North Korean Kidnappers
More good stuff from Dr. Andrei Lankov in the Asia Times. His latest article focuses on who is being kidnapped and why by the North Koreans over the years.
The first known interception of a fishing ship took place in May 1955. The most recent incident happened in 1987, when 12 South Koreans became prisoners in the North. During subsequent interceptions the crews were always repatriated.
In 1969 a Korean Air Lines plane was hijacked in the air. Most of the South Koreans were repatriated, but 12 crew members and passengers were held in the North. Eventually, two stewardesses became announcers of the North Korean propaganda broadcasts that target South Korean audiences. Indeed, this radio station employs a number of abductees.
Generally North Korean authorities wanted to utilize the knowledge and skills of their abductees. Of course, the fishermen hardly had access to valuable intelligence, but they still could be trained as spies and sent back to the South. They were also used for training North Korean intelligence operatives. Better-educated people could be employed by the institutions responsible for waging propaganda campaigns against the South in, say, their broadcast facilities.
The article concludes by explaining why the South Korean government cares little about the abductees.
But one cannot help but wonder why not much is heard about the abduction issue in Seoul. After all, there have been fewer than 60 Japanese abductees – even if one believes the highest available estimate. Nonetheless, the issue is central to Japanese politics and stirs high emotions in Tokyo. Meanwhile, only family members and some right-wing groups seem to care about South Koreans who disappeared in Pyongyang. What’s the matter?
This reflects the general approach to the North in present-day South Korea. The abduction issue used to be much cited by the official propaganda of the military regimes in the 1960s and 1970s, but middle-aged Koreans are seriously (and, one suspects, incurably) allergic to anything that reminds them of this propaganda. The political left, which increasingly dominates South Korean internal discourse, is remarkably positive toward the North. The logic is simple: if one raises uncomfortable issues with the North, this is unlikely to help, but will make things more complicated instead.
Interesting reading that is worth checking out.
If you understand Asian tribalism — you can appreciate this apparent hypocrisy is normal.
Asian tribalism –both Japanese and Korean — view transgressions from other ethnic-groups as egregious outrages.
For example, Korean drivers have the highest traffic-kill rate of all the OECD countries. Yet, not a peep of self-protest against Korea's mindless self-slaughter. But, have a foreigner accidentally kill two girls … you get my point.
In Korea, there is no outrage when blood-brothers transgress within the tribe.
In the same light, to Koreans the outsider who helps them is a duped fool — making Koreans megalomaniacal about their cagey skills in exploiting non-tribes people.
North Koreans believe the USA letters and American flag imprinted on the bags of donated food-aid from America are proof of their manipulative skills against their dull-witted enemy.
South Koreans, likewise, see American GI's defending South Korea in the same way — friendly buffoons duped by their own multicultural delusions. To many Koreans the American-military machine is a giant ATM cash machine. They understand the GI's — (both white and black soldiers)harbor a queer white-guilt syndrome that is easily manipulated by Korea's notorious victim identity.
Koreans know American GI's get a radical-chic experience palavering and slumming-it with the exotic Koreans; Koreans, therefore, play the nigger to get the goodies from the friendly buffoons.
Justice will prevail, Korean pride will get its last laugh against the Yankee dog. Mu ha, ha, ha!
They will bite you when you least expect it.