Dreaming of North Korean memes

Courtesy of Roman Harak

By David Tizzard

Diplomacy with North Korea is both complex and challenging. For just when you think progress is being made or that there are signs of hope of reunification and reconciliation (or perhaps rehabilitation), Pyongyang blows up a symbolic liaison office and refers to your politicians and diplomats as “insane” and “stupid.”

But then how does one respond? How does one communicate and interact with a country so far down its own rabbit-hole of historical interpretation that even the simplest of events can't be agreed on? Do you just block them on Facebook and Twitter like that crazed uncle who keeps talking about Pizzagate and Hilary Clinton's emails?

If this week has reminded us of anything, however, it's that even Harvard professors can generate the most appallingly falsified and immoral versions of history when the money is right. This is not something that the DPRK fails in alone.

But anti-imperialists, socialists, and pacifists shouldn't get too glossy-eyed about things North Korean. One can decry Western warmongering of the twentieth century and surrounding historical revisionism, but in the eyes of a totalitarian ethno-nationalist state like the DPRK you will never be truly welcome.

The South is of course no stranger to its own versions of history. And despite everything that has transpired between the two Koreas, there is still a tendency for those in Seoul's ruling party to see the North Korean regime as not only capable of the promised change that has yet to transpire, but also of achieving full denuclearization and acceptance into the international fold.

At a confirmation hearing earlier this month, the new South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong asserted that Kim Jong-un “still has the intention to denuclearize.” Chung, who met Kim Jong-un back in March 2018, said he sees the North Korean chairman as a perceptive leader with a good grasp of both the inter-Korean and broader international situation.

Someone with arguably more insider knowledge, former North Korean acting ambassador to Kuwait Ryu Hyeon-woo, told CNN in January however that Kim Jong-un “cannot denuclearize” and that the sanctions imposed on the regime are necessary and must continue.

Who do we believe? Is there really such thing as a North Korean expert anymore? Even newly-elected South Korean lawmaker and former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho has had to apologize in the press for his incorrect remarks on Kim Jong-un's health.

Reports this week in Yonhap offer some encouragement to citizens here. Apparently over 60% of school students surveyed said reunification between the two Koreas was necessary. Elsewhere, parts of social media went all nostalgic as it remembered that 3 years ago this week the two Koreas marched together under the Unification Flag at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

I decided not to disrupt their memories by reminding them that the two Koreas did exactly the same at the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony. It often confuses me as to why PyeongChang is so revered yet Sydney, which was genuinely a first at an event of that stature, is largely forgotten. Yes, there was the unified Korean women's hockey team at PyeongChang but the attention normally rests largely on the entrance ceremony which was but a revisiting of the past.

Social media and history are not always the best of friends. We are accustomed to knowing what happened all over the world in the past twenty-four hours but not understanding how things were twenty years ago.

This cultural and political amnesia also seems to help ruling and opposition parties stake their claims as the only feasible answer in an increasingly entrenched partisan system that sees every election as one in which the fate of the world is balanced. So it ever was.

For North Korea, whose own recent YouTube and social media forays have gone the way of ex-President Trump's Twitter and China's Clubhouse and been banned and blocked by corporate giants, its economy remains a major problem.

Of course there is much that is unknown about the North Korean economy, but it's worth remembering that missiles and nuclear technology do not come cheap. A confidential United Nations report released Wednesday suggests that in the past year North Korea has stolen more than $300 million in cryptocurrencies as it continues attempts to fund its nuclear program. There is an opportunity cost of every warhead that could otherwise have been spent on food or infrastructure.

Official trade has come to a halt. China still likely provides cash and fuel but how much remains a mystery. Internal restrictions on movement to try and contain the Covid-19 pandemic will have hampered domestic markets and the civilian economy even more.

The mothers of invention, a term coined by both Frank Zappa and Barbara Demick denoting women workers who help support and carry a large informal economy supported by private markets following the collapse of the public distribution system, will no doubt be hurting right now. What is the solution for them?

Smuggling no doubt still takes place but this too will have been affected by the global pandemic.

International sanctions, a blunt economic instrument, exacerbate this already desperate situation. Despite being designed to force North Korea back to the negotiating table, they are hugely problematic as they harm those who suffer the most: North Korean citizens. Moreover, despite the sanctions, the North Korean nuclear program has seemingly gone from strength to strength.

And while many of us are wearing ties and track pants as we Zoom our meetings and Skype our loved ones, imagine the situation in North Korea. A serious outbreak of Covid-19 up North would be disastrous. The North, naturally, says it's COVID-free.

Were the virus to spread to a large degree, however, the already creaking healthcare system would likely collapse. The country simply doesn't have the resources or equipment to cope with an outbreak. Compromised immune systems, the result of poor nutrition and diets, would further compound the misery.

Former British Ambassador to the DPRK John Everard said in a talk to the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch this week that North Korea has been promised some vaccines by Britain should they allow monitoring of their distribution. Whether the North acquiesces in good faith remains to be seen.

Even if they do receive these vaccinations, it would only be enough for approximately 4% of the population. This is far less than what is needed. Thus, North Korea would fall behind sub-Saharan African countries in achieving herd immunity. This is not something to celebrate.

We know that North Korea is dangerous: Many states in the international system are. But with the economy and pandemic adding further strain, it will require extra vigilance.

No experts want to talk of collapse for fear of being wrong. Reunification pronouncements make for better headlines and friendlier photo shoots. But who would reasonably bet a large amount on what North Korea's next few moves will be?

This weekend marks the start of the Lunar New Year. We all need some hope and positivity after what we've gone through recently.

Let us hope that we can find a way to focus on the human aspect of North Korea rather than the missiles and elite leaders. It's clear that the UK is more than Johnson and Eton, that the US is more than Harvard and Bezos, and that South Korea goes much deeper and more divergent than the current ruling elite and diamond-spooned chaebol. The same also applies up North.

What the solutions are, I honestly don't know. I simply wish we were able to communicate with the people there as we do here: Freely, online, with emoticons, GIFS, and sarcasm; with Spotify playlists, YouTube videos, and Tiktoks…okay, maybe not Tiktoks.

But just imagine what North Korean memes would look like in such a world? Imagine how North Koreans would react to your latest selfie?

We can but dream of such human interaction.

Dr. David A Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.