Foreign media reports Pyongyang residents preparing for spring, not war

Posted on : 2013-04-12 16:45 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
North Korean capital also hosts sympathetic foreign delegations, in contrast with its request for foreigners’ evacuation plans
 this Korean Central News Agency photo shows young North Koreans dancing in traditional Korean attire
this Korean Central News Agency photo shows young North Koreans dancing in traditional Korean attire

By Ahn Soo-chan, staff reporter

Foreign media are reporting from Pyongyang on the situation there amid recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Associated Press reported on the situation in the North Korean capital on Apr. 11, following another report on Apr. 6 by Britain’s The Economist magazine. The accounts were more or less the same: the AP said that “the focus was less on preparing for war and more on beautifying the city,” while The Economist said Pyongyang “appeared to be busier preparing for the coming of spring than a coming war.”

What they saw was Pyongyang’s residents preparing for the Day of the Sun. Falling on April 15, it is the biggest holiday of the year in North Korea, celebrating the birthday of founding leader Kim Il-sung. The whole country is typically busy with preparations around this time of year, and 2013 appeared to be no different.

The AP story described “ordinary springtime activities belying the high tensions.”

“Soldiers laid blankets of sod to liven up a city still coming out of a long, cold winter; gardeners got down on their knees to plant flowers and trees,” it read.

It also described students laying flowers before statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, as well as dancing women dressed in hanbok, traditional Korean attire.

“North Korea sporadically holds civil air raid drills during which citizens practice blacking out their windows and seeking shelter. But no such drills have been held in recent months, local residents said,” the report continued.

The report characterized the atmosphere at the eye of the hurricane as - perhaps somewhat unexpectedly - rather peaceful. A quote from 40-year-old resident Kim Un Chol gave something of an explanation.

“The people of Pyongyang are confident. They know we can win any war,” he was quoted as saying. “We now have nuclear weapons. So you won’t see any worry on people’s faces, even if the situation is tense.”

Both reports seem to have missed the opportunity to show North Korea’s real feelings about the situation. In both cases, the stories focused on the city landscape, with quotes from a handful of residents. Neither mentioned what was going on in the provinces outside of Pyongyang.

Outside of these reports, the North Korea appearing in the foreign press is breathless and tense. The US network CNN has been running a 20-minute segment on the “North Korea crisis” on repeat since Apr. 10. Hourly newscasts include updates on the tensions affecting the peninsula. One reported on the findings of a war simulation, which concluded that it would take 56 days for the US to attack North Korea and dismantle its nuclear facilities.

Other news outlets also dedicated heavy coverage to the tensions over the past few days.

The Economist said the mixture of outward threats and peace at home suggested that the intimidation tactics were “mainly for domestic consumption.” The April 6 report said they “seemed intended to present Kim Jong Un, the young dictator, as a fearless commander-in-chief.”

Amid all the hullabaloo, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency was reporting on overseas visitors to Pyongyang. In its Apr. 10 edition, it said that representatives from the Latin American Institute of the Juche Idea and the Russian Far East Association of Research in the Doctrines of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il had arrived in Pyongyang for Kim Il-sung’s birthday. Other reports noted the arrival in the North Korean capital of representatives from groups of overseas Koreans in China, Japan, and Russia. The reports stood in stark contrast to North Korea’s recommendation on April 5 that diplomats and employees of international organizations in Pyongyang pull out because their safety could not be ensured.

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

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