Monday, October 17, 2005
THE PITFALLS OF LANGUAGE
Interesting piece by one of the State Department's top Korean interpreters. The whole thing is interesting. Among other observations, I like this one:
In contrast to the American media description of North Korea as a "Stalinist Communist state," I have come to see it as a Confucian nationalist monarchy, based on traditional Korean values and reflecting the bitterness born of foreign invasions throughout Korean history. In Confucian society, loyalty to the ruler and respect for elders are basic tenets. The iconic stature of the late "great leader" Kim Il Sung isn't that different from the Confucian image of a divine ruler.What is missing from this description, however, is a good dose of 20th-century Japanese-style militarism.
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What's also missing is the comparison of Stalinism to the Confucian monarchies with palace intrigue, rapid rises and declines in power of subordinates, and so on...
Remember Molotov, Beria, and Yezhov...
I think both Stalinist and Confucian are adequate, if not 100% accurate, labels...
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Remember Molotov, Beria, and Yezhov...
I think both Stalinist and Confucian are adequate, if not 100% accurate, labels...
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