Why is Kim Jong-un always surrounded by people taking notes?

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27116092

by weavie • 12 years ago

63 41 12 years ago

bbc.com

mgkimsal• 12 years ago

tldr - it's so that images of him show him in a position of assumed intellectual power at all times.

esquivalience• 12 years ago

I like that in the final photo, the note-taker has even got a shadow of another note-taker projected onto him.

jbuzbee2• 12 years ago

When I first saw that picture, I thought that the guy had peed his pants in fear that he had offended the "Dear Great Leader"

Haul4ss• 12 years ago

Kim's an easy target for humor, and certainly The Respected and Beloved Marshall's propaganda machine seems corny to us. But it's important to remember that DPRK is a brutal regime that is home to countless human rights tragedies over several decades. It is a very sad story. Read "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" by Barbara Demick if you want to feel really lucky about where you happened to be born.

goldfeld• 12 years ago

Reading about the peasants' life during the Cultural Revolution plays out a very similar narrative, down to Mao's very corny propaganda.

happyscrappy3• 12 years ago

And it still goes on. China just celebrated Mao and Russians in Crimea were holding up signs praising Stalin a few weeks ago, madness.

jebus989• 12 years ago

I'm relieved we've gone back to light-heartedly reporting DPRK's eccentricities rather than worrying about the potential consequences of this powerful and deluded leader's take on international relations.

prestadige• 12 years ago

Agreed. It's a shame, though, that so many of us are expressing admiration for Putin.

aaronem3• 12 years ago

Thus far, he's led his nation effectively, and for the most part done a good job of looking out for the interests of his people. One may respect the skill he has thus demonstrated, without approving of every policy he's enacted in so doing.

The alternative, I suppose, would be to declare Putin the Enemy, complete with majuscule -- whether of one's nation, or of some nebulous progressive concept of social justice, or whatever you like -- and thenceforth reflexively despise the man and his policies at the very least, if not also the nation he so effectively governs, until such time as he should conform his behavior more closely to whatever constraints one might define.

I suppose that's all right for some, but I prefer to keep an open mind. Isn't that something people regard as a virtue around here?

aaronem3• 12 years ago

You make it sound as though there's some reason to worry about getting involved in a land war in Asia.

kator• 12 years ago

Interesting read but I suppose it's fairly obvious when you think about it.

That said I've seen corporate cultures where everyone is peer pressured into taking notes and often more so when highly ranked executives are in the meetings..

threeseed• 12 years ago

When I did the tour in Pyongyang they often mentioned that Kim Jong Il wasn't just the leader but also was a domain expert at everything. And it was constantly reinforced that his "on-the-spot guidance" was the reason the country was doing so well at the time.

So I am sure his expertise is why they are taking notes. Either that or fear of having your entire family tree killed or put into detention.

derefr2• 12 years ago

It almost feels like North Korea is a big-deal TV/movie adaptation of a book series, and the Kims are the authors of the books. If you've ever seen how e.g. Stan Lee is treated on the set of a Marvel movie, it's quite similar. Everyone wants to make sure that, however good an idea they might think they have, it doesn't go against the author's vision for the "spirit of the story", especially where it concerns books-not-yet-written.

ma2xd• 12 years ago

Because if they do one thing wrong, it's bye bye...

mariusz79• 12 years ago

The important question is - why is he surrounded by people. This guy should be in isolation :)

arethuza• 12 years ago

I imagine there are some serious high availability requirements there - if the wise words of the great leader are not copied down then presumably Bad Things happen so it's RAINT (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Note Takers).

derefr2• 12 years ago

You'd think that could be replaced with a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Tape Recorders, plus one good stenographer to listen to them later.

evan_• 12 years ago

As noted at the end of the article- accuracy isn't a priority.

aaronem3• 12 years ago

RAINT-1, to be exact.

RighteousFervor• 12 years ago

I see the potential of an internet mime here.

HenryMc• 12 years ago

Is that a MiG-21 in the last photo?

spingsprong• 12 years ago

Could be a J-7

netcan• 12 years ago

The regime is certainly a sibling of Mao's and a cousin of all the "communist" regimes established during that period. There are a lot of stylistic similarities in their art, propaganda, speeches and such.

A surprising number of traits seem to be features picked all totalitarian regimes, including ancient ones. Deification and mythologizing of rulers and accompanying art is something found in many accounts of kings from some of the oldest pieces of port writing we have.

What is striking and unique about this regime is how long it has managed to maintain this totalitarianism. There are young adults who are now 3rd generation natives to this craziness. It's also amazingly isolated. Isolation is not rare in history, but in the context of the modern era it makes it very very strange.

avn2109• 12 years ago

I think that's because the playbook for a successful totalitarian regime is a function of human nature, and regime stability is probably maximized by a fairly specific set of parameters. Eg. optimize by turning the propaganda visual style knob to realist-severe-deco, the secret police knob to incredibly brutal, the national culture knob to leader-deification, etc. And this will work until the nature of the human animal's tribal/lizard brain changes (hint: ~never).

agscala• 12 years ago

Is it possible that taking notes in North Korea are the equivalent of taking pictures of everything in the modern world?

outside1234• 12 years ago

Its a submission test. Its just like people taking random notes they will never look at when someone 2-3 levels on the hierarchy talks to them in a corporation.

hessenwolf• 12 years ago

I take notes I will never read because it staves off the boredom and helps me concentrate and process the information. It's slightly more socially acceptable than rephrasing aloud.

sirdogealot• 12 years ago

it's ridiculous, he can't possibly know about all of these different things

That just seemed petty.

Does Lebron James balk if President Obama gives him a tip on his jumper?

Carrok• 12 years ago

Does Lebron James balk if President Obama gives him a tip on his jumper?

Yes. As he should.

jbuzbee2• 12 years ago

"Does Lebron James balk if President Obama gives him a tip on his jumper?" - No he just rolls his eyes... But Dennis Rodman better not try that in North Korea if he wants to come home in one piece.

logfromblammo• 12 years ago

My guess is that what they write in their notebooks is not as important as the physical demonstration of social and intellectual inferiority they present to their boss. Kim Jong Un has already demonstrated a willingness to execute people who could even be perceived as potential rivals. If you reinforce the illusion projected by the leadership, you don't die. Or at least you have fewer generations of your family punished with you in political prison.

sigzero• 12 years ago

He has to know who to hit with a flamethrower later or maybe if he is feeling humanitarian, a .50 cal.

Raphmedia• 12 years ago

Well, it's quite clear why. If the supreme leader says "this should be this instead" and nobody remembers, things are going to be bad for those that were supposed to make the changes.

ssw1n• 12 years ago

It is just to give the "leader" a sense of importance ....

scrumper• 12 years ago

I have an alternative theory: those people are taking notes in order to impress upon Kim Jong-un the weight of responsibility that his position carries. This is isomorphic to the way the shouted "Sir, Yes Sir!" of a marine reminds the officer that he holds his subordinate's life in his hands.

My theory is bullshit though: they're obviously doing it out of deference. Sometimes I do wonder whether Kim feels the pressure. Maybe that constant scrutiny and expectation of perfection makes him even crazier?

Why is Kim Jong-un always surrounded by people taking notes?

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