CHINESE NAVY IN WÔNSAN

As someone who has spent a bit of time examining the Chinese presence--political, commercial, military--in Korean port cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (read all about it here), I found this article to be interesting.

I don't recall that the Qing Empire sent many gunboats to Wônsan (they were a frequent sight in Inch'ôn) but steamships from the China Merchants Steamship Company visited the port from time to time and the small Chinese commercial community there did a thriving business that far exceeded what their numbers would warrant.

Now the Chinese navy is back. Plus ca change ....

On the other hand, this didn't happen back in the 19th century:

Members of the flotilla of navy ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army headed by Vice Admiral Tian Zhong, commander of the North Sea Fleet of the Navy, laid a floral basket before the statue of President Kim Il Sung in the city of Wonsan in Kangwon Province of the DPRK.

They placed the floral basket in the name of the flotilla before the statue and paid high tribute to Kim Il Sung with deep reverence for him. -

THE CULTURE THAT IS SOUTH KOREA

Starcraft tournaments on tv!

WAVE OF THE FUTURE?

The PRC tests its first aircraft carrier.

China’s first aircraft carrier began sea trials on Wednesday, the state-run Xinhua news service reported, a highly symbolic step in what is certain to be a years-long effort to create a carrier presence in the Pacific waters off its coast.

The carrier, once known as the Varyag, left Dalian, its northeast China port for what analysts said would be a test of its rudder, propulsion system and other basics.

I'm sure folks in Taibei and those that border the South China Sea are thrilled.

"THE BLACK HOLE OF NORTH KOREA"

an NYT story on the difficulty foreign reporters have in making sense of the DPRK.

North Korea might be struggling with an unprecedented crystal meth epidemic. Reporting a story on the drug trade between North Korea and China, I spoke with dozens of sources: defectors, academics, policemen and even one North Korean crystal meth dealer, and I heard estimates that anywhere from zero to 50 percent of the population have tried the drug.

I painted a picture of the drug’s abuse for my article: part escape from the desolation of North Korean life, part medicine in a country with practically no healthcare infrastructure. Yet after months of research I have to admit that I have no idea what is actually happening inside North Korea.

This is all well and good (and has been oft repeated) but the author hides the lede which I think is most important:

I have no idea how many of my U.S. college classmates tried crystal meth, and I spent four years among them in one of the most open societies in the world.

The fact is, we actually have a considerable amount of information about the DPRK from official sources, defectors, foreign visitors, intelligence sources etc. etc. But at the end of the day trying to come to a valid conclusion about any society, nation, or group of people is much, much harder than it might seem.

ARIRANG FESTIVAL

Some video footage of the latest incarnation here. Somehow I am reminded of this. I wonder what the folks out in District 12...oops, I mean Chôngjin, think of all of this.

"THE FIFTH PHOTO"

a North Korean short story which warns of the perils of succumbing to the temptations of capitalism is summarized and reviewed by Andrei Lankov. Lankov's conclusion:

The message of this story is simple and easy to understand: Katya is Russia herself, she was lured into a trap by Western propaganda and scheming descendents of landlords, she was fooled into selling her great heritage and she ended up a pitiful prostitute at the bottom of the merciless capitalist heap.

The story is written to serve as a clear warning to North Koreans not to listen to the seductive voices from abroad and should remain on guard against their enemy.

Does this message work? Do reports about Russians suffering under the yoke of capitalism have much impact on North Koreans' vision of the world and themselves within it? Probably it does - at least to some extent, but whether this ideological construct can survive the unavoidable clash with reality is another matter.

Does anyone read or write such obviously didactic literature in the West these days? If not, why not? Have we as a reading audience become so jaded and cynical that we refuse to be moved or persuaded by such literature? Or are we simply unable to come to any consensus about what kind of messages ought to be conveyed?

"KIM JONG IL ENJOYS CHINESE DANCE DRAMA"

so reads the Chinese People's Daily (on-line version).

Enjoys? You be the judge:



For comparison's sake, go here (or here).