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<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Inspector O's many fans - and those yet to meet him
-</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>might also enjoy a less well known exercise in
what</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>may be deemed a similar genre. Not literally so,
but</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>a parallel hermeneutic exercise in the
all-important</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>quest to understand what and how North Koreans
think.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I refer to Erich Weingartner's imaginary
conversations</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- a fine form, pioneered by Walter Savage Landor
but</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>now sadly fallen into desuetude for the most part -
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>published from time to time on CanKor.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>As many will know, this was a very useful weekly
clippings</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>service on North Korea. Lack of funding has
regrettably</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>made its appearance only intermittent now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>But the silver lining, at least for readers, is that this
has</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>enabled Erich to give us more of Pak Kim Li: his (of
course)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>deliberately malnamed composite of a DPRK official
like</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>many he met when living in Pyongyang.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>If the moderators permit, I append the latest of
these,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>on a much touted concert. Earlier instalments can be read
at</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.nautilus.org/pipermail/cankor/"><FONT
size=3>http://www.nautilus.org/pipermail/cankor/</FONT></A><FONT
size=3>.<BR></FONT><FONT size=4>- although the archive seems not to be up to the
date;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>perhaps Erich will point us to nos 2-4.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The first in the series can be found at </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.globalcollab.org/Cankor/cankor-newsletter-246/">http://www.globalcollab.org/Cankor/cankor-newsletter-246/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>(a confusing URL, as it actually features issue no
257)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Best wishes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Aidan FC</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>AIDAN
FOSTER-CARTER<SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black"><A
title=mailto:afostercarter@aol.com
href="mailto:afostercarter@aol.com">afostercarter@aol.com</A><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN><A
title=http://www.aidanfc.net/
href="http://www.aidanfc.net/">www.aidanfc.net</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology
& Modern Korea, Leeds University </FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">______________________________________<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>CONVERSATION WITH THE PATRIOT -- Part 5<BR> Erich
Weingartner, Editor, CanKor, 23 March 2008<BR><BR>Pak Kim Li: Please
don't interview me about the New York Philharmonic.<BR><BR>Erich Heinz
Weingartner: I thought you'd be pleased to talk about
it.<BR><BR>PKL: To say what? How pleased we were to receive the
blessings of <BR>"real" music? To respond to patronizing insults about our lack
of a <BR>musical culture? To comment on the political coup we achieved in
<BR>convincing America's foremost cultural institution to pay homage to <BR>our
leader? Or is it to comment on the political coup the Americans <BR>achieved by
convincing us to broadcast the concert live by TV and <BR>radio throughout our
own country as well as worldwide?<BR><BR>EHW: Actually, I'm more
interested to know what this event meant to <BR>people in your
country.<BR><BR>PKL: And how am I supposed to know
that?<BR><BR>EHW: You attended the concert, didn't you? Didn't you
talk to your <BR>compatriots about it all afterwards?<BR><BR>PKL:
For me this was a working visit, Mr. Erich. It's only because my <BR>Ambassador
resides in the USA that we were asked to accompany the <BR>orchestra to my
country. For me this was not a social home leave.<BR><BR>EHW: It
sounds like you at least had time to read foreign news
<BR>accounts...<BR><BR>PKL: There were more than 80 foreign
journalists in Pyongyang, <BR>grinding out story after story! For weeks my desk
and part of the <BR>floor in my office were littered with hundreds of papers and
articles <BR>on the Americans in Pyongyang. Do you have any idea how many
articles on the concert my Ambassador asked me to translate into Korean? I have
had it up to here with talk about the NYPO.<BR><BR>EHW: What about
your own personal reaction to the concert?<BR><BR>PKL: Personal or
official?<BR><BR>EHW: Personal.<BR><BR>PKL: Okay, I'll
tell you: I believe in the separation of politics and <BR>culture. I think
cultural exchanges are a very good thing, and should <BR>be handled by our
respective cultural organizations, and they should <BR>leave us political
workers damn well out of it.<BR><BR>EHW: I was referring to the
music.<BR><BR>PKL: You know, of course, that music was never my
forte, much to my <BR>father's chagrin.<BR><BR>EHW: Did he attend
the concert?<BR><BR>PKL: Well of course! As former head of the
music department at Kim Il <BR>Sung University, he and a number of his retired
colleagues were guests <BR>of honour!<BR><BR>EHW: And your good
wife, the piano teacher?<BR><BR>PKL: She joined at the dress
rehearsal. Numerous teachers and students from the conservatory got to attend
the rehearsal. And the following <BR>day, members of the orchestra visited the
Children's Palace, where she <BR>teaches. That was the highlight of her
experience!<BR><BR>EHW: So what did she think?<BR><BR>PKL:
She's a bit of a romantic, you know. She believes that music has <BR>the
power to heal the whole world. So of course she wept through most <BR>of the
concert.<BR><BR>EHW: I understand that there was hardly a dry eye
when the orchestra <BR>played "Arirang".<BR><BR>PKL: She said
throughout the piece she saw the face of our daughter <BR>before
her.<BR><BR>EHW: The one who died at age three.<BR><BR>PKL:
The one who died as a result of American sanctions!<BR><BR>EHW:
Mr. Pak...<BR><BR>PKL: No, I'm sorry. Let's not talk about
it, shall we?<BR><BR>EHW: It's alright. I know how painful a
subject this is for you. What <BR>about your father's
assessment?<BR><BR>PKL: Oh, he enjoyed all the pomp and
circumstance. He doesn't get out <BR>to too many functions these days. Often
feels somewhat left out of the <BR>loop now that he's retired. This was
grandiose for him. Reliving his <BR>past.<BR><BR>EHW: Except it
wasn't his past. He was listening to music played by <BR>the
archenemy.<BR><BR>PKL: He doesn't see it that way. Since these were
not politicians or <BR>military but professional musicians like himself, he
regarded them as <BR>colleagues.<BR><BR>EHW: As a member of the
older generation who lived during the time of the Korean War, doesn't he hold a
grudge against all Americans?<BR><BR>PKL: I don't think he ever saw
it that way. My father was a teenager <BR>when he was drafted for the Great
Patriotic War. By his own admission, <BR>he was a rather bad soldier. Instead of
killing Americans, he once <BR>actually saved one's life.<BR><BR>EHW:
An American soldier?<BR><BR>PKL: A young man no older than
himself. Had been left behind when our side pushed the Americans
back.<BR><BR>EHW: What happened?<BR><BR>PKL: My father
tended his wounds. Then he was taken to prison camp. My father never saw him
again. But he thought of him from time to time <BR>and wondered if he might
still be alive, maybe the beneficiary of a <BR>POW exchange.<BR><BR>EHW:
So he might have had more than a musical interest in the
concert.<BR><BR>PKL: Quite likely. He asked me to interpret for him
when he went <BR>backstage to shake hands with orchestra members immediately
after the <BR>concert.<BR><BR>EHW: That should have been
interesting.<BR><BR>PKL: It was a little embarrassing. Since there
was quite a line-up of <BR>people waiting to shaking hands, the "conversations"
were mostly <BR>one-liners. My father's line was, "Music is an expression of the
human <BR>heart."<BR><BR>EHW: Why is that
embarrassing?<BR><BR>PKL: Well, after the first three repetitions,
I was no longer sure <BR>what I was translating made any
sense.<BR><BR>EHW: I think it is a beautiful
thought.<BR><BR>PKL: Most of the American musicians smiled and
nodded politely -- then looked at me as though I must have mistranslated. One of
the older <BR>members of the orchestra told him, "Yes, I agree that music is an
<BR>expression of the human heart. But some hearts are filled with
<BR>darkness."<BR><BR>EHW: What did your dad say to
that?<BR><BR>PKL: My father replied, "Then you and I and all those
in our <BR>profession must together illuminate the darkness of their
hearts."<BR><BR>*************************************************<BR><BR>End
CanKor #
303<BR><BR>*************************************************<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 14/04/2008 15:20:57 GMT Standard Time, mjcgibb@yahoo.com
writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>This was the JoongAng Daily's take on the book back in December. I think
this series can run and run.</DIV>
<DIV><A title=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2884432
href="http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2884432">http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2884432</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Michael<BR><BR><B><I>Brother Anthony
<ansonjae@sogang.ac.kr></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<STYLE type=text/css> .Bold { font-weight: bold; } .Title { font-weight: bold; font-size: 18px; color: #cc3300; } .Code { border: #8b4513 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px;color: #000066; font-family: 'Courier New' , Monospace;background-color: #ff9933; } </STYLE>
I might be wrong, but I do not recall having seen anyone writing to indicate
the publication late last year of the second James Church novel, Hidden
Moon, after A Corpse in the Koryo. I am currently enjoying it, and I would
certainly recommend it, but it would be very interesting to know how
people who are really familiar with life in the North respond both to the
setting, and, above all, to the central character. The idea of a western
writer setting out to represent the thoughts and reactions of any North
Korean, let alone a police detective, is quite mind-boggling.
Especially when this one proves able to quote words from a poem by
Robert Burns.<BR><BR>Brother Anthony<BR>Sogang University, Seoul<BR><A
title=http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/
href="http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/">http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/</A>
<IMG height=1
src="http://mail.sogang.ac.kr/receiveMDNResponse.do?from=ansonjae@sogang.ac.kr&to=koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws&mid=28829492.1208168591202.JavaMail.root%40mail&store=%2Fmindex1%2Fsogang.ac.kr%2F412%2Fansonjae&host=mail.sogang.ac.kr"
width=1></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV>Michael Gibb</DIV>
<DIV>Deputy Editor (Features), JoongAng Daily, <SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1201146709_5
style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Seoul</SPAN>
<BR>office 82-2-751-9206 <BR>mobile 82-10-3237-6873 </DIV>
<DIV>fax 82-2-751-9219 <BR><A title=mailto:mjcgibb@yahoo.com
href="mailto:mjcgibb@yahoo.com" target=_blank rel=nofollow
ymailto="mailto:aln1953@gmail.com"><SPAN class=yshortcuts
id=lw_1201146709_6><FONT
color=#003399>mjcgibb@yahoo.com</FONT></SPAN></A></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=yshortcuts></SPAN><A title=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/
href="http://joongangdaily.joins.com/" target=_blank rel=nofollow><SPAN
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