confided to me, referring to the AIDS problem and the non-committed response of the Japanese government to the fate of the citizens kidnapped by North Korea.
http://ikjeld.com/files/biographies/sakurai_yoshiko.html

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #13

Your perception on S. Korea is on target, unfortunately.:(

[Carry_Okie]

"It was former president Kim Dae-jung(S. Korean President:1997-2002) who extended its life. N. Koreans hate Kim Dae-jung. They know full well who are the enemy of N. Korean people or who are on their side, in S. Korea. Furthermore, N. Koreans are not pro-China but pro-America.

When a flood of North Korean refugees tells the truth to their Southern kindred, in support of a pro-American opposition, it will be over for the likes of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.

President Roh Moo-hyun does not understand this He surrounds himself with those who do not knows the real situation of the country, but have misguided affection for N. Korea."

I think this unduely charitable. It seems to me that it is the fear of losing power that motivates these South Korean enablers. A socialist merger would provide the chaebol a flood of cheap labor. Keeping the North under the heel of "the bad guys" while exploiting that labor pool might provide a fat profit while keeping the proles from getting out of control.

Am I wrong here?

[hang 'em]

There is a small segment of N. Korea's northern border shared with Russia. Do many N. K. citizens try to escape to Russia? Or is it all to China?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #16

Only a small number of them do, with little success. In China, they could blend into ethnic Korean neighborhood.

[flitton]

Fascinating. Thanks for your continued work in translating these reports.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #15

As it stands now, business cannot count on such exploitation. N. Korea wants to open only a small area surgically and insists on guaranteed stream of income, no matter what happens to business performance. They are basically after an extortion racket disguised as business venture. Any business loss is supposed to be compensated by guarantee of S. Korean governments to individual S. Korean business operating in N. Korea. That is the plan. That is, S. Korean taxpayers is paying indirectly to N. Korean regime.

The situation is way below that of China in that sense.

[abner]

I really appreciate your posts and translations even though I usually don't post.

Thanks for the pings!