<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">All those shots are from basic tourist trip -- I've seen everyone of those scenes, some when in NKorea on a tour that included the same AP photographer nearly three years ago.<br>Don<br><br>--- On <b>Sat, 8/6/11, Kwang On Yoo <i><lovehankook@gmail.com></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><br>From: Kwang On Yoo <lovehankook@gmail.com><br>Subject: Re: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic<br>To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws><br>Date: Saturday, August 6, 2011, 8:06 PM<br><br><div id="yiv2083292814">As long as outsiders are escorted by North Korean minders, we will always see the same type of photos over and over again.<br><br>Let's hope when the Associated Press opens their office in
Pyongyang, they will be able
to offer a little more insight into North Korean life.<br><br>Kwang-On Yoo<br><br><i><br><br><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/" title="Read full Article"><i>The Editors Weblog</i></a>.org</i><br><h1>
<i><b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b></i> <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(160, 255, 255);">opens</b> <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 153, 153);">office</b> in Pyongyang, North Korea</h1>
<div><span>Posted by</span> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/florence-pichon/">Florence Pichon</a> on June 30, 2011 at 3:48 PM</div>
<div>
<span style="display:inline;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/kim-jong-il-smiling.jpg"><img alt="kim-jong-il-smiling.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2011/06/kim-jong-il-smiling-thumb-200x181-10432.jpg" style="margin:0pt 20px 20px 0pt;float:left;" height="181" width="200"></a></span><div>
The<i> Associated Press</i>
has covered a few events in North Korea over the course of the past
year, but it has not delved into the darker side of life in the
authoritarian regime. It sticks to softer topics, including a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110418/ap_on_en_ot/as_nkorea_magic_show_6">huge magic show</a> and a <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=11843525">parade</a> that revealed Kim Jong II's son, Kim Jong Un, would be the country's next successor. Other <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> news coming out of North Korea has <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/northkorea/index.html">stressed the country's nuclear capacities</a>. </div>
<div><br></div><div>That may change. After signing agreements with North Korea's state news agency, <b>KCNA</b>, the <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> announced that it will open an <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 153, 153);">office</b>
in Pyongyang. It will be the first permanent Western text and photo
bureau in the country. It will also be the exclusive distributor of
video from KCNA's archive. </div><div><br></div><div>The news bureau is not the first step the <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> has taken into the country. Five years ago, the <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> Television News established an <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 153, 153);">office</b> in North Korea.</div>
</div>
<span style="display:inline;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/Associated_Press_AP_427370910.jpg"><img alt="Associated_Press_AP_427370910.jpg" src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2011/06/Associated_Press_AP_427370910-thumb-200x137-10430.jpg" style="margin:0pt 0pt 20px 20px;float:right;" height="137" width="200"></a></span><div>
The <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> prides itself on unbiased, international coverage, but in a country ranked so low on the Reporters without Borders' <b>Press Freedom Index</b>, how can it deliver? North Korea was <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html" style="text-decoration:underline;">ranked second-to-last</a> (177 out of 178, beating only Eritrea) in last year's index. </div>
<div><br></div><div><b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> has previously been criticized for coverage in an authoritarian country. <i><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2011/05/01/ap-report-cubas-may-day-reads-mostly-castro-propaganda-piece" style="text-decoration:underline;">Newsbusters</a></i>,
a conservative fact-checking website, condemned its coverage of the May
Day parade in Cuba this year, claiming it left out important details.
The demonstration was in support of economic changes by the Communist
regime, but the reporters left out facts about the government busing in
demonstrators or contextual details about food rationing. </div><div><br></div><div>The new <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 153, 153);">office</b> <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(160, 255, 255);">opens</b>
possibilities for Western media to more deeply understand the situation
in North Korea, if the news organization is thorough in its reporting. <b><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/29/ap-associated-press-north-korea-bureau_n_887147.html" style="text-decoration:underline;">Kathleen Caroll</a></b><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/29/ap-associated-press-north-korea-bureau_n_887147.html" style="text-decoration:underline;">, the AP's top editor,</a> told <i>The Huffington Post</i> that the news agency would not surrender its principles to satisfy the regime. <br>
</div><div><br></div>"The <b style="color:black;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 102);">AP</b> operates independently, regardless of Location. Period." <br><br><br><br><br><div class="yiv2083292814gmail_quote">On Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 8:07 AM, McCann, David <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:dmccann@fas.harvard.edu" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=dmccann@fas.harvard.edu">dmccann@fas.harvard.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="yiv2083292814gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding-left:1ex;">Isn't there a curious irony to the notion that on the one hand North<br>
Korea has a reputation for being forbidden or inaccessible, while on<br>
the other, any paying customer can visit the places the AP reporter<br>
photoed? Especially given the fact that "large parts of North<br>
Korea ... are off-limits."<br>
<br>
The challenge of these notions, though, is to determine where the<br>
crux of the irony is located. What plays against what else for ironic<br>
effect? For one set I would propose "sign up on a tour" versus<br>
"forbidden or inaccessible to foreigners."<br>
<br>
I have also heard it reported on good authority-- a former NASA<br>
astronaut with three space flights and continuing work with the<br>
Agency-- that in the not-too-distant future, space flights, earth<br>
orbit or eventually even the moon, will be available to anyone who can<br>
pay to go.<br>
<br>
What precisely is the point that Charles and Michael seem to wish to<br>
register? That any schmuck with a camera can take pictures of those<br>
government-approved places and those people in North Korea? I think,<br>
ironically, that Aidan made exactly that same point, only-- as Charles<br>
and Michael both noted-- they were indeed done well.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
David McCann<br>
</font><div><div></div><div><br>
On Aug 5, 2011, at 11:21 AM, Charles K. Armstrong wrote:<br>
<br>
> With all due respect to Aidan, I agree with Michael that there wasn't<br>
> anything particularly unprecedented or striking about the subject<br>
> matter of the photos, although they were done well. There is a<br>
> widespread notion that North Korea remains forbidden or inaccessible<br>
> to foreigners, and while there are certainly large parts of North<br>
> Korea that are off-limits, pretty much any paying customer from North<br>
> America or Europe can sign up on a tour and see the sights that the AP<br>
> reporters visited.<br>
> --<br>
> Charles K. Armstrong<br>
> Professor of History<br>
> Director, Center for Korean Research<br>
> Columbia University<br>
> 930 International Affairs Building<br>
> 420 West 118th Street<br>
> New York, NY 10027<br>
><br>
> Tel: <a rel="nofollow">212-854-1721</a><br>
> Fax: <a rel="nofollow">212-749-1497</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> Quoting "Robinson, Michael E." <<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:robime@indiana.edu" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=robime@indiana.edu">robime@indiana.edu</a>>:<br>
><br>
>> These are very nice, but not new scenes. Very standard by my eye,<br>
>> but nice to have a professional do them.<br>
>><br>
>> Mike Robinson<br>
>><br>
>> From: <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws">koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws</a><br>
>> [mailto:<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws">koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws</a>] On Behalf Of<br>
>> <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:Afostercarter@aol.com" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=Afostercarter@aol.com">Afostercarter@aol.com</a><br>
>> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 6:00 AM<br>
>> To: <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:Koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=Koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws">Koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws</a>; <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:baks@jiscmail.ac.uk" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=baks@jiscmail.ac.uk">baks@jiscmail.ac.uk</a>; <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:members@asck.org" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=members@asck.org">members@asck.org</a><br>
>> Cc: <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:coyner@gol.com" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=coyner@gol.com">coyner@gol.com</a>; <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:news@nknews.org" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=news@nknews.org">news@nknews.org</a>; <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:nkeconwatch@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=nkeconwatch@gmail.com">nkeconwatch@gmail.com</a>;<br>
>> <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:Philip@londonkoreanlinks.net" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=Philip@londonkoreanlinks.net">Philip@londonkoreanlinks.net</a>; <a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:nkleadershipwatch@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=nkleadershipwatch@gmail.com">nkleadershipwatch@gmail.com</a><br>
>> Subject: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David<br>
>> Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic<br>
>><br>
>> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/">http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/</a><br>
>><br>
>> Inside North Korea<br>
>> AUG 2, 2011 |<br>
>> 148<<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/#disqus_thread">http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/#disqus_thread</a><br>
>> ><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> Earlier this year, David Guttenfelder, chief Asia photographer for<br>
>> the Associated Press, along with Jean H. Lee, AP bureau chief in<br>
>> Seoul, were granted unprecedented access to parts of North Korea as<br>
>> part of the AP's efforts to expand coverage of the isolated<br>
>> communist nation. The pair made visits to familiar sites accompanied<br>
>> by government minders, and were also allowed to travel into the<br>
>> countryside accompanied by North Korean journalists instead of<br>
>> government officials. Though much of what the AP journalists saw was<br>
>> certainly orchestrated, their access was still remarkable.<br>
>> Collected here are some of Guttenfelder's images from the trip that<br>
>> provide a glimpse of North Korea. [37<br>
>> photos<<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/">http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/</a><br>
>> >]<br>
>><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>
</div></blockquote></td></tr></table>