Will the North Korean soccer team go to a prison camp?

Here's the question:

I read somewhere that the 1966 North Korean footballers were put in jail for blowing their World Cup match. Do you reckon it'll happen again? Also, will do you know if SBS will be showing the English game live or will they be giving the Yanks that slot?

The '66 North Korean World Cup team did in fact end up in a prison camp -Yodok to be exact. The reasoning for the imprisonment is not only due to their loss to Portugal. That was certainly embarrassing as they blew a 3-0 lead. However, most would say it's because they were seen in public doing very "bad things".


Kang Chol-Hwan, survivor of Yodok and author of The Aquariums of Pyongyang, wrote this:

To celebrate their victory [over Italy], the players went on a wild drinking binge and, by the end of the night, were seen carrying on in public with some girls.

That doesn't seem too extreme considering the odds that were against them to beat the Italians. Pyongyang, however, didn't have the same enthusiasm.

...the national teams barroom antics were judged bourgeois, reactionary, corrupted by imperialism and bad ideas. Upon arriving back in [North] Korea, the whole team - save for Park Dou-ik, who, suffering from stomach pains on the night of the party, had been forced to stay in his hotel room - was sent to the camps.

It's hard to tell whether or not such behavior would have been excused had the North defeated the Portuguese. I assume that the punishment wouldn't have been as severe, but I really have no idea. In fact, one of the North Korean soccer players Kang discusses in his book denies that he was ever sent to a prison camp as a result of such behavior.

Pak Sung Jin, also 59, coaches one of Pyongyang's First Division sides. In 1966, his spectacular volley earned Korea a last-gasp equaliser against Chile, and the crucial point that set them up for Italy. South Korean newspapers claim Pak spent years incarcerated at Yodok internment camp, living off the insects he could catch, but he denies suffering any direct fall-out from his English sojourn.

So do you believe Park or Kang? Park says nothing happened to him while Kang says this:

Among the prisoners I met in the camp was a celebrated former athlete who made a name for himself in Yodok by making it through very long stints in the sweatbox. According to rumor, his survival secret was to eat every insect he could get his hands on. Whether or not true, it won him the nickname Cockroach. Park Seun-jin, as he was really named, had lived his earlier moment of glory back in the 1966 World Cup in England.

Kang also claims that Park had been in the camp for almost twelve years by the time he entered in 1978 and that Park was still there when Kang was released ten years later. It's safe to assume that Park doesn't have any plans on going back to Yodok, or any other camp for that matter, and denying his imprisonment is a good start.


So, do I think it'll happen again to these guys? Well, it's hard to say. I would like to say 'no way', but there are a few factors working against them. First of all, North Korea decided that this game would be the first one aired live in North Korea. They clearly didn't think that a 7-0 walloping was on the horizon. The North Korean national soccer heroes have been humiliated and since Kim Jung-un himself instructed the team to be "unbeatable" it might reflect poorly on him in the bizarro reality that is North Korea. He's not turning out to the a lightning rod for success.


The second issue is one that North Korean defectors raised.

It's hard to know how much credence to give to the claims from the North Korean Football Association that the country's leader has been giving the team personal guidance and help with tactics. But true or not, North Korea wouldn't be alone, of course, in wanting to exploit sporting success for political ends.

Mr Kim shakes his head when he thinks of the fate that might await his former countrymen.

"The result will be blamed on their weak minds," he tells me. "I'm sure the players will have to go though extreme re-education and self-criticism."

They know better than I do and if they fear it then perhaps this current national team should as well. Still, it doesn't appear that the North Koreans did anything outwardly embarrassing(aside from their loss), so hopefully these guys will escape with a slap on the wrist and not a stint in a camp.


As for the games, SBS will be showing the England match and SBS Sports will be showing the "Yanks" game. Go Yanks! Boo England!

My Take on Kim Dae-Jung's Legacy

Every once and awhile a staff reporter from the Korea Times writes a few foreign contributers and asks for our opinion regarding big political issues on the peninsula. I'm sure a few fellow K-bloggers got the same email. I added my two-cents in a previous article about the Roh scandal last spring, although they did a wonderful job of editing out most of my thoughts.

Here's the email:

This email is to learn how foreigners with deep understanding about the country's modern history evaluate the late Kim and his achievements. An article based on answers to this email will be published on Monday edition.

1. How do you evaluate the late former President Kim Dae-jung as a politician or an pro-democracy activist?

2. What do you think is the most brilliant feat Kim has made during his presidency or throughout his life?

3. Please give us other comments you want to leave.

Kim Dae-jung embodied everything that a Korean politician should. He was came from a poor part of the country, was charismatic, inspiring and revolutionary. His life was one that an industrializing Korea could really relate to since he essentially personified the Korean nations' post-WWII struggle. And while there is no denying his contributions towards the democratization of Korea, I think the real effects of DJ can be witnessed in the uncompromising zeal of his supporters and the stagnation of serious and positive rapprochement with North Korea.

Just as we are now seeing with Roh Myu-Hyun supporters leaving the Minju party to create their own, Kim Dae-jung aroused similar enthusiasm and contempt for civil bipartisanship. Politcos and staunch supporters from the DJ-era refuse to acknowledge election mandates and laws passed under any opposition party. Rather than using the many democratic avenues that DJ fought to establish, they resort to lynch-mob discourse and petty branding, i.e., "Lee Myung-bak is a dictator." The sheer emotionalism connected to DJ has somewhat disconnected his message and followers from pursuing a true democratic society. Losing an election is part of the system. Refusing to accept a loss is part of the problem.

*The GOP in the US is suffering from the same delusions.

Secondly, DJ was known for his failed 'Sunshine Policy'. He was praised the world over and even received the Nobel Peace Prize, however, the consequences of appeasing such tyranny are pretty clear. By legitimizing the leadership of North Korea, DJ delayed reunification in more ways than one can count. Offering financial aid under the guise of joint economic development might have sold the project, but it's clear now that it paved the way for the Kim Regime to solidify its power, manipulate South Korea and expand illegal operations both domestically and around the globe. Still today, South Korea and the rest of the world must deal with the mishandled wranglings of Kim Dae-jung who naively rewarded Northern inaction, belligerency and flat out hostility. A unified Korea is a wonderful dream, but the achievement of that dream can only be realized wisely. North Korea behaves the way it does because it was taught by Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy that it's bad behavior will be met with aid rather than sanctions.

I'm not so sure this what the Times was looking for, but that's what they got.

His story is one to be impressed with and that's what Koreans buy into. But leading a divided nation takes much more than a compelling story.

I want to teach in South Korea, BUT I'm worried about North Korea. Any advice?

Here's the (increasingly common) question:

I'm leaving to teach in South Korea in mid-July, but my family is becoming worried about the situation with North Korea and is pretty much demanding me to stay in the US. I really want to go, but I am also getting worried. What should I tell them?

Rachel

I have gotten so many questions about North Korea recently which doesn't really come as much of a surprise considering the recent tests and subsequent tension, but offering advice on this issue is not an easy one.

There's nothing I can tell you that will really calm a concerned family down. There is no key phrase or unknown facts that I can present to you here. Rather, I can only point you to where I get my information, so you can have a better understanding of what's going on. In the end, it is you and only you who can make the decision on whether to come to Korea or not.

Let me start by recommending a few solid resources. As usual, I'll send you to one of my personal favorites, ROKDrop. He has a very solid, clear and realistic grasp on North Korean issues. Being a career military man, he offers more than the posturing pundits and politicians who are way too visible when it comes to something many of them know little about.

While GI Korea over at ROKDrop has his shit together, he doesn't exclusively cover North Korean issues. One Free Korea, on the other hand, does. He has several updates everyday and once you start reading, you know he's been around and knows what he's talking about.

DPRK Studies is another excellent one. The main author has a long relationship with Korea and has spent years observing and studying the inner-workings of North Korean politics, history, security and society. It's a must-read in my opinion.

To get a fuller picture of the entire situation in the North, you must know everything and that's where North Korean Economy Watch steps in. This is an excellent resource for some of the information that you might not see posted on the other three. On top of that, they have been doing some amazing mapping work with Google Earth on North Korea. ROK Drop mentioned that it was featured on The Rachel Maddow Show.

Those four blogs kind of work in conjunction with each other. They all support the other and if you spent a few days reading them, then you would have a much better understanding of what's going on with North Korea.
For a solid news resource, check out Asia Times.
That's the information I can offer, but that doesn't really explain how I feel or how the average Korean feels about the north. Of course, there are fringe groups on both sides that remain vocal. Some are out protesting Kim Jong-il's provocations while others are protesting South Korean policy. That's what you see in the news, however, the average Korean suffers from North Korea Fatigue. That fatigue can manifest itself in a few different ways.

Many Koreans are like this man:

“We sent them food, fertilizer, factories, more than we give our own poor people,” said the South Korean, Lee Soon-hwan, a 30-year-old office worker. “And all they pay us back with is this nuclear test.”

He's like many Koreans who always had hoped that a peaceful reunification could be reached through economic aid and mutual development and while that may still be a very viable option, many are losing patience.

“The nuclear test has made people feel that North Korea has gone too far, and it’s high time for us to be tough on North Korea.”

There is no reason for me to go on and on about what could or should happen with North Korea as the bloggers above are world's more qualified and versed on the subject, but I can say that like many Koreans, seasoned expats have also reached a certain level of complacency. We have become immune to the weekly (and now daily) reports of North Korean discontent and aggression, so concern of an attack or serious emergency has been seriously dwindled.

I have been telling my family about these patterns with North Korea for years now and although they understand how North Korea acts, they still show genuine concern for my safety. That's what a family is supposed to do. So, my advice would be to read up on as much North Korean information as you can for yourself. You will not be able to magically calm your family, but you can calm yourself a bit.

On a side note, there are evacuation plans in the case of such an emergency.

If anybody has any questions, just send me an email at asktheexpat@yahoo.com or leave a comment.