From ROK Drop:
7:36 PM (4 hours ago)Open Sources: Is South Korea running info ops in the North?from One Free Korea by Joshua StantonHmmm:
South Korea’s military has been dropping leaflets into North Korea about democracy protests in Egypt and also sent food, medicines and radios for residents as part of a psychological campaign, a legislator said on Friday. The campaign was aimed at encouraging North Koreans to think about change, conservative South Korean parliament member Song Young-sun said. The food and medicines were delivered in light-weight baskets tied to balloons with timers programmed to release the items above the target areas in the impoverished North, Song said in a statement.
South Korea’s defence ministry declined to confirm the move, citing its policy of not commenting on sensitive issues in its dealings with the North.
The food items bore a message that they were sent by the South Korean military and were safe for human consumption but could be fed to livestock to test safety, Song said. The leaflets also carried news of public protests in Libya against the country’s long-time leader, Song’s office said. [Reuters]
Publicly, the South Korean government’s position on the democratization of North Korea continues to be ambiguous. Privately, my conversations with the South Koreans and other informed observers convince me that the various ministries and personnel are divided in their views, and that the policy that results often appears uncoordinated. I hope this is true, because it gives me hope that the South Koreans are at least willing to consider more technologically advance and efficient means to disseminate information.
If that is true, it is huge, and it is wonderful. Also, Song Young-sun should be zapped with a cattle prod for revealing it in a press conference.
Speaking of things that people shouldn’t say in public, here’s a great way of sneaking information into North Korea that I wish the Chosun Ilbo hadn’t printed:
The most common conduit is North Korean traders who frequently travel to China. They store the pictures and videos on USB memory sticks and bring them out with them. “In February last year we developed ’stealth’ USBs and distributed hundreds of them in the North,” said Kim Heung-kwang of defector group North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.
Kim said when customs officials check the USBs on their computers, they look empty with “0 byte” appearing on the monitors. But after a certain period of time the content is automatically restored. “The stealth USBs appear to contain nothing when they are sent to North Korea and can easily pass through screening,” Kim said. “But South Korean dramas, news or other content are restored later.”
Although most North Koreans have no Internet access, they get information about the outside world through USBs, CDs or DVDs. Some young North Koreans who used the USBs ask NKIS to send more TV dramas instead of “dull” pro-democracy propaganda. [Chosun Ilbo]
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So, depending on what you read, the North Korean street is bubbling with discontent, just beginning to boil over, or mostly copacetic. I don’t doubt that this comment and link from Milton represents the sincere belief of at least one South Korean official that there is now unrest, and that soldiers are among those protesting. Nor do I doubt that this report, in the Korea Times, represents the view of some anonymous Unification Ministry official that he “has observed no signs of a popular uprising in North Korea.” Public inconsistency is what we’ve come to expect of the South Korean government, as any close observer of the Cheonan Incident will clearly recall.
I tend to think it may take a few days before we have a reasonably clear picture of this, at least in North Korean terms. I’m particularly skeptical of this reporting from the New York Times, which dismisses all of the reports of “a winter of discontent.” First, the Times doesn’t cover North Korea very well under ideal conditions (as in covering talks by getting quotes from diplomats). Second, these aren’t ideal conditions, so the race goes to the swift — those who have good contacts with traders and clandestine correspondents inside North Korea itself. Those reports are the most current, but I usually only believe them after I’ve seen three consistent and plausible reports from different sources saying pretty much the same thing.
The Times report still has some interesting gems for the reader, however, including near-universal agreement that reform is nowhere on the horizon, and these statements by the former British Ambassador to North Korea, John Everhard, who notes that “[t]he gap between the elite and the rest of the country has probably never been wider.” Then he says:
After the fall of East Germany, Mr. Everard said, top North Korean leaders were shown videos of former East German officials selling pencils in the streets, as a cautionary lesson on what can befall those who relax their grip on power.
____________________________________________
North Korea’s foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has reportedly caused the regime to quarantine Pyongyang. Interesting, military pork farms have been hit hard by the outbreak.
____________________________________________
The Daily NK has more on the decision to contract the boundaries of Pyongyang.
____________________________________________
An widely-attended exhibition on life in North Korea’s prison camps, held in Insa-Dong in Seoul, seems to have had a profound effect on one editorial writer.
____________________________________________
Strategy Page, citing South Korean sources, says that North Korea’s air force performed poorly when its aircraft were scrambled during the shelling of Yeonpyeong:
The flying skills of combat pilots was particularly bad, as was the performance of many aircraft (indicating poor maintenance). There were several crashes, and many near misses in the air, and a general sense of confusion among the North Korean Air Force commanders and troops.
7:36 PM (4 hours ago)Open Sources: Is South Korea running info ops in the North?from One Free Korea by Joshua StantonHmmm:
South Korea’s military has been dropping leaflets into North Korea about democracy protests in Egypt and also sent food, medicines and radios for residents as part of a psychological campaign, a legislator said on Friday. The campaign was aimed at encouraging North Koreans to think about change, conservative South Korean parliament member Song Young-sun said. The food and medicines were delivered in light-weight baskets tied to balloons with timers programmed to release the items above the target areas in the impoverished North, Song said in a statement.
South Korea’s defence ministry declined to confirm the move, citing its policy of not commenting on sensitive issues in its dealings with the North.
The food items bore a message that they were sent by the South Korean military and were safe for human consumption but could be fed to livestock to test safety, Song said. The leaflets also carried news of public protests in Libya against the country’s long-time leader, Song’s office said. [Reuters]
Publicly, the South Korean government’s position on the democratization of North Korea continues to be ambiguous. Privately, my conversations with the South Koreans and other informed observers convince me that the various ministries and personnel are divided in their views, and that the policy that results often appears uncoordinated. I hope this is true, because it gives me hope that the South Koreans are at least willing to consider more technologically advance and efficient means to disseminate information.
If that is true, it is huge, and it is wonderful. Also, Song Young-sun should be zapped with a cattle prod for revealing it in a press conference.
Speaking of things that people shouldn’t say in public, here’s a great way of sneaking information into North Korea that I wish the Chosun Ilbo hadn’t printed:
The most common conduit is North Korean traders who frequently travel to China. They store the pictures and videos on USB memory sticks and bring them out with them. “In February last year we developed ’stealth’ USBs and distributed hundreds of them in the North,” said Kim Heung-kwang of defector group North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.
Kim said when customs officials check the USBs on their computers, they look empty with “0 byte” appearing on the monitors. But after a certain period of time the content is automatically restored. “The stealth USBs appear to contain nothing when they are sent to North Korea and can easily pass through screening,” Kim said. “But South Korean dramas, news or other content are restored later.”
Although most North Koreans have no Internet access, they get information about the outside world through USBs, CDs or DVDs. Some young North Koreans who used the USBs ask NKIS to send more TV dramas instead of “dull” pro-democracy propaganda. [Chosun Ilbo]
____________________________________________
So, depending on what you read, the North Korean street is bubbling with discontent, just beginning to boil over, or mostly copacetic. I don’t doubt that this comment and link from Milton represents the sincere belief of at least one South Korean official that there is now unrest, and that soldiers are among those protesting. Nor do I doubt that this report, in the Korea Times, represents the view of some anonymous Unification Ministry official that he “has observed no signs of a popular uprising in North Korea.” Public inconsistency is what we’ve come to expect of the South Korean government, as any close observer of the Cheonan Incident will clearly recall.
I tend to think it may take a few days before we have a reasonably clear picture of this, at least in North Korean terms. I’m particularly skeptical of this reporting from the New York Times, which dismisses all of the reports of “a winter of discontent.” First, the Times doesn’t cover North Korea very well under ideal conditions (as in covering talks by getting quotes from diplomats). Second, these aren’t ideal conditions, so the race goes to the swift — those who have good contacts with traders and clandestine correspondents inside North Korea itself. Those reports are the most current, but I usually only believe them after I’ve seen three consistent and plausible reports from different sources saying pretty much the same thing.
The Times report still has some interesting gems for the reader, however, including near-universal agreement that reform is nowhere on the horizon, and these statements by the former British Ambassador to North Korea, John Everhard, who notes that “[t]he gap between the elite and the rest of the country has probably never been wider.” Then he says:
After the fall of East Germany, Mr. Everard said, top North Korean leaders were shown videos of former East German officials selling pencils in the streets, as a cautionary lesson on what can befall those who relax their grip on power.
____________________________________________
North Korea’s foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has reportedly caused the regime to quarantine Pyongyang. Interesting, military pork farms have been hit hard by the outbreak.
____________________________________________
The Daily NK has more on the decision to contract the boundaries of Pyongyang.
____________________________________________
An widely-attended exhibition on life in North Korea’s prison camps, held in Insa-Dong in Seoul, seems to have had a profound effect on one editorial writer.
____________________________________________
Strategy Page, citing South Korean sources, says that North Korea’s air force performed poorly when its aircraft were scrambled during the shelling of Yeonpyeong:
The flying skills of combat pilots was particularly bad, as was the performance of many aircraft (indicating poor maintenance). There were several crashes, and many near misses in the air, and a general sense of confusion among the North Korean Air Force commanders and troops.
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