Mick Hartley

An interesting and timely piece from the Daily NK:

A North Korean defector has called on the outside world to provide North Koreans with a higher level of information than just TV shows or movies.

The Korea office of the US-based nonprofit International Republican Institute (IRI) and the US embassy in Seoul hosted an online discussion on freedom of information and North Korea on Friday.

Chang Hyok, a North Korean defector who took part in the debate, said North Koreans are demanding an increasingly higher level of information. He said in the past, North Koreans were content simply to enjoy TV shows or films, but now they wonder about new cultures, professions, and economics.

He said young people in their teens and twenties seek TV shows and films, while other people need information that can help them survive the fierce competition for survival.

Hyok also suggested that the outside world consider ways for North Koreans to safely access information sent into the country.

He said in the past, North Koreans faced nothing more than a stint in a forced labor brigade for accessing outside information, but now, they face time in a labor camp or even death. He claimed that North Koreans are not consuming information from abroad as they did in the past, complaining that they have no means to safely do so.

It's timely because South Korea now has a new president who's more likely to be sympathetic to this kind of approach. Former president Moon was desperate to appease North Korea at every turn – not that it did him any good – and even banned the sending of propaganda leaflets by balloon across the DMZ after Kim Jong-un's charmless sister went on a rant about the "rubbish-like mongrel dogs and cowering poodles" responsible.

We've seen recently how terrified of news and information from South Korea the Kim clique in Pyongyang really is, with its draconian laws against "reactionary thought and culture", and the brutal sentence handed out to anyone found in possession of South Korean videos. Plus now in particular North Koreans are going through desperately hard times, with the effects of sanctions multiplied by the self-imposed Covid isolation. 

There is reportedly considerable insecurity and discontent on the part of North Koreans due to economic difficulties resulting from protracted international sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korean authorities worry that ideological laxity will accelerate if a disgruntled populace comes into contact with information from the outside world, and are responding with extreme “politics of fear.”

This is to say, as the outside world works to send information into North Korea, it must also consider the safety of the people who access that information.

Another defector at the event said sending information into North Korea could be an important way to convey to North Koreans the concept of freedom.

Defector Ryu Song Hyon said he believes North Koreans have a very limited understanding of the term “freedom.” He said when he lived in North Korea, he realized he had no freedom when he used information from the outside world to compare his situation with the rest of the world.

Lee Kwang Baek, head of the Unification Media Group and president of Daily NK, said sending information into North Korea could change how North Koreans think, potentially powering the transformation of the country. He said the outside world should provide knowledge and information needed so that North Koreans demand democracy, human rights, and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Let's hope new president Yoon is listening. It could mark a decisive break with the old discredited Moon policies.