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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Dear Dr's Frank and Petrov, and all other list members:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> I really appreciate hearing what people have to say on this matter. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I believe we are witnessing<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>regime 'transformation' in the earliest of stages and that there is no need to argue on behalf of regime collapse or for that matter regime maintenance. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I understand the need to be cautious and not get too excited over reform…. that being said, I believe the media holds a very important role with regards to change in North Korea (see websites below). There have been several documentaries<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>in recent years:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Last year a British team was allowed (after 4 years of asking) to film the 1966 DPRK soccer team in<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>"The Game of their Lives", and young gymnastics performers in "A State of Mind" and then there is the Dutch
Independent film "A Day in the Life" about a North Korean family, a documentary that includes clips of an English class. The young North Korean University students joked and chided each other in American English while later in the film they outwardly blamed the Americans for their lack of electricity and other problems. The symbolism of nuclear weapons popped up everywhere from the numerous murals to a plastic teddy bear holding a nuclear warhead as one would a baby outside a daycare center. No matter how much they are controlled by the North Korean government, I believe they give us an unprecedented look into<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>the DPRK. I believe the American crew yesterday reporting from Pyongyang as casually as if they were in South Carolina is just one more crack in the cocoon.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No dignitary had visited the country (i.e. Sec. Albright,
Former Pres. Carter) it was just a simple broadcast.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">I believe w</SPAN>e should be discussing how to handle this new, more unpredictable transforming regime.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This to me is very promising, I believe that the United States can mold what the new regime will act and look like by setting the example. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Am I wrong in my assessment that the DPRK mimics the actions of the United States politically and otherwise?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I appreciate everyone’s patience with me as I continue to learn as much as I possibly can about the Korean Peninsula and for that matter the United States.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I look forward to hearing your comments.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Tracy Stober<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MA-International Studies-Korea<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Univ. of Washington-Seattle<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Documentary websites:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Very Much So Productions: <A href="http://www.verymuchso.co.uk/">http://www.verymuchso.co.uk/</A><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>“The Game of their Lives”,<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A href="http://www.thegameoftheirlives.com/">http://www.thegameoftheirlives.com/</A> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>“A State of Mind” <A href="http://www.astateofmind.co.uk/">http://www.astateofmind.co.uk/</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Golden Monkey Productions:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“A Day in the Life” <A href="http://www.goldenmonkey.nl/index2.htm">http://www.goldenmonkey.nl/index2.htm</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P><BR><BR><B><I>petrov@coombs.anu.edu.au</I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Dear Tracy,<BR><BR>Please do not be overexcited by the first LIVE broadcast from the<BR>Secretive Kingdom to America since October 2000, when Madeleine Albright<BR>visited Pyongyang. North Koreans will make sure that Bob Woodruff and his<BR>crew will see only what they want them to see – the great monuments (to<BR>symbolize the “invincibility of peoples’ spirit”), the nuclear plants with<BR>empty cooling pools (guess where all the graphite rods are gone?), and the<BR>blooming city markets abundant with cheap Chinese goods (a sign of reform<BR>designed to resuscitate the centrally planned economy without really<BR>changing anything).<BR><BR>Should a foreign journalist find anything more than that, the chief editor<BR>back at home will expurgate unessential stuff from the report. That is why<BR>the coverage of North Korea by Western media (after a handsome sum of<BR>money is paid to the
regime following the "aggressive talks") rarely goes<BR>beyond a childish surprise about the absence of traffic lights in<BR>Pyongyang and people working in the fields in summer.<BR><BR>Last month the international conference "U.S. Public Opinion Regarding the<BR>Korean Peninsula & ROK-U.S. Relations", organised by the Institute for Far<BR>Easter Studies, Kyungnam University, discussed the issue of hackneyed<BR>images of North Korea customarily reproduced by American media (for the<BR>list of topics and presenters see:<BR><<BR>http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/activity/01_international_view.asp?engSeminarNO=47&page=1&engSeminarType=International<BR>> )<BR><BR>It is a miracle that ABC News was allowed to report from the DPRK.<BR>However, the ongoing economic reform in North Korea has nothing to do with<BR>this exclusive reporting. As before, foreign (particularly American)<BR>journalists are rarely welcome in the DPRK. But if they are allowed to see<BR>something, it
does not really matter whether the reporting is LIVE or<BR>edited because both sides have already decided what to show to the<BR>viewers. No surprises are expected.<BR><BR>Yours sincerely,<BR><BR>LEONID A. PETROV<BR>KF Post-Doctoral Fellow<BR>********************<BR>The Academy of Korean Studies<BR>http://www.north-korea.narod.ru<BR><BR><BR><BR>>Dear List Members:<BR>>This morning on ABC news, world correspondant Bob Woodruff reported "LIVE<BR>from the Secret Kingdom" in Pyongyang.<BR>See Link: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/International/story?id=828300<BR><BR>>Has this ever happened before? I don't recall reading or witnessing a<BR>live report by an American news company. What does this symbolize?<BR>Could there be real, concrete change/reform going on in North Korea?<BR><BR>>Sincerely,<BR>Tracy Stober<BR>MA-International Studies-Korea<BR>Univ. of Washington-Seattle<BR><BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p>__________________________________________________<br>Do You
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