In my favorite newspaper in the world...
"Defections of high-level North Korean officials are telltale symptoms of internal difficulties
I don't deny the reasons stated in the article, but my questions:
1) If you were standing in line, and saw people at the front of the line getting shot, would you continue waiting in line?
I am not sure why it might seem confusing that high-level North Korean diplomats who heard about Kim Jong-Un's uncle and half-brother being eliminated would feel less secure about themselves. Some North Korea watchers debated if the uncle was really machine-gunned or fed to dogs and if the half-brother was truly assassinated by the regime. In a country and society where that seems possible, do you want to wait around to see what might happen to you? If you saw people above your party status and pay grade getting executed, would you keep standing in what may be an execution line, or make a run for it?
Reporters sometimes forget that North Koreans are humans. There are not always big policy questions about why someone even in the elite might make a run for it.
2) The "Privilege" of getting assassinated
Over the years, I have noticed that South Korean reporters and intellectuals discussing North Korean refugees and defectors will refer to the "privileges" that the North Korean elite had in North Korea. For a long time, it felt like South Korea itself must be a John Milton type of "it is better to rule in hell rather than serve in heaven" kind of country. And it seemed that mindset was being applied to North Korea.
So my question about the elite leaving their privileges behind:
Is it a privilege to have your head put in a lion's mouth?
North Korea's elite may have special status in the country, but that apparently can change at any moment. Some North Korean refugees who escaped from the lion's mouth have reported some trivial reasons for escaping, such as: Not smiling and cheering wildly enough at a military parade, losing a book they had been allowed access to, not having a portrait of a dictator appropriately displayed in their homes, or leaving a job at a government villa.
Many North Koreans have told stories that they were doing well, then oops! Someone in the family did something wrong, and suddenly they were all under arrest, doing hard labor, and/or escaping. The "elite" may have "privileges," but those privileges are not permanent. The dictator changes policy and some of the elite could get sent to concentration camps.
3) Why did you leave your family behind?
Back during my first sojourn to South Korean during the 1990s, I didn't know much about North Korean refugees, but I remember South Koreans were abuzz about an elite North Korean who had escaped to South Korea. There were actually some South Koreans are arguing that the defector had betrayed his family.
Fresh out of Harvard, my point then was: Leaving family behind is an ethical question that needs to be addressed to the butchers of Pyongyang or debated by college sophomores. North Korea puts families in do-or-die situations: stay and possibly get executed along with your family if you make a wrong move, or leave and your family possibly gets tortured and/or executed. Yes, I used to say, that is exactly the kind of question that families overpay for their children to discuss with Prof. Michael Sandel at Harvard.
I used to say college sophomores, but now it seems to be a question that is better suited for high school sophomores and YouTubers.
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Speaking of YouTubers, that leads me to my next favorite story of the day.
My favorite newspaper in the world reports: Rapper apologizes over delayed refund of lesson fees.
1) My first thought was: Is this really news? A rapper apologized on Instagram after a fan complained about not receiving a refund for lessons? It must be news because I clicked on it and have now shared it with you.
2) My second thought was: What else should be in the news that isn't really news. Such as, did any kids apologize today for not tying their shoes? Did any YouTubers apologize for not uploading on time today?
3) Then my third thought was: If it is news about a rapper apologizing for not refunding money for lessons, would it be news if I predicted such things happening and then they happened?
In connecting these two stories: Would that rapper have had to escape from North Korea if it was found that he hadn't refunded lesson fees to a member of the elite?