British Ambassador's blog tribute to North Korean democracy

Posted By Joshua Keating Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 11:22 AM Share

As we've noted before, the British Foreign Offices's diplo-blogging experiment has, for the most part, been a resounding success. But all that might be undone by this post by Ambassador to North Korea Peter Hughes on the country's recent "election," which reads more like one of the Korean Central News Agency's floried dispatches. Here's a sample:

Spring seems to have arrived in Pyongyang, much the same as I suppose it has in Seoul. The weather during the weekend was relatively warm and sunny for the elections of  the 12th Supreme People's Assembly that took place on Sunday 8 March. There was a very festive atmosphere throughout the city. Many people were walking to or from the polling stations, or thronging the parks to have picnics or just stroll. Most of the ladies were dressed in the colourful traditional hanguk pokshik and the men in their best suits. Outside the central polling stations there were bands playing and people dancing and singing to entertain the queues of voters waiting patiently to select their representatives in the country's unicameral legislature. The booths selling drinks and snacks were very popular with the crowds and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The list of successful candidates was published on Monday. There was a reported turn-out of over 99% of the voters and all the candidates, including Kim Jong Il, were elected with 100% approval. In a few weeks time the Supreme People's Assembly will open for business which will include voting for the Chairman of the National Defence Committee (presently Kim Jong Il), and drawing up the budget for the coming financial year.

I don't mean to lecture the ambassador on the finer points of democratic politics, but 99 percent turnout is generally not considered a good thing. Looks like someone is hankering a slice of Kim's famous pizza.

EXPLORE:BRITAIN, DIPLOMACY, INTERNET, NORTH KOREA
 

BRIAN MCGUIGAN - BRITISH EMBASSY

1:43 PM ET

March 18, 2009

Ambassador Hughes' comment

I feel you miss the Ambassador's point. He wrote a comment on his blog post that helps to clarify:

"Some people have commented that my entry last week made North Korea sound idyllic, and read like a press release issued by the North Korea news agency. I do not apologise for portraying Pyongyang as a normal city because in many ways it is. The people in this city have lives that are normal to them and they celebrate the coming of spring in the same way that people do all over the world. The elections and the good weather gave them an opportunity to enjoy a day out with their families, and the entertainment would have been a light episode in what is otherwise a difficult environment. However, the songs played by the bands at polling stations would have been tributes to the system and it's leaders, not ballads or traditional melodies. The elections were the same as such events everywhere with voters turning out in their hundreds, but there were no opposition candidates: in fact there was only one person standing for each seat which is why all the candidates were elected with 100 approval; and there was a 99 turn out because the compulsory voting was strictly enforced. The children marching in columns through the city in their uniforms would not have been singing nursery rhymes, they would have been singing songs about such things as engaging fully in the "ardent march", and their chants would have been political slogans. The preparations for planting food in plots of land around apartment buildings are a stark reminder that DPRK agricultural policies have resulted in chronic food shortages and the population never have enough to eat. They grow food on every available piece of land as a necessity not a hobby. This is not an idyllic country, and there are none of the luxuries and benefits that are taken for granted elsewhere. The policies of the government have resulted in deep economic stagnation for decades, and have isolated the country from the rest of the world through a worrying nuclear programme, provocative military confrontation with the South, and a brutal human rights record. My entry in Martin Uden's blog was not intended as political commentary, rather it was an opportunity to show that Pyongyang is not an dark and evil place populated by demons, but a city inhabited by human beings who make the best of their lives in spite of the difficulties they face on a daily basis."

--
Brian McGuigan
British Embassy

 

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