The fallacy of regime change in N. Korea and distorted perceptions of defectors

[soryang]

The fallacy of regime change in N. Korea and distorted perceptions of defectors among S. Koreans and Americans
Posted on : Apr.14,2020 18:16 KST Modified on : Apr.14,2020 18:16 KST
Hankyoreh

By Park Han-sik, professor emeritus at the University of Georgia

The air is electric as the parliamentary elections approach on Apr. 15. Since I’ve been studying political science for more than 50 years in the US, South Korea’s politics are always of interest to me. But this election carries unusual significance because I’ve detected a pattern that sets this election apart from previous ones: the political activity of North Korean defectors.

More than half of North Koreans who defect to South Korea reportedly live in a state of extreme poverty. Their hardship should be easy to deduce from their suicide rate, which is three times that of South Koreans — a remarkable fact, considering that South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the world. I’ve been told that one way for defectors to rise above their difficult circumstances is to appear on TV shows. But most of the stories they tell on TV demonize the North.

I’ve spent my life studying North Korea, a country that I’ve visited more than 50 times. But I’m often nonplussed by what defectors say on TV. So much of what they say just isn’t true. The same goes for the self-proclaimed North Korean experts among the defectors who expound on North Korean politics.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/937029.html

[Beakybird]

1. So it's not so bad there.

So the prison camps we see with satellite cameras are actually amusement parks, and the nuclear warheads are just glitter bombs.