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clay dubeProf. Jennifer Jung-Kim of UCLA and Occidental College will be discussing the importance of the Korean War. Earlier this summer, demonstrators in Pyongyang, the NK capital, marked the 59th anniversary of the start of the war with an anti-US demonstration. The NY Times had a good article of the demonstration along with video and a nice photo (showing a giant anti-US poster).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/world/asia/26korea.html?ref=global-home
Please think about the division of the Korean peninsula and what American involvement there has meant for people there, for the US, and for US-Asia ties. Here let me note that the war was of enormous importance for the entire region and that the peninsula remains the source of many worries for officials in many governments.
AnonymousIn our previous seminar, Clay had displayed to us a picture of Korea (North/South) at night...the satellite photo demonstrated the energy discrepancy between them both...He made a great point on how arguably, North Korea's goal towards Nuclear power may be just for that....power. But I suppose you never know because they are a closed society...
clay dubeMinh's right and I'll be showing that image again next week. Who can track down some comparative stats on NK, SK, and US energy usage?
AnonymousNationmaster.com is a source that shows the different types of energy used and the ranking of use per country. Just about all consumption lists show US at the top. Oil consumption list SK ranked 11 and NK is down by 150 (as of 2006,2007). Nuclear energy consumption lists SK at number 6.
Based on these stats I would have to agree that NK needs and is trying to find their own way to get energy.[Edit by="dkindig on Jul 23, 6:52:48 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousI have seen that photo of the lights at night on the Korean Peninsula, and jumped to the conclusion that because of governmental oppression, the people of North Korea weren't permitted the means to have electrical lights and appliances within their homes. Perhaps we will see a different view of things during the next two weeks of our seminar that will explore facts outside of our media's portrayal of events within that region.
I have also sometimes thought that with all of the documented smog problems in and around the capital of Iran, that perhaps their pursuit of nuclear components has only been for energy production, but what facts are out there to confirm or deny that claim?
It sounds like it will be a thought provoking few weeks for all of us.
AnonymousThe ongoing situations with Korea are really amazing. For a newer generation just learning about the still unresolved conflict there, its almost hard to imagine a country that is divided and technically still at war today! The picture that Dube showed us in lecture is a real eye opener. At first, I thought that it was simply restrictions put on the people by the government, not realizing that technology was not widely available like it is in the United States. As I read over the article, I could not help but think what North Koreans are told or know about America and their neighbors to the south.
As the "North regularly threatens with a “nuclear holocaust,” and the health of their leader declining, I'm not sure what's going to happen in the near future.....
:~
Anonymousa tad dated, but when I was in basic training in 2000, the drill sgts would definitely stress korea. they would constantly remind us it is a "cease fire" and there was not peace there. even though 9 years have passed and we are in two different wars, the korea did not go away. in fact, many soldiers i had finished basic with, were deployed to this duty station. I believe now there are less troops than previously (also due to the two current wars), but when teaching students, i still remind students there are still approx 30k soldiers there...
AnonymousI'm really curious as how much 'real' anti-American sentiment there is in North Korea and how much is just rhetoric. That mass rally looked staged and the article said it was state-sponsored and the news coming out of N. Korea is state sponsored. Does the west really have any idea what is going on in North Korea, or is all the news via the state sponsored media. If the people are suffering from devasting poverty do they really care about nuclear bombs? Would N. Koreans really want to bomb South Korea if some of their family members live there?
I think what we know about people's real attitudes is limited, but maybe that doesn't really matter, b/c its the state that has the power to drop the bombs.