Just a few weeks after prevailing wisdom classified strange goings-on north of the 38th Parallel as perfectly normal, preparing them for quiet dismissal from public conjecture, the question of Korean determination is again a serious one:
A human rights (search) group claimed Tuesday that it has obtained video footage showing dissident activities in North Korea, with demands for freedom and democracy written over a poster of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il. If authentic, it would be the first time images of dissent in the highly secretive North have come to light. But there was no way to independently confirm the validity of the footage.
The 35-minute videotape, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, shows written statements posted on a wall, urging North Koreans to fight to retrieve freedom and democracy. ...The tape was delivered to the Seoul-based Citizen's Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, and became public after the Coalition handed over the footage to an Internet news site that specializes on North Korean affairs. The Coalition said the footage was taken by the Youth Solidarity for Freedom at a North Korean town near the border with China.
North Korea was dubbed part of the Axis of Evil by President Bush, so it's natural for supporters to ask if pro-democratic demonstrations, if authentic, have been inspired by the president's matching tough knocks for Pyongyang and good words for a self-determination all men deserve. It's also unfortunately natural for opponents to ask if unscheduled events in the DPRK have absolutely nothing to do with good intentions in Washington or an allied free capital. Protests could very well be organized by no more than small, local groups who can slip materially insignificant items across borders; North Korea is sealed from the outside world tighter than a coffin.
But before cynics laugh at the American vanity they see, they should at least grant that admonishing and ostracizing incontrovertible enemies is more productive than clinking glasses with them. Then they ought to look more closely at the finer points of President Bush's exhortations: he's careful to call freedom "Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world," which is another way of saying the American people would never expect to teach a people to want freedom. Instead, with the same incredible resources used to depose dictators and relieve the diaster-stricken, Americans will help give to others that which they already wanted. The more likely that appears from behind barbed wire, the more likely the needy will speak up in a place where one is advised that if they can't say anything sanctioned, they shouldn't say anything at all.
Americans may lead but, fortunately, are not alone. Righteous indignation is found in many languages.
