North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

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But even though the media serve as a political tool of the Kim regime, they are not without news value, because the propagandist needs the raw material of news content in order to tell his story. The intelligent news consumer can often separate content from spin to get to the real news. To take an example, when Nodong Sinmun tells its readers that in the months after invading Iraq, the U.S. forces fell into a “trap” set by resistance forces, the article provides background with the news that “it took only some 40 days for the U.S.-led coalition forces to occupy Iraq.” 36 Trap or no trap, the astute reader can infer that U.S. military power must be formidable if it vanquished the Iraqi army in a matter of weeks. Likewise, the domestic press waited almost a month before informing its audience (in a Korean Central Broadcast Station news item) that Saddam Hussein had been captured. The news was placed in the background of a piece about the continuing attacks against U.S. forces by Iraqis. 37 An interesting question is why the press chose to publish either piece of hard news, given that neither the quick U.S. victory nor Saddam’s capture was necessary for, or even relevant to, the main themes of these respective news articles. At other times, so many facts are left out of a news story that the audience probably can make neither head nor tail of it. For example, Korean Central Television (KCTV), presumably referring to speculation that the new nuclear transparency of Iran and Libya might have some effect on North Korea, cryptically says: “Recently, the United States has been extensively advertising on the incidents [left unspecified in the news item] they orchestrated in some Middle East countries and is having a hallucination that the effects from these incidents will be reproduced on the Korean peninsula. . . . To expect a change in our position is the same as expecting a shower from clear sky.” 38 Saying that the North Korean news is censored would falsely imply that much of the news gets through, although with some distortion. In fact, only a few foreign and domestic news items find their way into the North Korean press, and even those items are usually published days or even weeks after the event, giving the North Korean propagandists time to evaluate the outcome of events and decide how best to report them. Items for broadcast or publication are selected with great care. Like all organizations in North Korea, the print and electronic media operate under the dual authority of the party and the government. If a published item reflects badly on the leader or the party, those responsible for its publication may lose their jobs and possibly even be banished to the countryside. 36 Paek Mun-kyu, “Fate of an Occupier Who Has Fallen into a Trap from Which There Is No Escape,” Nodong Sinmun, November 28, 2003, p. 6. FBIS KPP20031217000136. 37 KCBS, January 8, 2004. FBIS KPP20040110000030. 38 Korean Central Television, January 9, 2004. FBIS KPP20040109000087. III-14
According to a KCBS scriptwriter who defected in 1996, reporters and writers receive monthly topic guidelines from the KWP’s Propaganda and Agitation Department. Approved topics are similar from one month to the next: the greatness of the Kims, the value of “our style of socialism,” and the corrupt nature of the United States, Japan, and “reactionary” elements in South Korean society. After news items are composed, they are submitted to the writing staff for review, and then sent up to the director of the news department. 39 As stories work their way through layers of inspection, they reach the General Bureau of Publications Guidance, and finally the appropriate news department of the KWP’s Propaganda and Agitation Department. Important items (e.g., editorials and commentaries) are undoubtedly submitted to Kim Jong-il for approval. According to one source, most of the copy for newspapers is submitted a month ahead of time, and over half of the typesetting is completed several days before publication. 40 For the domestic audience, North Korea has four national newspapers, one AM radio station, and three television stations. Also, each province publishes a daily newspaper comparable to the Pyongyang Daily. The only news agency is KCNA, the Korean Central News Agency, which reportedly employs between 500 and 1,000 people who gather international and domestic news, process that news, publish some of it internationally in English and other languages (for example, through the KCNA web site at http://www.kcna.co.jp), and make some of it available to the domestic news media. 41 Until the mid-1990s, reports out of North Korea indicated that about a thousand top cadres received Chamgo Tongsin (Reference News), a kind of Early Bird publication that provides not so much news, but challenging current issues to think about. 42 Reference News may now be distributed on the intranet. Recent articles in the North Korean press mention problems in getting newspapers to readers: “The roles of the functionaries in the post and telecommunications sector are greatly related with the smooth operation of distribution publications, including the official party paper, cable broadcasting, and television broadcasting, which carry our party’s voice. . . . Above all, the post and telecommunications sector must make sure that the publications, including the official party newspaper, should be immediately distributed without delay.” 43 39 News conference by former North Korean broadcast scriptwriter Chang Hae-song, KBS-1 Television in Seoul, June 7, 1996. FBIS-EAS-96-112, June 10, 1996, pp. 37-45 (FTS19960607000179). Also see Yonhap’s North Korea Handbook, p. 410. 40 Yonhap’s North Korea Handbook, p. 410. 41 Yonhap’s North Korea Handbook, p. 410. Also, Yonhap, September 18, 2003. FBIS KPP20030918000039. 42 Paeng Won-sun, “North Korea’s News Agency,” Pukhanui Ollon, December 30, 1999, pp. 227-244. FBIS KPP20031009000077. 43 “Relay Party’s Ideology and Intention to the Masses in a More Timely, Faster Way,” October 6, 2003, p. 3. FBIS KPP20031106000049. III-15
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INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES Nort
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INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES IDA
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CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & INTROD
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To write accurately about North Kor
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technocrats, provincial and county
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PREFACE This paper will examine in
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ABBREVIATIONS AGI CCSKA COMSEC DoD
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information streams, and from him t
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within the hands of a few individua
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and whether or not he will embarras
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to the lowest-levels of the KPA. As
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strengthening of all armed forces,
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esearch institutes and “think tan
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The primary missions of the Reconna
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communication that generally fall o
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of the State Security Department or
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maintaining strict control over the
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agencies in the ROK and Japan began
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The Guard and Security Commands, wh
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eports that are funneled up through
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Complicating the entire “Kim-cent
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Within the military, this dynamic c
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him that all significant orders and
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Until the 1990s, the electronic med
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II. THE NORTH KOREAN LEADERSHIP: SY
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TABLES 1. Key Family Members in the
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The factional struggles in North Ko
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A. INTRODUCTION By definition, a to
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C. THE TECHNOLOGY OF POWER A Party
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document control bureaus in each mi
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Originally implemented in 1994 and
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Table II-1. Key Family Members in t
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of associates who trace their relat
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September 9, 2003, showed a change
Page 81 and 82: Chart II-2: Secretariat 5. Kye Ung-
Page 83 and 84: Members 1. Yi Ul-sul 4. Yi Yong-mu
Page 85 and 86: Table II-6. Kim Chong-il’s Princi
Page 87 and 88: Table II-7. Kim Chong-il’s Person
Page 89 and 90: chance to unfold. In terms of syste
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Page 93 and 94: At the second echelon of power, Kim
Page 95 and 96: D. FLOW OF INFORMATION George Kenna
Page 97 and 98: about things that affect their care
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Page 101 and 102: For the rest of the North Korean le
Page 103 and 104: the focus for not only a significan
Page 105 and 106: At the 11 th Supreme People’s Ass
Page 107 and 108: There is little doubt that one of t
Page 109 and 110: decision-making process. Moreover,
Page 111: III. THE WELL-INFORMED CADRE RALPH
Page 115 and 116: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DEFINITIONS AND A
Page 117: greater access to first-hand inform
Page 120 and 121: The first question addressed by thi
Page 122 and 123: But this lack of enthusiasm is prob
Page 124 and 125: as the 1950s. 16 The security organ
Page 126 and 127: Another way to look at divisions wi
Page 128 and 129: Because the Kim regime governs acco
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Page 134 and 135: Newspapers The DPRK’s premier new
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Page 138 and 139: Page 2: • Kim Jong-suk’s develo
Page 140 and 141: This selection of news items presen
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Page 146 and 147: also countries surrounding the Kore
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Page 159: IV. INSIDE NORTH KOREA’S BLACK BO
Page 163 and 164: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The North Korean
Page 165 and 166: A. BETTER, MERRIER, MORE HOPEFUL LI
Page 167 and 168: In contrast, the optimists believe
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Page 173 and 174: Bulgarian Trade Unions, after which
Page 175 and 176: Second, the principal objective of
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Page 181 and 182: also against the second-tier family
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Kim Sung-ae, who is Kim Il Sung’s
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“National Security Establishment
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October 1980. Many of them (Yon Hyo
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severe draught in 1988 and the dram
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The advent of the “Songun Era”
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IV-30
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Bearing in mind Kim Jong Il’s rec
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Table IV-2. Composition of the Nort
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Cabinet Posts 10 th SPA 11 th SPA R
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Eastern Europe. That was reportedly
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Table IV-5. Leading Ideologues Insi
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Table IV-7. Regional Origins of Top
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“Foreign Wind” The “foreign w
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Table IV-10. Some of the Most Influ
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Table IV-11. The North-South “Han
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Song Sok Hwan Vice-Minister Cha Sun
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Table IV-13. Korean-American “Int
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content and government monitoring.
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Northern security, military, and pa
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APPENDIX B TONGIL STREET FREE MARKE
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V. REACHING INTO NORTH KOREA DAVID
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY North Korea is no
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message right to Kim Jong-il, and m
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isk escape from the hermit kingdom.
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Society is divided into three broad
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contradictions.” 17 This makes se
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Internet is not specifically mentio
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led to a training program for young
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North Korea’s exports from legiti
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een the biggest buyers of ivory ove
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worker who travels throughout North
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If we want to reach into North Kore
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conversations with the correct mix
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Although the future of cellular tel
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There are a host of other things on
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Each of the five papers in this col
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promotions) and punishments (e.g.,
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although presumably all calls are m
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cultural rules.” Given the “str
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Speaking of Kim, whom does he consu
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Terms of Reference: North Korean Po
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Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. is an intern
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APPENDIX C ASIAN VIEWS OF NORTH KOR
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In any case, the reforms provide a
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View from Seoul The single most imp
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