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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>As usual, it is clear that we are not all
going to agree on this subject. It is however, unfair to refer to ¡®spoiled
brats¡¯ at the LSE; they were the ones exploited by Mr Sweeney, not me nor
anyone else on this list.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>It is noticeable that the BBC management
is saying that Mr Sweeney and his colleagues realized that there might be implications
for the students if the deception was discovered and that that was why there
had been no full disclosure of what was planned until it was too late for
people to back out. It is also noticeable that Mr Sweeney¡¯s BBC colleagues are
not buying his argument in the interviews that I have seen. They are also
pretty scathing about the idea that there will be anything special in a
programme made while part of a tour group. As Dr Keun de Custer has pointed
out, you can get any number of such accounts on the web.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Mr Sweeney has also, by apparently hinting
that he was an academic - he did not demur at the title ¡®professor¡¯ being
used - undermined the ability of genuine academics to go and probably undone
some of the work on such exchanges that has been going on for years. As the LSE
administration has indicated, this deception could have consequences far beyond
North Korea.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>And do not journalists protest vigorously if
others, such as intelligence agencies, use journalistic cover?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>As for it being necessary for journalists
to pretend to be something else in order to go to North Korea, that is just not
the case. Many do go. AP has an office there. They are of course restricted but
so are tour groups, so what is the advantage of the deception?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Jim Hoare<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Koreanstudies
[mailto:koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Minkyu Sung<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> 15 April 2013 13:42<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Korean Studies Discussion List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [KS] BBC journalists
pose as LSE university students in NorthKorea</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>From a history of journalism perspective, I would say, there would be
few contemporary journalists who try to claim their "public interest"
legitimacy by sacrificing innocent persons in society. In my view, the issue is
not whether or not visitors to North Korea are "among the world's best
protected people"--as Don Kirk shares his own travel experience in NK
there's a reason--but who can legitimately be sacrificed by the
"courageous" (this would be better than the term "heroic"?)
reporting. Can a journalist's moral sense for the public interest simply
overwhelm his or her ethical commitment?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Best,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Minkyu Sung<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On 2013. 4. 15., at </span></font><font face=Batang><span
style='font-family:Batang'>¿ÀÈÄ</span></font> 8:34, don kirk <<a
href="mailto:kirkdon@yahoo.com">kirkdon@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>This palaver is regrettable. There's no shred
of evidence any NKorean ever got into trouble for the shenanigans of visitors
-- the BBC mission having been one of many such ventures. I ran into the same
head guide for my visit in 2005 and again 2008. He talked to me at some
length. KNTO and Koryo Tours (the latter never handled my visits
incidentally) will go on as usual. Nobody's claiming heroics -- nothing
heroic about going there, very simple once you get the visa. Visitors may be
among the world's best protected people, shielded from all harm while also
shielded from seeing stuff they don't want seen. Trips can be quite routine
when you're led to some of the same places every time, but
they're the best one can do when the place is closed to the kind of reporting
one can do even in repressed dictatorships.(No other country on earth compels
visitors to line up in front of statues of their deceased leaders, bow and
place flowers.) It's unfortunate some listees don't respect what the
BBC, and others, are trying to do. Some listees seem to place higher priority
on sensitivities about which they have no evidence than the need to attempt,
against odds, to convey a modicum of understanding to the rest of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Don Kirk<br>
<br>
--- On <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Mon, 4/15/13, Ruediger Frank <i><span
style='font-style:italic'><<a href="mailto:ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at">ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at</a>></span></i></span></b>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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From: Ruediger Frank <<a href="mailto:ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at">ruediger.frank@univie.ac.at</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [KS] BBC journalists pose as LSE university students in North
Korea<br>
To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <<a
href="mailto:koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws">koreanstudies@koreaweb.ws</a>><br>
Cc: "Keith Howard" <<a href="mailto:kh@soas.ac.uk">kh@soas.ac.uk</a>>,
"Jim Hoare" <<a href="mailto:jim@JHOARE10.FSNET.CO.UK">jim@JHOARE10.FSNET.CO.UK</a>>,
<a href="mailto:BAKS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK">BAKS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK</a>, "don
kirk" <<a href="mailto:kirkdon@yahoo.com">kirkdon@yahoo.com</a>>,
"Morriss, Peter" <<a href="mailto:pete.morriss@NUIGALWAY.IE">pete.morriss@NUIGALWAY.IE</a>>,
"McCann, David" <<a href="mailto:dmccann@fas.harvard.edu">dmccann@fas.harvard.edu</a>>,
"Balazs Szalontai" <<a href="mailto:aoverl@yahoo.co.uk">aoverl@yahoo.co.uk</a>><br>
Date: Monday, April 15, 2013, 2:19 AM<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dear all,<br>
I find this behavior highly unethical and irresponsible, for a number of
reasons. <br>
In addition to the many points made already, let's not be too self-centered.
The feelings of LSE students and potential aid workers are important, but one
affected group we have ignored so far. There were <u>North Koreans</u> responsible
for that trip: folks from KNTO (the tourism organization) and others. They
will now, away from the public eye and not protected by a Western passport,
face allegations of not having done their job properly. I have always been
deeply annoyed by the fact that such allegedly "heroic" behavior by
Westerners - seriosly, what can happen to us in the worst case? - is taking
place at the expense of those nameless people who are left behind in NK and
who will have to bear all the wrath of the regime. We talk about human rights
in NK and so on in our Sunday speeches, but in fact we don't give a bloody
damn about the people there. This is disgusting.<br>
Besides, the NK state has also been lied to. Such behavior enforces
stereotypes about Westerners who cannot be trusted. Not that anyone would
care, but I wanted to at least mention that.<br>
Great, good job. And all that for stuff (I suppose) that I and 1000 others
have filmed again and again before? Wow.<br>
I have decided not to give any interviews to BBC anymore. Well, they'll
survive. <br>
Prof. Rudiger Frank, Vienna<br>
PS: I forgot the tour operator, most likely Koryo tours. Their business is
not going to get easier. But why should the BBC care? It's in the holy name
of truth (about others), isn't it. Collateral damage, so what.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
on Sonntag, 14. April 2013 at 22:15 you wrote:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I trust that some list members have heard of the lead
news story today on the BBC, about three BBC journalists who accompanied
students from the LSE – under the disguise of themselves claiming to be
students. A BBC spokesman has claimed that to film the documentary (due to
be broadcast tomorrow), it was worthwhile putting students at risk (Can
this be right? – it was what their spokesman said on Radio 4 this
afternoon). <br>
<br>
See: </span></font><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22144667"
target="_blank"><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22144667</span></font></a><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>.<br>
<br>
I would be interested in colleagues' reactions. <br>
<br>
Prof. Keith Howard<br>
SOAS, University of London<br>
Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG, UK<br>
</span></font><a
href="http://us.mc1623.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kh@soas.ac.uk"
target="_blank" ymailto="mailto:kh@soas.ac.uk"><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'>kh@soas.ac.uk</span></font></a><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'>; 0207 8984687; 07805 048801</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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