Emily O'Brien 19913306 by

TASK 1: NEWS MEDIA ANALYSIS: TOPIC 1.2

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-03-11 04:49:07 UTC

The title already gives the reader insight into the contention of the author, Choe Sang-hun, and the mood set for the rest of the article ‘Korea’s painful reminder of Japanese occupation’. The article begins with Choe describing the statue known as the Peace Monument, which is also included to the left of the article’s text. A young girl who sits unsmiling, feet bare and hands held in her lap. She wears a traditional Korean dress. Her placement serves as a reminder to the Japanese Embassy, which sits directly in front of her, of the pain and humiliation that many women suffered through as “comfort women” before and during World War Two. The statue is a message to the Japanese officials that, “Japan should acknowledge what it did to as many as 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, who historians say were forced or lured into working as sex slaves at frontline brothels for Japanese soldiers.” (Choe, 2011) Osama Fujimura, previously Chief Cabinet Secretary at the time of this article- who has now left office- called the statue’s installation “extremely regrettable” and stated that his government would ask it to be removed. In response to this, Former spokesperson of Foreign Affairs, now a Vice Minister, Cho Byung-jae attacked the statement made by Fujimura and questioned his lack of understanding of the statues presence, “the Japanese government should seriously ask itself why these victims have held their weekly rallies for 20 years, never missing a week, and whether it really cannot find a way to restore the honor these woman so earnestly want.'' (Cho Byung-jae) Choe writes that in 1995, the women who suffered were offered a fund of a billion to as an apology and as compensation which was quickly rejected on the basis that it did not come front the Japanese government themselves, but from private donations. Choe also mentions that a meeting would take place (shortly after the time of this articles posting)

Choe ends the article with an emotional urge for speed, “Time is running out. In the 1990s, there were 234 Korean women willing to break decades of silence on their history as sex slaves. Now only 63 remain.” By using images such as the Peace Monument and the three elderly Korean women, as well as Fujimura’s quote, it’s clear Choe was trying to create an emotionally charged article and that he feels deeply about this issue. He also clearly sides himself with the protestors and affected women.

References

Sang-Hun, Choe. "Korea's painful reminder of Japanese occupation." New York Times, 16 Dec. 2011, p. A5(L). Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A275003679/AONE?u=latrobe&sid=AONE&xid=c20987f3. Accessed 15 Mar. 2019.

TASK 2: POP CULTURE ARTIFACT ANALYSIS: TOPIC 2.1

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-05 07:16:52 UTC

Taegukgi, released in 2004, is war film about two brothers Jin-tae and Jin-seok who are forcibly conscripted into the South Korean army at the beginning of the Korean War and the war impacted their relationship and the ideologies of Koreans fighting in the war.

After Jin-seok is forcibly taken away from his family to enlist in the war, his older brother tries to rescue him but is inevitably restrained and taken along with his brother. Jin-tae is promised that if he were to earn a medal of honour, he would be allowed to send his brother home. Whilst fighting for South Korea he begins to forget why he’s fighting so hard for the medal, and is slowly overcome with bloodlust and the need to win. Jin-seok tries to bring his brother back multiple times, but their relationship changes when a fellow soldier and friend is killed whilst Jin-tae is apprehending a North Korean Captain, shouting “I got him! I got him, alright!” (George K 2018). Jin-tae is promoted to sergeant. Jin-seok goes home to find his mother and instead is arrested with Jin-tae’s wife Young-shin on account of allegedly being in alliance with the Chinese Communists. Jin-tae tries to rescue his brother and wife, but Young-shin is shot and both he and his brother are arrested. Jin-tae tries to escape and thinks his brother was killed in the process. In reality, a soldier from their old unit recognises Jin-seok, rescues him and takes him to a military hospital whilst Jin-tae is arrested by the Chinese forces. At this point it is 1951, and the fight at the 38^th parallel has been in process for a while. Jin-seok learns that his brother has defected and joined the North Koreans, now leading a squad known as the “Flag Unit.” Jin-seok returns to the 38^th parallel and surrenders to the North Koreans to find his brother, when the US begins attacking. He finds his brother, who has gone mad with bloodlust and manages to remind him of who he is. They make a promise to reunite once the war is over, but shortly after Jin-seok escapes in the midst of battle, Jin-tae is shot. Taegukgi touches on the ideological processes of soldiers fighting in the Korean War multiple times throughout the movie. At one point a soldier points out that he doesn’t care who wins, “is that ideology important enough to kill each other over?” (George K 2018) The gruesome and tragic experiences of war changed the minds of soldiers and made them question why they were willing to starve “to death like animals.” (George K 2018) The movie also shows how war can alter the mind and personality and change a person so much that their own family do not recognise them anymore.

References

George K, 2018,Amazing Korean War Film English Subtitles HD, online video, 22 June, YouTube, viewed 31/05/2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdvAheHYGM&has_verified=1>

TASK 3: PHOTO ESSAY: TOPIC 3.1

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-05 07:19:07 UTC

TASK 4: OPINION (OP-ED) ARTICLE: TOPIC 4.1

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-05 07:21:27 UTC

Without an overwhelming show from Koreans for change, the Gangnam district which was designed to be one of the most consumerist spaces in South Korea and which lead to the acceptance of the “Gangnam Style”, it will continue to be a place of exploitation.

Seoul today is known as one the wealthiest cities in the world. Sitting over the Han River is Gangnam, a sprawling area known for its abundance of clubs, plastic surgeries, youth and expensive goods. It is a place of great monetary worship. In an attempt to expand Seoul and modernise South Korea, Gangnam was created during the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies, otherwise called as the “New Seoul Project”. Gangnam was also part of a larger transformation known as the “Miracle on the Han River” used to describe the rapid economic growth that underwent South Korea post World War Two, and where great city scapes emerged along the edges of the Han River and turned South Korea into a developed country.

However with this growth came the unchecked pursuit for private wealth and this was done by highlighting and encouraging the capitalist urban culture of Gangnam (Kim 2015 p. 377) This is partially what has led to the sociological nature of South Korea today. Seoul has the highest percentage of alcoholism and suicide rates and this is because of the behaviour that was and still is encouraged by the government: to spend, to surpass, and to be rich. “Gangnam, which grew out of South Korea’s industrial and urban modernity during the 1960s and 1970s, will continue to remain ‘a means of exploitation, or the newest fad of the richest class, the symbol of a profitable, spectacular efficiency” 44. I argue that the only way to combat this is by the Korean people coming together much like what was seen with the Impeachment of Park Geun Hye in order for the hegemony of South Korea to begin to make changes.

“Gangnam’s hyper faddish youth and glitzy residential towers stand today as a total betrayal to the ideals of early modernists who had deplored speculative desire and muted social concerns of the private sectors, and trusted that the sound-will of their welfare state is the only solution to those urban ‘ills’”

References

Kim, JI 2015, 'The Birth of Modernity in Gangnam, Seoul', Architectural Research Quarterly, vol.19 no.4, pp. 369-379.

TASK 6: COMPARATIVE READING ANALYSIS: TOPIC 7.1

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-05 07:31:55 UTC

In this analysis two separate texts relating to the Nuclear Politics on the Korean Peninsula will be compared. To begin, Andrei Lankov’s ‘Why Nothing Can Really Be Done about North Korea’s Nuclear Program’ will be examined followed by Ben Habib’s ‘North Koreans Nuclear Weapons Programme and the maintenance of the Songun System’.

Lankov’s paper outlines several reasons why North Korea will not be denuclearising under the Kim family’s rein of power. Lankov points to the “hyperrealist” and survivalist nature of North Korea as explanation as to why the Kim family has managed to stay in power for so long, even after multiple downfalls such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic decline and famine. He believes that North Koreas prioritises its regime survival over all other matters, which explains their cautious politics and why they will unlikely never relent their nuclear weapons, as it gives North Korea an advantage and a means of defence against foreign countries. Lankov gives examples as to why economic pressure to denuclearise will not work with North Korea by including the surrender of nuclear weapons by Muammar Gaddafi in exchange for economic gain and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances (Budapest Protocol). “The Budapest Protocol provided Ukraine with guarantees of its territorial integrity in exchange for the country ridding itself of the nuclear…no help whatsoever when the Crimean Peninsula was taken by Russia.” (Lankov 2011, p. 106) Lankov states that the only possible way North Korea may be pressured into denuclearisation is through the overwhelming attack of sanctions “bordering on revolution.” (Lankov 2011, p.107) Lastly he states that with the Kim regime in effect, it is unlikely that this situation will change in favour of denuclearisation, at least until a new power takes hold.

Ben Habib begins by stating that North Korea’s nuclear programme holds importance in the preservation of the Kim Regime and in the political economy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). He then introduces and outlines Songun politics, which was created by Kim Jong Il in order to show his commitment to fortifying their national security against foreign pressures. This show of dedication was also to provide the Korean People’s Army (KPA) that they would receive precedence to North Korea’s resources. Habib breaks his paper into three sections to show why he believes North Korea refuses to abandon nuclear power. “Proliferation for national security, proliferation to address domestic economic and political issues and proliferation for enhanced standing in international diplomacy.” (Habib 2011, p.47)

Lankov shows evidence as to how the DPRK may be forced through immense pressure, while Habib states that denuclearisation will not happen under Kim’s power as it provides North Korea with a strategic tool against foreign threats. While both authors have similar views on this matter, they go about presenting different information in their own ways. Lankov is heavy on past examples, while Habib goes into the politics and specific reasons for nuclear power relating to Kim.

References

Habib, B 2011, 'North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and the maintenance of the Songun system', The Pacific Review, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 43-64.

Lankov, A 2017, 'Why Nothing Can Really Be Done about North Korea’s Nuclear Program', Asia Policy, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 104-110.

TASK 9: SPATIAL EVENT MAPPING: TOPIC 5.1

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-05 07:44:52 UTC

With the geographical nature of North Korea, poor management of farmland, effects of Collectivisation, and collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, North Korea was plunged into a severe famine which took the lives of an estimated 600,000 to 2,000,000 people.
With North Korea being a mostly mountainous country, “with 75 percent of its area in hills and mountains,” and its agricultural area being “just 15 percent” (Nam 2007, p.122) it is already a vulnerable agricultural system. Farmland is located in the south of the DPRK as it contains most of the flat terrain.
Collectivisation was introduced in 1954, which followed three guidelines: increased productivity by enlarging the size of operations, known as Economies of Scale. Creating agricultural factories to ensure bureaucratic control over the population and removing private properties. . Shortly after this came what was called the Three Revolutionary Team Movement, where members of the Korean Workers Party were sent to rural areas to teach farmers a new and Juche inspired way to farm. This method did not work, however higher powers forbade any deviance in how things were done, and farmers were not allowed to invent solutions. Agriculture experienced a major decline and by the end of the 1980’s there was an acute food shortage. This was greatly exacerbated when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, who North Korea relied heavily on for their input. “The sudden termination of this aid in the early 1990s therefore delivered a mortal and sudden blow to Kim Il Sung’s North Korea” (Lankov 2013, p. 46). This halted the production of resources in North Korea, and the devastated country dived into a horrific famine which took catastrophic amounts of lives. After this the Arduous March began, which went on to shape many aspects of the North Korea we know today.
As mentioned, North Korea has a very small portion of farmland. On the map provided, the section marked by the pin has farmland along the coastlines of Kaesong, Kangwon and Hamgyong (not seen) up north. One of the ways that North Koreans tried to rectify this is by cutting into the forestation, sometimes on the hills above towns, to increase the area for agriculture. This destabilised important root systems and made natural disasters that much worse. As North Korea is prone to Typhoons, and because the root system of the once tree-filled areas had been removed, soil was easily shifted and floods had the possibility of becoming mudslides, which would destroy any town that happened to be near the farming hills. There are a few ways that the effects of the famine might have been lessoned if North Korea had chosen alternative options in how they managed their agriculture, however with the collapse of the Soviet Union it is evident that North Korea would have still suffered a great deal.

References

Nam, SW 2007, 'Chronic Food Shortages and the Collective Farm System in North Korea’ , vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 93-123.

Lankov, A 2013, The real North Korea: life and politics in the failed Stalinist utopia, Oxford University Pres Inc, New York.

TASK 7: AUDIO PODCAST: TOPIC 9.2

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-07 04:34:51 UTC

TASK 5: VIDEO PRESENTATION: TOPIC 8.2

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-07 07:05:13 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf1paMbpMWY

TASK 8: POLICY BRIEF: TOPIC 10.2

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-07 07:07:01 UTC

Executive Summary

What is the problem?

North Korea has been suffering through food shortages since before the Korean War. A heat wave and drought last year drastically reduced the harvest. The World Food Programme have been provided aid to North Korea since 1995, however the new sanction placed on the DPRK by the US in exchange for North Korea’s denuclearisation makes them unable to export in order to make money for necessities. “North Korea remains dependent on food aid to feed its people but government policy still prevents the swift, equitable, and intended distribution of that aid.” (Cammarota et al 2007, p.21) This sanction did not phase Kim Jong Un, who has stated he would not succumb to the pressure even if his people must survive on “water and air only”.

What should be done?

Aid is needed quickly, as over 40% of North Korea are in desperate need of food and 1 in 5 children are growing up stunted. The US policy makers must create a policy which states that sanctions must be withdrawn if the leader of the sanctioned country refuses to submit and cooperate and are willing or are putting their citizens at risk in doing so.

Introduction

Though the sanction meets all guidelines, there are no rules that take into consideration the ethics involved. Economic sanctions are made to put a country under economic stress in order to have them comply, for punishment or to shame them for endangering interests or violating international guidelines. The US have recently put the DPRK under economic sanction, restricting their finance and trade to pressure Kim Jong Un into relinquishing nuclear weapons. This has made the food shortage in the DPRK worse as the country cannot afford to maintain the already poor amounts of rations. It is not worth putting the millions of innocent lives at risk for the sake of denuclearisation. This sanction could also make the nuclear situation worse, and the country may respond with aggression if provoked further.

Responsibility to Protect (RtoP)

Many have already tried to punish North Korea for its violations of the RtoP). “It establishes norm that reaffirms the sovereign state’s primary responsibility to protect its own citizens, commits the international community to assist those states that are either unwilling or unable to do so, and authorises the international community to intervene when the state has clearly failed to protect its citizens and others within its borders.” (Akaha 2013, p.157) The United Nation Security Council has already requested an investigation into North Korea, however Kim refuses to cooperate and has denied claims of violations of the RtoP like crimes against humanity.

North Korea-China Relations

China is frustrated with the amount of illegal migrants entering their country. Accepting migrants could strain their relationship with North Korea. The DPRK acts as a buffer zone for China, so the declining strength of North Korea’s power would be a strategic loss for them. It is in China’s best interest that the population of North Korea

Conclusion

An Alternative measure must be taken instead of keeping North Korea under sanction. The sanction will not coerce Kim, it will only harm the population of the DPRK and possibly push it to violence. Aid must continue to be given to support the food shortage that North Korea is facing.

References

Cammarota, P, Crace, J, Worly, K, & Zaltzman, H 2007, Legal Strategies for Protecting Human Rights in North Korea, edn, Skadden & U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, New York.

Akaha, T 2013, ' The Responsibility to Protect and its Limits in North Korea ', in Kyung-Ae Park’s (ed.), Non-Traditional Security Issues in North Korea, University of Hawai’I Press, Honolulu, pp. 157-182.

Ellis, E 2019, The Ethics of Economic Sanctions, Internet Enclyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed 8/06/2019, <https://www.iep.utm.edu/eth-ec-s/>.

2017, What Are Economic Sanctions?, Council on Foreign Relations, viewed 8/06/2019, <https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-are-economic-sanctions>

2019, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Workd Food Programme, viewed 7/06/2019, <https://www1.wfp.org/countries/democratic-peoples-republic-korea>

Choe, SH 2019, ‘North Korea Urgently Needs Food Aid After Worst Harvest in Decade, U.N. Says ', TheNew York Times, 3 May, viewed 7/06/2019, <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/world/asia/north-korea-food.html>.

TASK 10: INTERVIEW WITH A KOREAN STUDIES SCHOLAR: TOPIC 10.1

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-07 07:09:20 UTC

My question was aimed at how Lind’s view may have changed since her and Bennett’s journal article had been written, ‘The Collapse of North Korea: Military Missions and Requirements’. As it has been eight years since both her and Bennett published the article and quite a lot has happened both within and outside of North Korea since then, I wondered if she had additional ideas or wanted to comment on the changes. I wanted to keep the question broad to enable Lind to respond to a number of things, but looking back on my question I feel that I was too vague in my questions and should have integrated more of the topics in the video ‘Hyeonseo Lee: My Escape from North Korea and Life Beyond’ into my question as it correlates with what Lind and Bennett discussed in their article.

POL2CPA Extension Email

emily_obrien_18 — 2019-06-08 13:10:23 UTC