Index

Women in Business & Ministry of Finance workshops

Propaganda in Pyongyang

  • Poster showing missiles targeted at the White House. Slogan reads "Not going forward with words, Only with a gun"
    • The missile poster is also seen in this screen grab from their nightly news.
    • There is definitely a lot of irony in watching their histrionics while sipping espresso in a well-appointed chandelier-lit hotel coffee shop. See http://chosonexchange.org/?p=2052 for a review of the coffee shop.

    Early 2013 war rhetoric

    • Sigh. Hopefully the little girl has already learnt to ignore the propaganda poster "The time for the Great War of Unifcation has come. Destroy the enemy !"
    • Mar 29 anti-American/ROK rally at Kim Il Sung Square. Children were skating in the square in the morning, then the rally took place, and by evening, children were back skating. Red flowers brought to the Square by rally participants can just be seen in this photo. We were not allowed to attend the rally close-up.

    West Sea Barrage

    We took a trip out to Nampo to see the West Sea Barrage after completing the workshops. The barrage is hailed as a great achievement of socialist construction and of course the visit was not complete without a viewing of the official propaganda video. Apart from the expected tributes to the co-operation between workers and soldier-builders of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and accolades for the advancement in industrial capacity that enabled the construction of the Barrage, the video also highlighted Kim Jong Il's appointment by the Great Leader Kim Il Sung, to lead the project. This piece of information was clearly designed to legitimize the transfer of power from father to son. Strangely, the dam was constructed 1981-1986 but Kim Jong Il did not take office till 1994 when his father died. It would be interesting to find out when this video was made. The video even uses the device of starting in black-and-white then turning into colour as construction progresses and when Kim Jong Il appears. Checkout the video on Youtube (http://goo.gl/K0dJv).
        • Kim Jong Il (standing) receiving the mantle of authority from the Great Leader Kim Il Sung (seated) while presenting an update on the progress of the project.
          • Inspection tour. Kim Il Sung seeing the work of his son and affirming that all is well.
          • Foreign dignitaries shown visiting the barrage to show that DPRK is highly respected in the world. Even former presidents of the Imperialist Aggressor can be roped in to bolster domestic perceptions of the DPRK's position in the world.