A Glimpse of Dictatorship – North Korean Comics

I just came across a post at the North Korea Economy Watch blog linking to North Korean comic book translations made by Heinz Insu Fenkl, an associate professor in the department of English at the State University of New York, New Paltz . As such, I have spent the last couple of hours or so reading about the Great General Mighty Wing and the Kim Brothers in Blizzard in The Jungle. It is easy for those of us who grew up after the end of the cold war to think of authoritarian dictatorships and ultra-explicit propaganda as relics of the distant past. These North Korean comics sadly remind us that this is not the case. They are, however, both interesting and amusing.

The Great General Mighty Wing is a children’s comic about a brave general who saves the bees from the invading wasps and spiders, and the all-important honey-producing garden of 1000 flowers from a dangerous drought (which, according to Fenkl, refers to a very real drought in North Korea happening at the time of publishing). Interestingly, it features “inspirational” proverbs written in the margin of every page, tailored to the the unfolding of the story. I’ve included some of them here – I think they are very telling about the sort of attitudes the DPRK government, as well as authoritarian governments in general, are interested in cultivating:

“A home is secure behind a deadbolt, and a yard is secure behind a fence.”

“An old enemy is still an enemy.”

“Forgiving the enemy is tantamount to suicide.”

“Treat an enemy cordially, and he will climb on your head.”

“The enemy will not appear before you, but behind you.”

“A small enemy? There is no such thing anywhere.”

“Debts, flames, an enemy’s stump – they will all rise up again.”

“The jackal that appears to be small always appears to be the most vicious.”

“The singular purpose of fireworks is to inspire victory.”

“The sight of an enemy’s smile – a piercing needle.”

“Though the enemy be no more than a mosquito, consider him no less than an elephant.”

“Radicals and idiots are both mentally deficient.”

“Snuff out a fire before it spreads, and squash dissent before it takes root.”

I find it all eerily reminiscent of certain books written by George Orwell.

I’ve also added some excerpts below from Blizzard in The Jungle, a story about two Korean Doctors, the Kim Brothers, who save a group of survivors after their plane crashes in the African jungle near the infamous Devil’s Mountain, from which no one has escaped alive. The plane crash was orchestrated by the evil “Mafia”, who are trying to steal secret documents carried aboard the plane. To make matters more interesting to the Western observer, the secret documents are military plans belonging to North Korea’s valiant allies – the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The site hosting the comic to also includes some interesting commentary on the comic by Ri Chol-Geun and Jo Hak-Rae.

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The two North Korean doctors Kim are of course in peak physical shape (it is soon revealed to the reader that this is because of the Korean miracle plant Ginseng). The other survivors discuss amongst themselves:

“I just don’t get it. How can those two be so much stronger and kinder than us?”

“I don’t understand either. I’m an athlete, and I should have a better body than them.”

“It’s hard to believe. These men as so full of confidence in our survival and in their ability to take care of us in this infamous jungle from, which not even the strongest men have escaped alive.”

The North Korean heroes are also imbued with a righteous revolutionary spirit and love for their dear leader:

“Our great leader, comrade Kim-Jong-Il, will be losing sleep tonight awaiting news of us.”

“My heart aches for the warmth of our dear general’s love!”

“…When we return to the bosom of our dear leader, let us do it in the spirit of the anti-Japanese  revolutionaries who dreamed of the revolutionary government!”

The Americans in the group, however, are hardly portrayed very positively:

American #1: “Look, we’re all independent adults, I say it should be every man for himself.”

American #2 : “What we do is our own business.”

Others: “We have injured people! How can you go off on your own?”

“You are being selfish!”

“Do you think you’ll survive if the Mafia catches you?”

American #1: “Hah! The mafia would’t dare kill a white man!”

American #2: “We’ll do whatever the hell we want!”

North Korean Doctor: “If that’s what you want, we won’t stop you…”

American #2 :”Good, you get it, then. Let’s go, Lincoln …”

American #2: “If we follow the river, it should take us to a village or something.”

American #1:”Yeah, I saw that in a movie once.”

Soon thereafter the Americans are eaten by crocodiles after happily helping the evil Mafia in their hunt for the rest of the survivors. The latter are of course led to safety by the North Koreans, whose great virtue and strong character can hardly be questioned:

(One of the survivors, speaking to the oldest of the Kim Brothers ) “As a botanist, I have been many different places in the world, and met many different people, yet this is a first for me… I’ve never encountered anyone as kind, yet strong as the two of you.”

“…If it weren’t for you, we would all have fallen by the wayside, one by one. We would not still be standing.

If only we could be more like the North Koreans.

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Pictures are from Heinz Insu Fenkel’s site. I hardly think North Korean comics are covered by the WTO Agreement on Trade–Related Intellectual Property Issues, though.