I came across a news site/blog hosted by North Korea meant to be viewed by Americans, complete with a section titled “Ask a Korean” where people like you and I can ask questions. The whole thing is very interesting, as I’m sure you’ll find. At any rate, here is what I wrote to them. I tried to keep it as civil as possible, since after all, that’s how politics should be, especially in a question-and-answer environment. After all, they don’t answer things that are flagrantly obnoxious, and I don’t like to be flagrantly obnoxious anyway (though they did have some questions up that sure did seem like they could be taken like that, as I’m sure you’ll see).

Dear Sir/Madam:

In America, many people have come to doubt what the Bush Administration says. In fact, President Bush now has a 70% disapproval rating. My generation is becoming increasingly independent, with people like myself abandoning political labels (‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’) and parties (‘Democrat’ and ‘Republican’). I’m proud to say that I think for myself.

However, we do have a free press. Yes, our mainstream media, namely Fox News, is very recently and quickly becoming discredited, but we do have open access to the Internet. Anybody can create or view any web page (with the obvious exception of child pornography). And the same idea applies to other mediums, such as paper. Anybody can publish and buy any news. No government approval is required, and one does not need an escort to travel the country with a camera crew.

Which brings me to my questions. Why do I not see North Koreans online? Could you link me to any North Korean web sites or “blogs” that criticize policies of your government or Kim Jong-Il? Why do North Koreans need government approval to publish things, and what is the process for getting this approval? And why is it that whenever any of our journalists visit your country they and their camera crews are escorted so closely by soldiers or policemen?

I hope I get to see North Korea for myself someday.

Sincerely,
“Square Bottle”

I look forward to their response, and if they do, I’ll be sure to post what they say up here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 1:41 am and is filed under All Entries, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.