North Korea has placed the blame on South Korean media for worsening North-South relations.
North Korea’s propaganda website Uriminzokkiri yesterday posted the contents of a panel discussion entitled “On the Conservative Puppet Media’s Recent Confrontational Rash Behavior(1).”
It was emphasized that, “These days the conservative puppet media’s confrontational slander and level of scheming is exceeding tolerable limits.”
The “machinations of South Chosun’s media” were also chastised for “playing a role in the escalation of North-South tensions as per their anti-Korean race and anti-North stance.”
The head of North Korea’s government weekly Tongil Sinbo also added, “On September 11th, the anti-Republic, scheming media group Daily NK discussed ‘changes in the North,’ ‘a principled response’, the North’s ’unilateral breaking of promises and unreasonable demands’ and that the North had to ‘change its attitude toward inter-Korean negotiations.’”
“Our sincere efforts toward improving North-South relations are degraded through these scheming articles full of foul, thoughtless statements.”
Reference to the postponed family reunions was also made; “Thoughtless, scheming remarks were made prior to the separated family reunions. These literary hacks sowed confusion in the minds of the people, and stoked fraternal animosity. As a result, a situation arose where the reunions could only be delayed.”
It was further claimed that, “They slandered our ‘Masikryeong Speed’, undertaken to construct a strong nation under socialism. The marvelous reality of the Republic is that it is bounding forth like a gust of wind, yet they said it was a move to ‘attract foreign capital’, and to ‘boost (Kim Jong Eun’s) achievements.’ They have not hesitated in desecrating our destiny and highest dignity. These great offenses cannot be forgiven.”
“This year, while North-South relations were in a terrible state, the worst of all were the ‘North Korea experts’. Every time we initiated a proposal to improve relations, the instigators of the puppet regime would say ‘Don’t be dragged around by the North’s tactics.’”
One such expert on North Korean affairs told Daily NK yesterday, “North Korea’s oversensitive response confirms that Daily NK and other South Korean media are accurately reporting on the weak points of North Korea’s rule. North Korea will continue to pass the blame for worsening North-South relations onto the South Korean government or media in order to gain the upper hand in negotiations.”
This is not the first time Daily NK has been the target of such criticism. On September 30th and October 4th, Uriminzokkiri specifically condemned Daily NK for “committing unspeakable treason by offending the North’s highest dignity.”
