To commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders came up with an eye-catching series of posters featuring the heads of state of various countries notorious for media repression. They include North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Of the lot of ‘em, North Korea ranked the lowest — 178th out of 179 countries — in Reporters Without Borders’ 2013 World Press Freedom Index.
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Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff. - NYTimes Op-Ed
“The scary impressions are important to North Korea because for the last two decades its policy has been, above all, a brilliant exercise in diplomatic blackmail. And blackmail usually works better when the practitioners are seen as irrational and unpredictable.”
One of the most moving sites I’ve ever visited in South Korea was the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju. It’s dedicated to the participants of the city’s May 1980 pro-democracy uprising, which was crushed by the South Korean army, resulting in heavy casualties. The crackdown was ordered by Chun Doo-hwan, the army general (and future president) who had seized power in a military coup following the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee (the father of the current president, Park Geun-hye).
The multimedia exhibits in the cemetery’s museum provide a vivid account of the brutality of the army and the courageous defiance of the protestors, in stark contrast to the years when frank, public discussion of the uprising wasn’t possible. I’d urge you to consider a visit. To place South Korean democracy in the proper historical context, you have to understand the events that transpired in Gwangju.
Out of the “3000 islands of rare beauty” what’s the one #island #korea chooses to show a pic of? #dokdo ! #clever #ad . Seen in #nyc. Also tho, there’s a typo
11:43 AM
Korean Stamps
One of the last pictures I took in Korea when sending postcards just before I left. When I left school I told my students to write to me and I’d write back from whichever country I was in. I sent one from Kenya and hope it was received. Not sure when I’ll get back to Korea, but I will someday.
