Mick Hartley

The "Peace Olympics" were supposed to herald a new dawn in relations between North and South Korea. So far it's been all give from the South – including a bill of £2 million to cover the cost of entertaining North Korean cheerleaders, musicians, martial artists and journalists – and all take from the North. 

But surely the warmth of President Moon's response to Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong, and the enthusiasm with which every new demand from the North has been met by concessions from the South, will have prompted a rethink in Pyongyang – won't it? The Young Marshal will no doubt have learned some valuable lessons about trust, and warmth, and friendship – and how peace can at last be achieved on the Korean peninsula.

Well yes – lessons have been learned:

The North Korean regime has recently ordered ideological training for its citizens emphasizing that the unified Korean team is a result of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. Sources inside the country say that the training sessions, led by the Organization and Guidance Department of the Korean Workers’ Party, are already underway. 

A source in South Pyongan Province reported in a phone conversation with Daily NK on the February 13 that “there have been lectures taking place at various Party organization venues during the period of the Winter Olympics, emphasizing that ‘the unified Korean team is all thanks to Kim’s nuclear capabilities.’” The source added that the lectures have arisen from a special order from the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) at the end of January to strengthen propaganda stressing the superiority of North Korea. 

The source added that “following the dissemination of the special order, propaganda and agitation outposts at every level –municipal, county, and provincial–have been creating publications highlighting how the three Kims have dedicated themselves to nuclear development throughout history. These are being distributed at lectures and used as educational material for the ideological training of Party members and laborers.”   […]

A source in North Pyongan Province added that Kim Yo Jong’s invitation to President Moon to visit North Korea is also being touted as an accomplishment of Kim Jong Un in recent propaganda. Kim Yo Jong, vice director of the Workers' Party of Korea's Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD), was sent as a special envoy to deliver the invitation to President Moon and is considered to be part of the “Paektu bloodline,” a myth which the regime uses to legitimize its successive hereditary rule.

He added that lectures are taking place at Party organization offices and factories emphasizing that “the world’s great interest (in the unified Korean team)” is all thanks to Kim Jong Un’s attainment of nuclear capabilities.’” Moreover, “ideological training sessions praising the three Kims and re-teaching the ‘Ten Principles for the Establishment of the Party’s One-Ideology System’ are also underway.” 

Not quite the lessons President Moon will have been hoping for, then.

But exposure to the free world of South Korea – surely that counts for something.

However, it is a concern for the North Korean regime that the North Korean people are being exposed to news relating to South Korea. According to the sources, there is also ideological training stressing “the need to block the infiltration of decadent bourgeois culture to protect the Party’s unity,” as part of wider efforts to “stop fantasies about South Korea.”