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<DIV><FONT size=4>Dear friends and colleagues,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Much as I defer to my elders (Jim Hoare) and
betters</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>(Rudiger Frank), I beg to differ on a few points:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>1. Surely there is no comparison between the odd
casual</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>one-off jibe - passing remarks, made in conversation -
and</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>the depth </FONT><FONT size=4>and intensity of the DPRK's
deliberate, planned,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>vicious, sustained, and above all </FONT><FONT
size=4>avowed ongoing campaign</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- all neatly filed as such on </FONT><FONT size=4>KCNA,
as I pointed out - </FONT><FONT size=4>against </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>President Lee. These are simply not the same sort of
thing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>2. I have been reading DPRK sources (in English) for 44
years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>One becomes well versed in insult and threat, and their ebb
and</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>flow with the ups and downs North-South relations. But I have
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>never read </FONT><FONT size=4>anything that compares to the
venom of the past </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>few months, </FONT><FONT size=4>even </FONT><FONT
size=4>before the </FONT><FONT size=4>rat campaign started. (One could
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>check this, as </FONT><FONT size=4>I did </FONT><FONT
size=4>in part, </FONT><FONT size=4>at least back to 1996 by searching
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>on NK-news.net.) </FONT><FONT size=4>How unique is 'unique
enough'?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>3. There is a broader Methodenstreit involved
here.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>While I understand why for political reasons one might
seek</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>to assimilate the North Korean regime to other cases and
places</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- it's normal, it's rational, they're human, it's not really
so strange -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I wonder how far this assists either social science
</FONT><FONT size=4>or policy-making.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>To downplay the DPRK's extreme singularity, shall we
say,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>just seems wrong to me. Statistically, it really is an
outlier:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>or sui generis, if you will. Of course that still leaves the
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>twin challenges of explanation and policy
formulation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>But what we are dealing with is in the main truly
exceptional,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>is it not? Isn't that where we should start? Otherwise
we</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>may risk downplaying what makes the DPRK so
distinctive.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Aidan FC</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black" lang=EN-GB><FONT size=3>Aidan
Foster-Carter<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black" lang=EN-GB>Honorary Senior Research
Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds University, UK</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 8pt"
lang=EN-GB> </SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 8pt"
lang=EN-GB><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><EM><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black" lang=EN-GB>E</SPAN></EM><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN-GB>: <A title=mailto:afostercarter@aol.com
href="mailto:afostercarter@aol.com">afostercarter@aol.com</A><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A
title=mailto:afostercarter@yahoo.com
href="mailto:afostercarter@yahoo.com">afostercarter@yahoo.com</A><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><EM><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria">W</SPAN></EM>: <A title=http://www.aidanfc.net/
href="http://www.aidanfc.net/">www.aidanfc.net</A><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria"
lang=EN-GB>W in Korea:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN></I><SPAN lang=EN-GB><A
href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http:/aidanfc.net/index.html"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">http://web.archive.org/web/20090202080126/http://aidanfc.net/index.html</FONT></A></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Cambria; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>_________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 5/24/2012 09:19:09 Romance Daylight Time,
ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=3 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Dear Scott,<BR>I don't want to
get political here, but I vaguely remember relatively recent phrases like
"unruly children" (Hillary C.) and "I loathe that guy" (George B.). Not very
mature either, I'd say. Besides, since when is a comparison across times not
allowed. The argument was that other states have applied derogatory rhetoric
at times when they felt that was necessary. NK very obviously is in crisis and
feels surrounded by enemies. Not that this would justify anything, but it
certainly helps to understand. <BR>Regarding the internet, of course the
Korean version is also meant for foreigners; alas, how many North Koreans
would have regular access? So we can (and should)
regard <U>all</U> of NK's internet propaganda as being directed at
foreigners; assuming this only for the English version makes little sense.
When Brian wrote about propaganda in Korean, he referred to non-internet
sources like Chosòn Munhak or all types of sosòl that are usually only
distributed internally or end up being ignored in the big libraries in South
Korea or the West.<BR>As much as I agree that Kim3 has a serious legitimacy
crisis (I wrote a few words here: </SPAN><A
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
title=http://38north.org/2012/05/rfrank050912/
href="http://38north.org/2012/05/rfrank050912/">http://38north.org/2012/05/rfrank050912/</A><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">), I do not think that the
current outbursts are unique enough to be counted as additional evidence. I
remember that very similar verbal derailments were more or less common until
the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, and then were picked up again from
mid-2008. I agree, though, that the NKs have recently stepped up their efforts
at making better (and at technically moe professional) use of the new media.
Just look at all the new websites by KCNA and Rodong Sinmun including photos,
videos and PDFs. <BR>I am not saying we shouldn't be worried. With a
young leader still struggling for legitimacy, making heavy ideological
mistakes along that way, and in the end betting on performance-based
legitimacy through economic progress, the chance for conflict on the Korean
peninsula is now bigger than last year. So it indeed does make sense watching
their propaganda closely. I just don't think what we have seen so far is
unique enough; I thus agree with
Jim.<BR>Best,<BR>Rudiger<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>on Donnerstag, 24. Mai 2012 at
03:06 you wrote:<BR><BR></SPAN>
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<TD width=1008><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'arial'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">--- On <B>Wed,
5/23/12,
jimhoare64@aol.co.uk <I><jimhoare64@aol.co.uk></I></B> wrote:<BR><BR><I>So
what we see from KCNA is indeed nasty - but it is not
unique.<BR><BR></I>Well, it is certainly unique in the present
historical moment. WWII ended over six decades ago. What other
nation-state today deploys such hostile, infantile rhetoric
towards its neighbors? I can only think of non-state actors like
Al Qaeda, but we all know what kind of organization that
is.<BR><BR>The point about reading the original Korean is
well-taken, but clearly the DPRK is intent on getting its
"message" out into the world in multiple non-Korean languages, as
its current revamped Internet offensive attests. In "The Cleanest
Race," B.R. Myers argues that DPRK propaganda tends to soften or
downplay its frequently racist, or hypernationalistic, message
when translated into foreign languages. As Aiden's paper makes
clear, such "softening" no longer seems so apparent when perusing
official DPRK Web sites these days.<BR><BR>What's going on here?
Is this is a sign of some sort of crisis of legitimacy on the part
of the new Kim Jong-un regime? Or have the North Koreans belatedly
discovered the power of Internet "memes," hoping to have some of
them "go viral" if possible? If this discussion is any indication,
it seems to be working, doesn't it?<BR><BR>Or, perhaps they're
tired of being seen as a sick silly joke by the rest of the world,
and have simply decided to double down on the last bad hand they
have to play?<BR><BR>--Scott
Bug</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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