Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul: Understanding Enemies of the Empire

“The Orient and Islam have a kind of extrareal, phenomenologically reduced status that puts them out of reach of everyone except the Western expert. From the beginning of Western speculation about the Orient, the one thing the orient could not do was to represent itself. Evidence of the Orient was credible only after it had passed through and been made firm by the refining fire of the Orientalist’s work.”

― Edward W. Said, Orientalism

North Korea exists as the ultimate evil in contemporary culture. The Kim Dynasty rules as a monarchy and the people of North Korea are subject to the whims of the tinpot autocrats. North Korea is notorious for its human rights record, its poverty, and its violent outbursts toward its neighboring countries Japan and South Korea. These are narratives accepted, often uncritically, by the western media. It’s difficult at times, to find articles about North Korea that don’t reinforce these narratives even in writings and videos seeking to disprove some of the more ludicrous notions about the North such as “Every man must have the same haircut as Kim Jong Un”.

It is a difficult task to find news and videos that see and present North Korea, as a country. An actual place where people live and North Koreans as a people, not as a herd of complacent sheep under the thumb of a “despot”.

The film “Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul” addresses the common view of North Korea head-on and asks a very simple question, is any of it true?

North Korea, came into existence after the partition after World War 2. Led by Kim Il Sung, they were able to fight off Imperial Japan and establish independence once again for Korea. Until America invaded to create an outpost against Communism. This led to the installation of the dictator Rhee Syngman who was responsible for some of the grossest human rights violations in the country such as the Jeju Massacre, The Bodo League Massacre, and the No Gun Ri Massacre.

Since the war and subsequent armistice, the Koreas have often been framed as experiments between communism and capitalism, between democracy and autocracy, and even between good and evil. A common post online will talk about the underdevelopment of the North in comparison to the South.

In the West, the moniker of the Korean War is The Forgotten War, which is a curious name for any war. Especially one with casualties in the millions. But the ability to forget this war is unique to the aggressor in this case, America. North and South Korea has been at war for the last 70 years, not an active war but a war nonetheless. Men in the South are conscripted to serve in the armed forces for 1 to 2 years with rare exceptions.

For the people of Korea the war is still ongoing and the sentiments of the people on both sides of the “Demilitarized Zone” or “DMZ” are given much time of day.

Analysis

“Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul” or “LCPIS” gives insight into how the war has affected those in the South and those in the North. What’s more important is that the narratives of the two “former” North Korean Citizens is completely alien to what is commonly said about North Korea.

Common narratives about the North are often a bit of hypocrisy from the West. For example, the U.S. still has legalized slavery for prisoners and the largest prison population in the world, but the North is condemned for labor camps.

Human rights abuses are commonly levied at the North, from nations who also often abuse human rights or profit from the abuses of human rights.

South Korean human rights lawyer Jang Kyong-ook, is the first testimonial of the film and speaks to a variety of abuses that the South Korean government has committed and continues to commit. His explanation of the National Security Act, or NSA for short shows South Korea in a much different light than the West presents it.

Often the South is said to be the good half of Korea, it was the one to embrace democracy and economic liberalism after all. The reality is, the South was ruled by numerous dictators, committed dozens if not hundreds of war crimes in the Korean War, and as mercenaries during the Vietnam War is an often “forgotten” fact.

Mr. Jang, speaks to the creation of “spies” by the NSA where they coerce false confessions and testimonials from defectors to continue the narrative of the North being a proverbial hell on earth.

This is not to argue that the North is perfect or even innocent, only to point to the way the North is viewed and how that view can be shaped by misinformation.

After Mr. Jang, the North Korean “defectors” are given time to speak. The most notable thing about both of them is that they both wish to return to the North. With the South so often being portrayed as a land of milk and honey when compared to the North the fact that the “defectors” wish to return, expeditiously, does again speak to the narratives about the North not being wholly accurate.

Mrs. Kim doesn’t discuss much about the North outside of missing her family, most notably her daughter. Her tragedy, being kidnapped, forced to remain in the south, attempting suicide multiple times, and forced to carry on is one of the most heart-rending testimonials from a “defector”.

Mr. Choi is a bit of the opposite, he too is a tragic case, as he’s still extremely loyal to the North. He’s an open and avowed communist and Korean nationalist. He speaks with pride of his country but does acknowledge economic hardship is what drove him to China, which in turn led to him being in the South. His passion for his homeland shines through and stands in stark contrast to the common narrative from other defectors.

The film ends with the director, David Yun tracing the connections of prominent North Korean defectors to right-wing think tanks. He ends the film with a clear call out to those in power who seek to continue the division of Korea and the marginalization of the North. The film speaks to the nature of those in power to hide unwelcome truths that may upset the status quo.

It has become a bit of an open secret that defector testimonials are dubious at best. As reported by the Guardian, many of the stories about the North fall apart with a bit of scrutiny. Many stories about the North come from Radio Free Asia which receives funding from the U.S. government and often publishes the most outlandish stories from the North with little to no pushback in the media landscape. And that’s the big thing about the film.

It speaks to the nature of truth in the face of a machine, an empire, that wants the world to believe one thing. It’s a bit bittersweet upon viewing LCPIS. A common notion in the West is the truth will come out. It may be slow but when it arrives it will win. But the nature of propaganda, especially when it has strong financial backing, shows that truth in the modern age is as valuable as the screens it’s read on.

Works Cited

Nausika. “Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in South Korea: How South Korea and the US Use North Korean Defectors as Propaganda Tools.” Under Southern Eyes, 5 Feb. 2021, undersoutherneyes.edpinsent.com/loyal-citizens-of-pyongyang-in-south-korea/.

Song, Jiyoung. “Why Do North Korean Defector Testimonies so Often Fall Apart?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Oct. 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/why-do-north-korean-defector-testimonies-so-often-fall-apart.

Yun, David, director. “Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in South Korea.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkUMZS-ZegM.

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