tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12946845.post4342971882046560454..comments2024-02-23T23:53:54.842+09:00Comments on Gusts Of Popular Feeling: Portrait of the leader-to-be as a young manmatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10296009437690229938noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12946845.post-92017732371228170332010-12-14T16:36:29.207+09:002010-12-14T16:36:29.207+09:00The idea that this was Kim Jong-un simply doesn...The idea that this was Kim Jong-un simply <a href="http://www.monster-island.net/2010/12/official-portrait-of-kim-jong-un.html" rel="nofollow">doesn't hold water</a>, but it is symptomatic of a clueless press that is trying to find signs of Kim Jong-un's ascension even when there aren't any, <a href="http://www.monster-island.net/2010/11/kim-who-wasnt-there.html" rel="nofollow">to the point of making it up</a>.<br /><br />I haven't yet printed an update (I'm in the middle of finals and I should be getting back to my paper now!), but I got an email from another blogger who told me that the folks at Coryo Tours said the painting was in fact of Kim Ilsung in Jilin (not North Korea, as I had surmised). <br /><br />-----<br /><br />Mr Wagner, on a totally different subject, <a href="http://www.rjkoehler.com/2010/12/13/do-the-little-kim-jong-ils-in-north-korea-love-eric-clapton/#comment-403497" rel="nofollow">in this comment at The Marmot's Hole</a>, you seem to be suggesting that South Korea's claim to the NLL rests solely on its legacy of being the de facto border since 1953. <br /><br />You seem to be rejecting the idea that a median line would be drawn from the South Korea's island territories (서해 5도). Am I understanding that correctly? Do these inhabited islands (home to thousands of people) not generate territorial waters or EEZ? Do their shores not count as baselines from which equidistant points are determined, or does the mainland have to be the baseline? If so, what constitutes a "mainland"? Would Hawaii or Guam not generate territorial waters or EEZ?<br /><br />My understanding is that the Five Islands of the West Sea, forming as they do something of a necklace just south of the North Korea-controlled Ongjin Peninsula, do generate territorial waters and EEZ, and the equidistance principle would be about where the NLL is.kushibohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10306033998028548550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12946845.post-71480976325102546882010-12-07T00:10:07.628+09:002010-12-07T00:10:07.628+09:00I certainly have no idea who, when or where this d...I certainly have no idea who, when or where this drawing is supposed to represent but I'm curious why Prof. Lankov feels that the historical look and feel (i.e. 1920s) should settle the matter. <br /><br />Isn't North Korean propaganda generally more interested in conveying an emotional impression than historical accuracy? It certainly resembles Kim Il Sung, but if it's supposed to be the grandson perhaps the intention is to blur the image of the two in the collective conscious and the resemblance is intentional.<br /><br />There are drawings of Kim Jong Il on horseback and in garb that look ancient and are reminiscent of similar timeless images of his father. <br /><br />And as for historical accuracy in NK prop imagery, recently there have been news stories with images of a poster of a "modern day" North Korean cosmonaut that looks like it's from the early 60s - and in contrast, reports are that NK high technology (i.e. the nuke facilities) are supposed to be very modern looking. <br /><br />Perhaps the scene pictured here is supposed to show Jung-Un's European study abroad period but with his traditional NK pride symbolized by the old school uniform. His education in Europe has been emphasized in propaganda (especially his exceptional language ability). If it's Europe, isn't that the way Europe should look for the NK public especially considering the mood of the piece? And if that's a church in the background(?) it seems like the cross bearing steeples have been conspicuously cropped.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com