
Why is Kim Jong-un always surrounded by people taking notes? - weavie
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27116092
======
Haul4ss
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
Reading about the peasants' life during the Cultural Revolution plays out a
very similar narrative, down to Mao's very corny propaganda.

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

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Wait, did I miss a Mao day recently? The trade union handed out huge Deng Xiao
ping books a couple of months ago...not exactly celebrating Mao.

~~~
happyscrappy
It was his 120th birthday celebration a few months ago, with officials
praising him. Whether they actually believe what they say is another question,
but you can hardly blame them for not going against the party.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Whenever someone emphasizes Deng at the same time people are discussing Mao,
you can tell that their are elements in the party that are trying to emphasize
that China's way forward is more inspired by Deng than Mao. But this is
because there are two factions in the party: the moderates (Deng-like) and the
leftists (Mao-like); the moderates have dominated for a long time.

------
threeseed
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.

~~~
derefr
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.

------
kator
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..

------
arethuza
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).

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

------
netcan
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
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).

------
outside1234
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
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.

------
jebus989
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
Agreed. It's a shame, though, that so many of us are expressing admiration for
Putin.

~~~
aaronem
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?

------
Raphmedia
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.

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

~~~
jbuzbee
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"

------
scrumper
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?

------
logfromblammo
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.

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

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

------
HenryMc
Is that a MiG-21 in the last photo?

~~~
spingsprong
Could be a J-7

------
mariusz79
The important question is - why is he surrounded by people. This guy should be
in isolation :)

------
sirdogealot
>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?

~~~
jbuzbee
"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.

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

------
ssw1n
It is just to give the "leader" a sense of importance ....

------
ma2xd
Because if they do one thing wrong, it's bye bye...

------
RighteousFervor
I see the potential of an internet mime here.

