It’s time for a closer look inside the pages of Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s Party-run publication. While mainly used for propaganda to glorify the Kim regime, it nonetheless gives us valuable insights into the thinking of North Korea’s leadership. Here to tell us more is Jang Seong Mu, who defected from North Korea and is now a broadcaster here in South Korea.
1. On page five of the July 11th edition of the Rodong Sinmun, there is an editorial titled, “Fanatics engage in typical plotting.” It asserts that the South Korean government is fabricating a story involving North Korean spies. However, since the way that South Korea deals with spies is so much more liberal than the way that the North does, this article could actually provoke a backlash. It seems as if the North Korean authorities don’t quite grasp this fact. Is that the case?
Yes, I think that’s true. This article shows that the author doesn’t have a good understanding of the South. The release of this article was timed alongside the arrest and capture of two individuals in South Korea on spying charges. On June 1, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) information commission published information about the arrest of an individual who was sending information about South Korea to the North through email at a computer cafe. In addition, an accomplice was apprehended in Anseong City, Gyeonggi Province. North Korea’s assertion that these arrests are manufactured plots by the South Korean government is lacking in evidence. In South Korea, any such attempt to frame an innocent party could come to light and bring devastating consequences.
The North Korean authorities intentionally printed this article at this time. The purpose is to support the captured spies by launching a barrage of propaganda artillery. The goal is to discredit the arrest of the spies while also making it appear as if the authorities have no connection to them.
2. When Kim Jong Un purges his aides and associates, doesn’t he often use the charge of spying as justification for doing so?
After Kim Jong Un rose to power, we’ve seen a continuation of some of the policies utilized by his predecessors – grandfather Kim Il Sung and father Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Un similarly uses accusations of espionage as an excuse to engage in political purges. On the other hand, espionage cases are heard in a public court in South Korea. The proceedings are transparent. In North Korea, however, those detained on espionage charges are immediately framed as having accepted money from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service to divulge North Korea’s state secrets. The public has no way to know an accused individual’s fate: Did they receive a trial? Were they executed? Sent to a political prison camp?
From my understanding, North Korea executes people ultimately convicted of coming from South Korea to engage in espionage. As a result, North Korean people believe such consequences to be the norm, and are unaccustomed to the idea of letting a spy live. In other words, it is expected that anyone caught doing spy activities will disappear into the dark of night.
3. The commentary asserted that the South Korean government is shutting up any citizen who supports democracy and unification in the name of patriotism. It says that we’re seeing a repetition of the Yushin Restoration [when Park Chung Hee rose to power], which involved torture and massacres. However, isn’t this more a reflection of the current North Korean government’s status?
North Korea’s infractions are certainly more severe. In South Korea, those accused of espionage are given a fair trial that follows legal procedures. They have the right to a lawyer and the proceedings are public. But the commentary in the Rodong Sinmun asserts that South Korea indiscriminately grabs people, charges them with espionage, and then locks them up to be tortured just as they were during the dictatorial period. This is a purposeful attempt to force these incidents into a current, if spurious, context, as Park Chung Hee is the father of South Korea’s current president, Park Geun Hye.
4. There is a dramatic difference in punishment between North Korean spies caught in South Korea and those accused of espionage in North Korea. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
That’s right. In the past, when long term prisoners of South Korea were returned to North Korea, the Rodong Sinmun printed a prominent story about them ranging from page one to page six, showing their pictures and telling their stories. People in the North were shocked to see that. These were individuals who left North Korea in the 1960s to engage in espionage down South. Most North Koreans assumed that any spies who were caught had been executed. This helped many of them realize that the South was quite different from the North.
This has been a closer look inside the pages of the Rodong Sinmun. Thanks for checking in.
