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Interview With North Korea Expert Balbina Hwang
Aired April 30, 2003 - 13:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: No matter which generation of Kim you're talking about, the leaders in the north have successfully exploited a Korean philosophy of self-reliance. It has a lot to do with how their philosophy and how their politics and how their diplomacy, if you can call it that, manifests itself.
Joining us now to talk a little bit more about this is Balbina Hwang. She is with the Heritage Foundation, and an expert on the Korean Peninsula.
Professor Hwang, good to have you with us.
BALBINA HWANG, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: Tell us about this philosophy of self-reliance that is kind of embedded in the Korean culture, and how that might help us understand their motivations.
HWANG: Well, yes, the policy of Juche created by Kim Il Sung of North Korea maps on very well historically and culturally to the Korean society and culture. For hundreds and thousands of years, Korea was known as the Hermit Kingdom, which was a thriving culture and society that was really independent -- of course, part of the tributary system with China.
And North Korea survived and did quite well as late as the early 1980s. The North Korean economy was quite strong. In fact, many believed in the 1970s that it was stronger than South Korea. But as we see now, North Korean economy was completely failed, and largely due to its own choices and the failures of the self-reliance system.
O'BRIEN: So, the irony here, of course, is that this philosophy of self-reliance has led them to utter dependence in some sense.
HWANG: That's exactly right. In many ways, this Juche philosophy is really a myth. North Korea has never really truly been self-reliant. It has always relied on the patronship of the Soviet Union and Russia in the past, and ironically now, it is increasingly beginning to rely on South Korea. And of course now is demanding on assistance from the United States.
O'BRIEN: Well, then, explain then how Kim explains that to his people. How does he jive that with Juche, his desire to seek some kind of aid from the rest of the world?
HWANG: Well, this is exactly the dilemma that Kim Jong Il and his regime faces, and I believe it is the biggest challenge to him so that it is difficult for him to pursue these reforms. If he acknowledges that his regime is dependent on international aid for merely feeding its people, then, of course, that undermines the entire logic of his entire regime, so he must be very careful.
O'BRIEN: This is the land with no easy solutions. There is really no easy way for everybody to save face, is there?
HWANG: Well, exactly right. But on the other hand, I think that the leadership in North Korea needs to understand that it has moved beyond the stage of saving face. It must make the choice to open up to the international community and stop this kind of isolation that really prevented China, Vietnam, all the other communist regimes from failing.
O'BRIEN: Balbina Hwang with the Heritage Foundation, thank you for attempting to do Korean history in about three minutes. We appreciate your time.
HWANG: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 30, 2003 - 13:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: No matter which generation of Kim you're talking about, the leaders in the north have successfully exploited a Korean philosophy of self-reliance. It has a lot to do with how their philosophy and how their politics and how their diplomacy, if you can call it that, manifests itself.
Joining us now to talk a little bit more about this is Balbina Hwang. She is with the Heritage Foundation, and an expert on the Korean Peninsula.
Professor Hwang, good to have you with us.
BALBINA HWANG, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: Tell us about this philosophy of self-reliance that is kind of embedded in the Korean culture, and how that might help us understand their motivations.
HWANG: Well, yes, the policy of Juche created by Kim Il Sung of North Korea maps on very well historically and culturally to the Korean society and culture. For hundreds and thousands of years, Korea was known as the Hermit Kingdom, which was a thriving culture and society that was really independent -- of course, part of the tributary system with China.
And North Korea survived and did quite well as late as the early 1980s. The North Korean economy was quite strong. In fact, many believed in the 1970s that it was stronger than South Korea. But as we see now, North Korean economy was completely failed, and largely due to its own choices and the failures of the self-reliance system.
O'BRIEN: So, the irony here, of course, is that this philosophy of self-reliance has led them to utter dependence in some sense.
HWANG: That's exactly right. In many ways, this Juche philosophy is really a myth. North Korea has never really truly been self-reliant. It has always relied on the patronship of the Soviet Union and Russia in the past, and ironically now, it is increasingly beginning to rely on South Korea. And of course now is demanding on assistance from the United States.
O'BRIEN: Well, then, explain then how Kim explains that to his people. How does he jive that with Juche, his desire to seek some kind of aid from the rest of the world?
HWANG: Well, this is exactly the dilemma that Kim Jong Il and his regime faces, and I believe it is the biggest challenge to him so that it is difficult for him to pursue these reforms. If he acknowledges that his regime is dependent on international aid for merely feeding its people, then, of course, that undermines the entire logic of his entire regime, so he must be very careful.
O'BRIEN: This is the land with no easy solutions. There is really no easy way for everybody to save face, is there?
HWANG: Well, exactly right. But on the other hand, I think that the leadership in North Korea needs to understand that it has moved beyond the stage of saving face. It must make the choice to open up to the international community and stop this kind of isolation that really prevented China, Vietnam, all the other communist regimes from failing.
O'BRIEN: Balbina Hwang with the Heritage Foundation, thank you for attempting to do Korean history in about three minutes. We appreciate your time.
HWANG: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
