Session 3 (July 16) - 2011 to the Present: Kim Jong Un

[Alyssa Yff]

Hey All!

After our discussion, I was still curious about Kim Jong Un's policies (economic and military) and stumbled upon this article.  I found it helpful as it discussed his current policies and how he is moving away from some of the military-first policies of Kim Jong Il.  Specifically it speaks about Kim Jong Un's economic development policies - including special economic zones, business ventures (repopening the Kaesong Industrial complex and Mount Kumgang Tourist region), possible lifting of economic sanctions, as well as infrastructure spending programs within North Korea.  I found it helpful!

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/11/how-kim-jong-un-wants-to-develop-his-economy-and-secure-his-regime.html

[Tom Mueller]

Thank you for the resources. 

[Maria Cardenas]

Hey Heather and Juana,

I am also curious to know how are the numbers of people wiht covid-19 in North Korea. In the United States and all over the world there has been some time of lockdown. Has North Korea also had a lockdown of some sort? Does North Korea have the equipment necessary to hospitalize those patients that have the worst symptoms of the virus? I think in the last discussion Professor Kim stated that for eye surgery doctors from other countries came to perform the surgeries. So that is why I am curious to see how they are doing with fighting this pandemic. 

[Maria Cardenas]

Hello,

Since I was curious about how North Korea was doing during this pandemic I went to look for answers. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/04/world/asia/north-korea-sanctions-coronavirus.html

This article from the New York Times states how North Korea stated they had zero Covid-19 cases in April. North Korea has shut down since the third week of January or so. They are getting affected economically because they are very dependent of China and they are trying to do a lot of things at home now. But they would require the materials from China. If you guys have time go look at the article it's pretty interesting how it talks about the virus, how North Korea was affected in the 1990s famine, how Kim Jong Un was trying to "survive" the sanctions, and how the virus is affecting North Korea economically.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Thank you for sharing this article, Maria! It is indeed very interesting. I wonder what the real statistics are for the virus, but also if they are truly closed down I suppose it's possible they've mostly kept it at bay?

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

The article on illegal media infiltration and semi-legal markets selling foreign goods illustrates the cracks in the system, and the discussion of young people’s access to these goods and feelings of betrayal and frustration make me wonder if that will be enough to spur revolutionary change there, or if it will only serve to cause depression, since the power to organize is so limited. There are many instances throughout history where people have shown tremendous bravery running underground resistance against ruthless dictators- could this happen again there?

Several of the articles confirm our early thoughts that Kim’s main goal is to establish a presence and legitimacy on the world stage, and that staging meetings with President Moon and President Trump work to both Kim’s and Trump’s favor, regardless of the outcome. It keeps Trump in the narrative, and makes Kim look important, meeting with such powerful countries. This is a good strategy for establishing or defining himself as a leader, and as one who will forge a different path for his country. Even if in reality, it might not be as different as he’d like to paint it.

After all I’ve read, the video lecture, the online session, and what I’ve seen so far of Crash Landing on You, I feel like North Korea is almost as mysterious to me as before. It’s the artificiality of the totalitarian state with total media control that I find bizarre and intriguing. The lack of reliable information, the ease with which erroneous and unchecked news reports of Kim’s death spread- it’s all part of the oddity that North Korea is in my estimation. It is also part of the danger. I hope that the cracks will allow in the light, but I worry that even with that light, people will be too fearful to force change. And with two unpredictable world leaders, I find that danger to be, well, more dangerous.

[Heather Butler]

I think that the concept of cultural exchange is really important. It is really easy for people especially our students to look at countries like North Korea as monoliths, if they don't learn about the actual people that live there. Sports exchanges are one way.  As an Art teacher, I am really curious about the art that North Koreans are producing, because I am not find a lot that isn't propaganda online. The art that people make especially under a regime like this tells us so much about the people and their stories. But then is just anyone allowed to make art, or art supplies restricted, like is there a blacklist that certain people have gotten themselves on because they made one sketch sometime that criticized the government or were pro-capitalism or pro-South Korea or pro-US. Graffiti art is one type of art that people that feel oppressed embrace, especially young people, but because of the limited, less limited now access to outside information does this still hold true here?

[Heather Butler]

That quote stood out to me as well. With more knowledge seeping into North Korea, I feel like Kim Jong Un definitely should be concerned about how his people see him and the outside world. But also, how much of "the god interacting with humans" did the North Korean people see I wonder, how was that twisted in North Korean news media. Also, does humanizing Kim Jong Un cast him in a positive light for the North Korean people or is this depiction not shown because it makes him fallible.

[Heather Butler]

I found it very interesting that this younger generation has less loyalty towards the government, but don't seem to be in any rush to rise up against it. That they seem to be drawn to the foreign pop culture, but are less concerned with breaking out from the oppressive regime is a complex issue for me. Since everything is so limited, even spending the night at other people's houses and texting and phone calls are monitored.  It makes it really hard for a grassroots type of movement, in the way that Arab Spring happened in the Middle East or the protests in the US currently, where social media is a major technique used. So I wonder if there is some kind of underground movement that just hasn't gained much ground yet or is there really no one trying to destabilize the government in this way.

[Heather Butler]

Thanks for the article. So even if the North Korean government has been able to keep coronavirus from entering their country, the lack of trade because of the virus and the sanctions being placed on them are crippling them economically. This means the people are still suffering tremendously. Also, there are probably less goods coming in via the black market too, since South Korea has had a surge of coranavirus.

[Hilda Dixon]

I think that at the beginning when he undertook his position as the next leader of NK, the world in general did not know much about Kim Jong-Un as it was the case of his dad. He was perceived young and maybe as someone that did not have enough experience working in the government or the Korean Workers’ party. One of the first things that he did is to create his image as a strong leader in spite of young age. I think that one of his goals was to gain the acknowledgement of the world as a leader and  that other countries could recognize him as a strong leader who could continue with the legacy of the Kim family. One way to do it, was and is to continue the military exercises as usual. In January of 2017, Kim Jong-Un said, that his country was on the “last stage” to test an inter-continental ballistic missile. The American president, Trump, responded by saying that would not happen. Due to the fact that Kim Jong-Un continued with his military exercises and showed that he was not afraid, Trump threatened him by saying, North Korean would be “met with fire and fury,” if he would not stop his military exercise intentions. At that time, I remember there was a worldwide concern about Trump’s lack of diplomacy and Trump’s comments and tweets could lead to a possible war. It seemed that the whole world was watching how this confrontation was unfolding. Tweets intensified the already hot atmosphere between the two countries. Trump called Kim Jong-un, “Rocket Man.” Kim Jong-Un did not hesitate in labelling Trump as “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.” Not many leaders have the boldness to respond in this manner to an American president. On the same token,  it was also important to Kim Jong-Un to show that he could work cooperatively with others and that he was capable to maneuver well peace negotiations with south Korean president, Moon Jae-in who has wanted to improve relationships with North Korea. For instance, in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics North and South Korea participated jointly as one.  In 2018, there was another historic summit between South and North Korea leaders who also met at the DMZ to stretched out hands and smiled at each other because it was the first time since 1953 that a north Korean president went to the DMZ.

However, the most important meetings were the ones between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un. On June 2019, President Trump and Kim Jong-un met in the DMZ to shake hands. This act was important because it was the first time that an American president visited the DMZ. This act was very significant because President Trump turns to be a leader that can handle difficult foreign affairs with diplomacy. Kim Yong Un is recognized as a leader that can handle affairs in north Korea.

 

 Now that Kim Jong Un is recognized, he needs to work towards the lifting of the economic sanctions and place North Korea as a country that is willing to trade with other countries. This is not easy because he needs to give up its military nuclear power in order to gain some economic aid and embargo lifting. I think it would be hard to continue with the Kim dynasty as how the constitution is right now.  One key point for Kim Jong Un is to improve the current NK’s economy and to provide more open information of what it is going on inside of NK. The younger generations are not as easy to be controlled as how it was done in the past because younger generations are more aware of what is happening elsewhere through the underground economy that provides movies, news and technology in general. They are more likely to rebel against the government because as we read in our texts they don’t feel as though they’ve received much of value from their government, they do not believe in the official ideology and they mistrust the government.

[Hilda Dixon]

Kimberly, With everything that is going on in the world, especially in USA such as Trump, coronavirus and reelections, I think the peace and prosperity agreement might fade for now. If Biden becomes the new president, I think he might be more persistent and elaborate a more detailed tactical strategy towards a denuclearization plan that might not be in accordance with Kim Jong Un. However, Kim Jong Un should continue diplomatic negotiations with the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in in order to get economic and food assistance in NK.  Otherwise, famine, and a fragile North Korean economy might lead the NK people to question openly his regime and eventually a collapse because a regime can only survive if it has a sustainable economy. The “jangmadang,” underground economy, can assist the current economy but cannot rescue all NK economy.

 

[Hilda Dixon]

Kim Jong-un is genuinely charismatic, and is ready to shake hands with everyone. In this sense, he is following his grandfather’s steps by visiting different places such as schools, supermarkets, and construction sites and listening to his people. He also has a clearer perspective of what is going on outside of NK because he studied in Europe and knows some European languages. He also has a young charismatic wife whose simple elegancy gives a fresh personality that does not resemble a person who is from a totalitarian regime. Through the 2018 summit and the meetings with other leaders at the DMZ, Kim Jong Un has shown that he has educated social manners and that he is willing to cooperate with other countries such as USA and South Korea. In this sense, he has proved that he is worthy as a leader.  Totalitarian leaders usually do not agree and sign cooperation agreements, and Kim signed an agreement with Trump to commit to a complete denuclearization of the North Korean peninsula. Still the work ahead is not easy for Kim Jong Un because he does not seem to want to stop his military’s nuclear power because he might be afraid that without the military leverage others can subsequently have more influence over NK, and in this way his regime might end.

 

 

[Hilda Dixon]

Jane Hannon, I totally agree with you. Our world current situation is not the same that the one that his father and grandfather experienced where they both were able to stay their ground.  I think the currently ideology might need to adaptions in order to adapt to our current global economy where countries are engaging in more exchanges of all sort than ever before. The isolation policy might end hurting him more Kim Jong-Un because NK’s economy is very fragile.

 

[Deborah Whetstone]

You share an interesting point of view - they way you phrased it, I can see KJU responding in kind to however he is addressed.  If you belittle him, he'll belittle you, if you take a calmer tone, the same.  I wonder if HE is aware of that?  Is he doing that intentionally, or is he just responding as he intuitively would?  Does it matter?  

I'm also interested to see what happens moving forward given that the people have slightly more access to outside events, movies, music, etc., (the flash drives).  It doesn't *seem* like the regime is going anywhere, but then again we didn't really expect the Berlin Wall, and the Soviet Union to end when they did.  What I keep coming back to in my head (and again Berlin is a decent example), is IF North and South reunify, what will that country then 'look' like - which aspects of North Korea will stay, which aspects of South Korea will stay?  

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