Alumni Association supports enemy

Kim Jong Il hosts the Cal Alumni Association

By James Fullmer
From the September 2006 Print Edition

It is said that Vladimir Lenin once referred to pro-Soviet Western intellectuals as “useful idiots.” Lenin didn’t have much respect for the intellectuals, but he acknowledged that by serving as apologists for the Soviet regime, they did him a great service. These days the phenomenon still exists, and as a result, one of Lenin’s few remaining followers is probably smiling a little wider.

This year, for the fourth time in the 53 years since the cessation of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, American tourists are allowed into the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea. The California Alumni Association secured spots on the trip, and as this magazine is in distribution, there are Golden Bears enjoying the sights in Pyongyang.
 The DPRK is more commonly known as North Korea, and no matter how many positive adjectives its leaders slap next to the name, it’s a pretty awful place. Even ignoring North Korea’s test launch of long-range missiles aimed in the direction of Hawaii, North Korea is one of the worst violators of human rights in the world. Concentration camps, eugenics, religious persecution, widespread famine — take all the horrors of all the dictatorships of this past century and compress them into a country the size of Oklahoma, and you’ve got what Senator Sam Brownback once described as “the closest place to [Hell] on earth.”

There are a few compelling reasons to visit North Korea. After all, many Americans and South Koreans go every year to sneak in Bibles, radios and food and sneak out refugees. Tourists could help bring back sights of the DPRK to improve popular understanding of poverty and oppression in the country. The CAA, however, in its description of the trip, gives no indication they will be discerning and skeptical observers. Rather, they seem to be falling over themselves in an attempt to believe every word of North Korean propaganda. 

For example, the CAA emphasizes that “The DPRK government welcomes foreign visitors.” History provides two great examples of this. In 1968, North Korean ships attacked the USS Pueblo, an American intelligence ship operating in international waters, took the crew and boat captive, and claimed the sailors willingly defected. A propaganda photo of the happy, comfortable crew was ostensible proof the crew was better off in North Korea. Unfortunately, the North Koreans didn’t realize every crew member was surreptitiously flipping off the camera. After nearly a year, the American sailors were released.

Ten years later, North Korean Special Forces engaged in a string of raids along the Japanese coastline to abduct thirteen Japanese citizens. North Korea didn’t target military or intelligence officers, but ordinary people walking along the beach or relaxing in their homes, because the North Korean military needed citizens to teach them Japanese. While North Korea does have a long history of welcoming foreign visitors, the visits certainly weren’t consensual.

The CAA’s misrepresentation of North Korea doesn’t end there. The organization gushed over the trip’s “highlight,” the Arirang Mass Games, a giant human performance. The CAA could barely restrain its enthusiasm: “The performance exemplifies the ideal of this nation, and is quite probably the earth’s largest human spectacle. Just imagine: 100,000 people synchronized in a socialist realism extravaganza that can only be seen in North Korea.”

It’s unclear what national ideals CAA thinks the Arirang Games exemplify, but it certainly isn’t life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Instead, the event is a showcase of the supposed physical perfection of the North Korean citizenry. Defectors have testified North Korea’s systematic extermination of newborn babies is intended to maintain this “physical perfection.” One would hope the CAA would pick a more appropriate word than “extravaganza” to describe the product of mass infanticide.

The CAA doesn’t miss the opportunity to talk up the “green parks, marble monuments, and wide boulevards” of Pyongyang, but neglects to mention extreme poverty resulting from Kim’s tyranny. What’s more, the downplay of North Korean censorship is almost laughable. The CAA reminds participants that North Korean “minders” will accompany the group to “monitor the activities and make sure the group stays together.” Consequently, “individual excursions, strolls, or other deviations from the group are not allowed.” It shouldn’t be too hard to discern the motives behind assigning “minders” to tourist groups, but the Alumni Association’s euphemisms only make excuses for the regime. 

I don’t blame Berkeley alumni for their desire to see North Korea. I’m sure it will be a fascinating trip. But as a Berkeley student, I’m ashamed Cal alumni travel to North Korea with such apparent credulity. Cal’s free speech café is a monument of its unrelenting, raucous support for freedom of speech. Yet when it comes to North Korea, Cal’s alumni fall silent. It’s a shame an opportunity for reporting on the situation in North Korea will be lost because of a few gullible tourists.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting the Patriot