North Korea is now more mainstreamed than ever, thanks to its new leader Kim Jong-un as well as a steady trickle of high-profile Western visits the past few months. Not everybody interested in the mysterious country has development or policy in mind, however…so of course it's inevitable that North Korea's coastlines would eventually command attention from surfers.
Certain locations in Asia have long been coveted surf spots--the Mentawais, Cloud 9 and Pasta Point, to name a few--but many of these spots are now known for their crowds as much as they're known for their waves. Perhaps one day the DPRK will function as an open member of society, but until then surfers will just have to gaze at these pristine, empty waters from afar.
Not too many people know that in 2000, as part of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, portions of the DMZ wire fence were removed and distributed as a call for peaceful relations on the peninsula. Seems like an appropriate time to revisit that gesture.
From the US Embassy in Seoul: "B-52 bombers fly over South Korea, once again demonstrating the depth of the alliance."
The US military held training flights over the Korean peninsula after South Korean banks and broadcasters were hit with a possible cyberattack from Pyongyang today.
Is anybody truly surprised about Pyongyang's latest provocations coming just after the Schmidt/Richardson and Vice/Rodman visits to the DPRK this year? Of course the threats from the North aren't wholly because of these meetings, but high profile visits from Westerners ultimately empower the dictator and regime.
Dennis Rodman is in North Korea on a "basketball diplomacy" trip with the Harlem Globetrotters and Vice Media Group. Understandably this won't please every North Korea relations expert right now, but I've always been a proponent of using all styles of engagement in order to progress communications with non-allies--even when the star is described as looking like "a monster!"
However…the main worrisome part about events like this is how the spectacle of the visitors--Rodman, Globetrotters, Vice--often overshadow their actual objective of cultural exchange. And let's not forget the sad truth about the lucky North Korean kids that get to shoot hoops with these stars--they'll come exclusively from the privileged families of Pyongyang that aren't fighting to survive through perennial food shortages and crumbling infrastructure. Rest assured that the footage of this trip won't include the reality of the impoverished majority.
Besides the North Korean prison camps that Google's map coverage recently detailed to the world, the country conducted its third nuclear test today--which also happened to occur right next to coordinates labeled "Nuclear Test Road." Needless to say, neighboring countries like ally China and even Iran have condemned the test.
The underprivileged lives of North Koreans are hardly a secret to those who bother to read the news once in a while, but sometimes the details are (understandably) lost in the spectacle of the country's rural poverty. John Everard recently shared some of his own experiences with Pyongyang's elite class and their infatuation with Hollywood and South Korea while he served as Britain's ambassador to the DPRK:
I was often asked for medicines, but not as often as I was asked for DVDs of television soap operas, usually but not always from South Korea. These portrayed a world of which North Koreans can only dream--of people who eat well in smart restaurants, have their own cars and live in flats where the heating always works--and my contacts devoured them ravenously. I once lent one set of DVDs of Desperate Housewives and met the same person the next day with big rings under their eyes. They had sat up all night and watched the entire series in one setting.
While detractors may dismiss a story like this as evidence of a lack of a severe humanitarian crisis, let's remember that this is a country with millions of people--many of whom still barely exist due to the most recent "hidden famine."
It seems like all of the American media is focusing on the Richardson/Schmidt trip to North Korea instead of how Pyongyang has reportedly enlisted German economists and lawyers to lay the groundwork for foreign investment. In other words, North Korea may be getting ready to finally open up.
Details are still sketchy, but one economist involved in the dealings has confirmed the existence of a "master plan" for North Korea to open its economy as soon as later this year. And interestingly enough, he signals a lean towards the Vietnamese economic model, which allowed specific companies to be recipients of foreign investment, instead of the special economic zoning model of close ally China. For econ geeks out there, that's a pretty juicy update if true.
Who knows how accurate this news is, but there are two elements that make this development pretty compelling. One, we're talking about economists and lawyers from Germany--a country that knows a thing or two about opening up a closed off economy amid reunification. And secondly, this foreign investment news certainly affords a new perspective on Gov. Richardson's and Eric Schmidt's humanitarian trip to North Korea. I don't mean that their trip's purpose isn't to bring back the recently arrested Korean American held there, but I wonder how much more is going on considering a Google executive is on North Korean soil during rumors of opening up to foreign investment.
North Korea ended up launching their rocket on Wednesday, after weeks of rumors that the launch would be delayed. South Korea, Japan, and the US are looking to China to step up its involvement in the matter.
For whatever it's worth, China's official statement expressed "regret" for the launch--a term their spokesmen have never used before when referencing their neighbor's provocations. But they still have not clarified how such action is a violation of UN resolutions. And while these test launches indicate a possible path toward a nuclear warhead, so far it looks like the North Koreans do not have a nuclear weapon that is small enough for a missile to properly carry.
Look for more of these attention-grabbing events from the DPRK in 2013 as long as their food aid remains cut off from the West.
North Korea's first skate park just opened in Pyongyang--makes me wonder if this is another step in the country's gradual catch-up game with the rest of the contemporary world.
This could be a positive sign, as skateboarding is obviously an American concept. (Traditionally, anything American or Western was condemned in North Korea.) But with the young Kim Jong Un in power, maybe certain aspects of outside culture are slowly being accepted within their borders.
MGM's Red Dawn remake sparked plenty of controversy even before the film's release just before Thanksgiving last week, mainly for the producers' decision to swap the "bad guy" roles from Chinese to North Korean people. For most viewers, North Korea hardly represents a feasible existential threat of any kind.
Strangely, emotions continue to run high regarding the portrayal of North Korea. In a Times Square theater in the middle of New York, a handful of North Korean sympathizers actually picketed outside the film's screening and later stormed the venue to protest the "complete nonsense" showing inside:
These individuals, who are associated with the World Workers Party, are clearly an extreme side to this dialogue. As a Korean American highly interested in North Korean issues, I question the motives behind this incident.
But this doesn't mean there aren't any other issues, such as the backlash towards the archaic "yellow peril" theme of the movie. A snippet of post-Red Dawn tweets shows how volatile our country's racial atmosphere is even today:
While a movie is just a movie--just as a book is just a book--stories are powerful things that can both inspire as well as stain minds. I think the only valid criticism of using North Koreans as villains (nobody wants to anger Chinese viewers anymore because big projects now depend on that very audience) is that the plot seems to take the easy way of storytelling by reliving the ignorant days of old Hollywood. Remember "classy" movies like Breakfast at Tiffany's, where some white actor depicts an Asian character with astounding amounts of aggressively-racist features, most of which are far from realistic or accurate.
Red Dawn didn't fare too well at the box office. Maybe that's just because the movie itself sucked, but it certainly is a positive sign that old-fashioned racism as a premise is no longer compelling and simply isn't what moviegoers wish to spend their time on any longer.
