The end of next month will mark two years since Kim Jong Eun took power. Since his rise to prominence, the North Korean media has taken its criticism of the South to a new level, and has run bilateral relations into the ground.
Many experts agree that criticism of the South via official state channels is now more conspicuous than ever before. However, one common opinion is that these criticisms, aimed at arousing conflict within the South, are largely speaking empty words that provide a view into the internal political situation in the North. That is to say that in order to show loyalty to Kim Jong Eun, North Korea’s propaganda agencies are attacking the South in a way that may result in the opposite of the intended effect.
North Korea is also offering up a different kind of propaganda from the past. After receiving ten years of unconditional aid from South Korean governments, the North is now facing a second consecutive administration that is focused on trust and principles. Rather than attempting to change the nature of South Korean rule, the North is now fervently dishing out criticism instead.
Yoo Dong Ryol of the Police Science Institute spoke to Daily NK on the 19th: “North Korea now quickly grasps the state of domestic affairs in South Korea, and are reacting in real time. Before, responses used to come a week or a month after an event, but under Kim Jong Eun something will be said by the South in the morning and a response will be received by the afternoon. They are very much on the offensive.”
“When Kim Jong Il was in power it was different, because there were no nervous or instantaneous reactions. In the course of Kim Jong Eun taking power, it could be that anti-South departments are in extreme competition with each other to show their loyalty,” he added.
Song Dae Song of the Sejong Institute believes, “As the Park Geun Hye administration was taking power it became clear to Kim Jong Eun that the people now see things differently. As the attributes of the South Korean government change and people come to know North Korean behavior better, it becomes increasingly more difficult to affect the South. In future, stronger attacks are sure to come.”
A North Korea expert who demanded anonymity also spoke to Daily NK, “North Korea’s criticism of the South reflects the hot blooded nature of young Kim Jong Eun, and the intensity and frequency of those attacks is only increasing. It is now at the point of obstinacy.”
“North Korea criticized the South for the purpose of stoking internal conflict in the past, but it’s hard to tell if this is the case in this instance. Rather, it’s a product of those in charge of propaganda wishing to prove their loyalty to the regime of Kim Jong Eun,” the expert explained.
So Jae Pyong of the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea said, “There are many in the North who still believe what is written in Rodong Sinmun, but its impact on South Korean society is now minimal. The level of criticism is increasing, and the goal is to gain the upper hand in North-South relations.”
Kim Gwang Il of North Korea Strategy Center agreed, adding, “In reality, there hasn’t been much impact at all on South Korean society. It has actually had the opposite effect.”
Some have pointed out that explicit support for pro-North elements in South Korea is unique to Kim Jong Eun. Kim Jong Il’s principle of indirectly attacking the South has disappeared. Rodong Sinmun now attacks South Korea on a daily basis, including dubbing Lee Seok Ki a “Unification Patriot,” and claiming that the forced dispersion of the Unified Progressive Party heralds a revival of the Yushin dictatorship.
