'Kimjongilia' and Life in an 'Absurd' Society
Documentary portrays harsh reality of North Korea
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2011 - North Korea is "the most absurd and incredible society," according to Kongdan "Katy" Oh, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Oh was speaking to an audience at Asia Society Washington following the screening of Kimjongilia, a 2009 documentary which presents the harsh reality of living conditions in North Korea in direct contrast to the rosy one depicted in state film and literature.
Taking its title from a flower named after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the film features a series of interviews with refugees who describe the hardships of prison camps and starvation. The interviews are interspersed with scenes from North Korean propaganda films showing bountiful supplies of food and happily working people.
Oh, who has worked extensively with North Korean refugees, said that she first began studying North Korean film and literature as a graduate student and has followed the activities of the Kim regime for the last 30 years. In response to the testimony of the North Korean refugees in the film, she spoke at length about what the actual process is like for interviewing someone about their life in North Korea. She described it as being similar to that of peeling an onion, "taking a long time to get the whole picture."
Oh also described the process as very stressful, saying "Every time I interview North Koreans, I lose about 10 pounds."
Audience members asked Oh whether or not regime change was possible in North Korea given the personality cult surrounding Kim Jong Il, and about current US policy towards the Korean peninsula. She responded by commenting on the failure of the "Sunshine Policy" attempted by the South Korean government during the late 1990s, and that it was very hard to gauge the durability of the Kim dynasty.
"I predicted when I was working at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica about 20 years ago that I would celebrate my 60th birthday with Korean barbecue with my father's brothers and sisters in North Korea. I was too optimistic."
Oh said in conclusion that the seeds of revolution existed in North Korea, but that a "Jasmine" revolution similar to ones roiling the Arab world in 2011 could not happen as long as the people still feared the brutality of the Kim regime.
Reported by Adrian Stover, Asia Society Washington