[KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic

Tue Aug 9 21:56:03 EDT 2011

Dear honorable list members,

a few "simple" pictures can cause a broad discussion on how and where their context lies, especially when talking about pictures from North Korea.

When one looks at the medial presentation of NK abroad, one cannot but get the impression that it is and extraordinary (more in a negative way, of course) system... and/but probably THE only place on earth which is left to explore for "brave adventurers".
Hence, foreign tourists usually have this one image in mind when talking about NK... how awesome it would be to have a NK stamp in their passports. So, what the press does is simply a good marketing campaign for Koryo Tours... while being rather ignorant to the numbers of tourists who travel to NK every year (since 2010, as most of you might know, even US citizens are welcomed. Also, you might want to check out this one, if you have not already done so:

http://www.reuters.com/video/2011/06/15/chinese-motorists-tour-north-korea?videoId=215962520&videoChannel=1

"Chinese motorists tour North Korea" from June 2011... nothing special, but a development nonetheless), not to mention the numerous NGOs, business folks and political visitors each year (many greetings to the Hanns-Seidel Foundation Korea here, their pictures are usually very interesting to watch, too).

Studying a major which is related to politics, one most certainly will come across the opposite approach. Here, usually the first note on NK is that we have to treat it like every other country.. at least from a realist percepctive were NK is a rational nation state actor who's actions can largely be predicted by its most basic goal, "survival"... nothing "crazy" here. The only extra-ordinary aspect is that NK refuses the international system and trends which most other nation states accepted or adapted to over time - or, as a coin always has two sides, the international system would never accept NK in its current form as to be "one among equals", a nation state worthy of being given this title.

If one enters the Korean Studies field, the picture of NK is also very mixed. The first two "common sense statments/observations" when I began to study were: 
1. "Verifiable information on NK are scarce, hence we cannot talk about NK as much in an academic setting"
2. Courses on NK therefore are likewise often scarce within Korean Studies programs (with the exception of those programs dedicated to NK Studies, of course).
So the academics also lead many to feel an excotic aura around NK.

As a personal side-note, I was stunned how "normal" NK tries to be or seem when reading about Koryolink, RedStar OS, North Korea's Pocket PCs... or the StatCounter.com comment from June 2011, which "web tracked" the activity of iPhones and Nokia smartphones in NK...
It is even more astonishing then that even in Korean Studies, one hardly finds a discussion about such issues and developments, which would clearly help to postion NK as the "underdeveloped wanna-be" that it probably is. Are we simply not talking about it because we cannot be 100% sure? Or because it is not covered by the media as often as the face of leader Kim Jong Il? (http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com , just for those who never heared about it)

To me, the danger of exoticising NK is to spread stereotypes and false information... and hence, is a kind of marketing that probably also helps NK in certain aspects. 
The problem of postioning NK as "ordinary" is that this association seems contrary to the common believe of what ordinary constitutes (certainly not "starving children", "dictatorship" and "shelling of islands") and would be regarded as an insult to those who suffer(ed) from the system's oppression. 
Since being accepted as an ordinary/normal nation state is NK's goal to survive, this approach would be/is also unacceptable to SK or the US etc. leaders (while being certainly in the interest of China, who claims that NK is nothing else but ordinary).

As for me, hence, it would be more appropriate to utilize several dimensions when talking about NK (and talk about them MORE, because only spreading information can counter false exoticism). 
NK hence might be regarded as an "ordinary country" in international politics, while being an "extraordinary country" in terms of globalization..simply because it bothers the every-day blogger not to be able to use Google Street View to see what's going on in P'yŏngyang.

With best regards
(and many thanks for reading my overly long comment this far) 

Michel Gerlach

---------------------------------------------------------------- 

Master's candidate in Korean and East Asian Studies 
(International Trade minor)
Graduate School of International Studies 
Sogang University 

-------- Original --------
> Datum: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 15:31:12 -0700 (PDT)
> Von: don kirk <kirkdon at yahoo.com>
> An: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
> Betreff: Re: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP\'s David	Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic

> Right, good questions. Many more than "one or two" -- including a few
> hundred thousand who've fled to China and elsewhere.
> Thanks,
> Don
> 
> --- On Tue, 8/9/11, Werner Sasse <werner_sasse at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> From: Werner Sasse <werner_sasse at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David
> Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic
> To: "list korean studies" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
> Date: Tuesday, August 9, 2011, 10:26 AM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dear Don,
>  
> Please read Charles' plea again: "that North Korea occupies the same
> planet that we do, and that it is populated by human beings with the same needs,
> desires, and general level of intelligence as people anywhere else. It
> seems to me that any useful criticism has to begin with this recognition of
> commonality, rather that the idea of North Korea as an unknowable Other.
> 
> To clarify my position: I am German and have for centuries been a victim
> of black-white press coverage where the Russians, East Germans ertc. were
> un-human... (and which idiot invented the "axis of evi"l? Let us get away
> from phrases and return to issues)
>  
> By the way: how do your books on Korean history explain the 19th century
> (another un-common country?)
>  
> Which rock song has the beautiful phrase "the Russians love their
> children, too...?
>  
> "...gulag system, dynastic succession and numerous other issues ..." YES,
> but there maybe still one or two N-Korean who is only trying to make a
> living..
>  
> Good thoughts,
>  
> Werner
> 
>  
> Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2011 12:47:53 -0700
> From: kirkdon at yahoo.com
> To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
> Subject: Re: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's
> David	Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic
> 
> Or could it be that NKorea, with its gulag system, dynastic succession and
> numerous other issues and constraints, is, in fact, not an "ordinary"
> country at all? It doesn't seem to me that it helps a lot to try to put NKorea
> in the "ordinary" category -- that's sort of an affront to a number of
> other places and nations, not least SKorea.
> Don Kirk
> 
> --- On Mon, 8/8/11, Charles K. Armstrong <cra10 at columbia.edu> wrote:
> 
> From: Charles K. Armstrong <cra10 at columbia.edu>
> Subject: Re: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David
> Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic
> To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
> Date: Monday, August 8, 2011, 9:42 AM
> 
> Dear Ruediger and all,
> 
> I would like to expand a bit on
>  my brief comments last week. They were not meant as a criticism of
> Aidan's taste or the perfectly fine photos in the Atlantic. What troubles me,
> however, it the continued exoticization of North Korea in the Western
> (particularly, perhaps, American) media that the article reflects. After all, it is
> unlikely that there would be a major spread in a leading American journal
> of equally fine photos of, say, Canada or France -- or South Korea for that
> matter. These images of North Korea warrant such attention because North
> Korea is supposedly so isolated, inaccessible, and alien that any
> representation other than the usual stock images is greeted with astonishment (not by
> members of this listserve, of course, but the general reading public).
> Anything that goes beyond the narrow standard narrative of military threat,
> starvation and gulags is jarring to an American media audience. This is not
> to say these things don't exist -- they certainly do -- but obviously
>  that's not all there is, and I am dismayed that the evidence that
> everyday life exists in North Korea is treated in this country as a journalistic
> discovery. My hope is that someday North Korea will be treated as an
> ordinary country. "Ordinary" here is not meant as a value judgment, as there is
> obviously plenty to criticize about the DPRK. Rather, I simply mean that one
> would never guess from most media representations of the place (at least in
> this country) that North Korea occupies the same planet that we do, and
> that it is populated by human beings with the same needs, desires, and
> general level of intelligence as people anywhere else. It seems to me that any
> useful criticism has to begin with this recognition of commonality, rather
> that the idea of North Korea as an unknowable Other.
> 
> best,
> 
> Charles
> 
> --Charles K. Armstrong
> Professor of History
> Director, Center for Korean Research
> Columbia University
> 930 International
>  Affairs Building
> 420 West 118th Street
> New York, NY 10027
> 
> Tel: 212-854-1721
> Fax: 212-749-1497
> 
> 
> Quoting Ruediger Frank <ruediger.frank at univie.ac.at>:
> 
> > Dear all,
> > I should add in Aidan's defense that he is of course quite aware of 
> that problem - people going to NK and getting excited over allegedly  new
> stuff that has been known to others for years. As an economist,  I suspect
> some marketing tactics behind these claims of exclusivity.  But guess what,
> it works. Nicely and sharply, as always, Aidan  called this the "Columbus
> effect" in a chapter (DPRKrazy, Sexy,  Cool: The Art of Engaging North
> Korea) he and his wife Kate Hext  contributed to a book that has just been
> published:
> > Exploring North Korean Arts. Nuremberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst, 
> available
>  at
> >
> http://www.amazon.de/Exploring-North-Korean-R%C3%BCdiger-Frank/dp/3869842148/ref=sr_1_1?s=books-intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1312714927&sr=1-1
> > Other contributors are Koen DeCeuster, Brian Myers, Sonja Haussler, 
> James Hoare, Jane Portal, Frank Hoffmann, Keith Howard, Ross King,  Marsha
> Haufler and Dafna Zur.
> > Speaking of marketing: This book was hard work, in many respects.  But
> I dare saying it was worth all the effort, for it is systematic, 
> rigorous, controversial, balanced, and full of highly interesting  information and
> discussion. Well, of course I think so; I am the  editor. So you better
> see for yourself. I have to work out the  copyright details yet; but soon
> the introductory chapter along with  a table
>  of contents will be available at 
> http://wirtschaft.ostasien.univie.ac.at I'll send out a note to this  list once this is done.
> > For now, you might want to have a look at the program of last 
> September's related symposium for an impression:
> >
> http://wirtschaft.ostasien.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/lehrstuhl_wirtschaft_ostasien/Konferenzen/KOREA_FolderSymposium_04.pdf
> > If anyone on the list is interested in doing a review, please  contact
> me for a review copy (and indicate where/when the review is  going to
> appear). My contact details are below. Or just convince  your librarian to
> order it so that your students have access, too.
> > Best,
> > Rudiger
> > PS:
>  A short note on Arirang, since it came up in the discussion (the  same
> could be said about posters and the rest of the propaganda  stuff): I have
> been there a couple of times, and it does change,  like adding a full new
> chapter on cho-chung ch'insOng. Most of this  is a reflection of changing
> priorities/nuances in domestic and  foreign policy. Some people find it
> hard to believe, but the White  Man is not the center of the world, and not
> everything North Korea  does is meant as a signal to us. I know; it's
> tough.
> > 
> > --
> > Univ.-Prof. Dr. Rudiger Frank
> > Chair of East Asian Economy and Society
> > Secretary, Association for Korean Studies in Europe
> > Deputy Head, Department of East Asian Studies
> > University of Vienna
> > Department of East Asian Studies
> > Spitalgasse 2 Hof 2.3
> > 1090 Vienna
> > - Austria -
> > 
> > phone:  +43-1-4277
>  43871
> > fax:    +43-1-4277 43849
> > institutional website:   http://wirtschaft.ostasien.univie.ac.at
> > email: ruediger.frank at univie.ac.at
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>  		 	   		   

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