North Korean propaganda website Uriminjokkiri, which targets the South
Korean public, has been using the sinking of the passenger ferry “Sewol” as a
stick with which to beat President Park Geun Hye since the beginning of the
month. And it is not just that website, either. Other North Korean government
media outlets, including Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the Central Committee of
the ruling Chosun Workers Party, have all described the Sewol disaster as a natural
outcome of Park’s “inhumane
politics” and focused on utilizing it to the fullest extent in their
propaganda war against her. Weekly North
Korean state publication Tongil Sinbo was among those that contrasted the
recent remodelling of Songdowon International Children’s Camp with events concerning the South, saying, “It has become
abundantly clear which, South or North, is heaven and which is hell.” The
North Korean authorities had clearly decided to use the Sewol disaster as part
of propaganda about the superiority of their system.
However, the collapse of a 23-storey building in downtown Pyongyang has
rendered that propaganda baseless. The South Korean government estimates that,
because of the collapse of this incomplete building, which had residents
nevertheless, several hundred people lost their lives. The North Korean
authorities, in an unprecedented move, reported on the accident and informed the
world that several high level officials, including Choe Pu Il of the North
Korean equivalent of the police, had been forced to make public apologies to
the people. Some then interpreted this as a sign that the Kim Jong Eun regime
is trying to emphasize how seriously it takes the safety of the North Korean
people. However, others say that given the size of the disaster, the regime
could not have hidden it and that this was probably the real reason why they chose
to respond in the way they did. This argument holds that instead of letting
gossip spread about this absurd tragedy, owning up, publicly acknowledging it
and apologizing made sense in terms of minimizing the potential for popular
outrage.
The authorities, while reporting the news, stated that they wished for the
forgiveness of the bereaved and the residents of the district, and that the
Party and state were pursuing emergency measures to ensure that survivors
recovered and were given new housing as soon as possible. Furthermore, it was
reported that Kim Jong Eun, “Upon receiving news of the tragedy, was so
overcome with sadness that he could not sleep” and that he immediately commanded the
military to stop at nothing in waging a battle to rescue the victims. The
authorities clearly wanted to let it be known that they were doing all that
they possibly could.
But did they really do all they could?
Even if one just looks at what the North Korean media did report, the
authorities’ attitude toward the
victims looks questionable. Via Chosun Central News Agency
(KCNA), they stated that emergency tools were immediately mobilized after the
disaster and a battle to rescue survivors ensued. This battle was wrapped up on
the 17th, it also said. But the disaster
itself occurred on the 13th, and so what they were saying is that rescue
efforts, and the entire clean-up operation that followed, was completed in just four days.
In this situation, another mystery is why, on the 19th, Kim
Jong Eun behaved as if it were just another day, going to see a football match
and a Moranbong Band concert. If one takes a look at the photos that
the North Korean media released, Kim Jong Eun does not look all that
gloomy. If they intended to present Kim Jong Eun as “a leader who loves his people,” shouldn’t they have shown him acting with a modicum of respect for the victims?
