The North Korean media has hit back at reports that people who did not participate in the mourning period events for Kim Jong Il are being severely punished, calling the claims “the scandalous slander of underhanded people.”.
The criticism came in response to claims by a North Korean source on January 10th that, “The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn’t seem genuine.” The Daily NK source also claimed that people accused of circulating rumors criticizing the country’s 3rd generation dynastic system are being seriously punished.
In response, an editorial carried by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) on the 14th asserted, “The noble blood and tears of our people have been blasphemed by spurious claims of coerced sadness and stage-management,” adding, “The propaganda of the South Chosun puppets is reaching a level that can no longer be tolerated.”
KCNA also strongly denied that the government is sending people who did not cry at the mourning events to prison camps or that military units have been ordered to ‘exterminate’ anybody who tries to defect along with their family.
“The government-controlled media of Lee Myung Bak and his gang of traitors have also printed impertinent, improvident nonsense about the time and location of the fatherly General’s passing,” it went on. “We will bring punishment to generation after generation of the gang of traitors that will make them shudder.”
Analyzing the North Korean media strategy, one defector who used to hold a senior position in North Korea told Daily NK, “Given that stability of the system is the most important thing for North Korea right now following Kim Jong Il’s death, making claims that the mourning events were conducted with voluntary public participation functions as an attempt to display both internally and externally that there are no problems regarding unity.”
According to internal sources, most who participated in events during the mourning period were indeed merely going through the motions. Sources say that many of those who did cry were forcing tears, fearing later repercussions if they did not.
The North Korean authorities also ordered citizens at mourning events to ‘act tactfully’ and demanding that clothing be, given the inclement weather conditions, quite inadequate, with no hats or gloves allowed.
“Defamation” is a term often used by North Korea’s external media, notably whenever internal human rights issues are raised, such as during the prominent public events last year calling for the return of Shin Suk Ja and her two daughters.
