The path of North Korea's May 5 'satellite' launch.
The Daily North
Korea, South Korea
North Koreans
'Defeatist' Due to Regime's 'Wartime Pressure'
"Ironically, the wartime
atmosphere generated by the authorities is creating a defeatist attitude among
the people, so cadres are trying to calm them, saying that, 'The Americans
cannot draw their sword.'"
At the China-Korea border, activists and defectors release balloons filled with 100,000 anti-North Korea leaflets, some with about $1.30 in North Korean won tucked inside as enticement. The leaflets urge people to rise up against despot Kim Jong-il and discuss a taboo subject: Kim's many alleged romantic relationships.
CHAGANG, North Korea: Tension is being felt throughout North Korean society, as rumors
spread that war will erupt if the satellite that the regime is planning to
launch is intercepted. North Korean authorities have been actively promoting a
wartime mood, performing air raid drills and issuing emergency orders for troop
mobilization.
A source from Shinuiju
[near the Chinese border] reported Friday, "With all the tension, we cannot
enter China for business. Many people here feel the atmosphere, saying 'war
could break out any minute.' But others are saying, 'that'll be the day.'"
Since December, when North
Korea's winter military drills began, Pyongyang has been ratcheting up the
level of domestic tension.
As they do every year, this
year's winter drill ran from December to March. Ever since, North Korean
authorities have been ratcheting up their criticism of the Lee MyungBak Administration [South
Korea], but citizens have been calm, saying "it's just a daily
alert."
In early January, after
warning of provocation over the Northern Limit Line (NLL),
the authorities also began conducting civilian blackout drills, yet people
still didn't seem to care. But tension did begin to rise in early March, right
before the election for Supreme People's Assembly delegates.
The authorities stress that,
"We have to cope with all potentially provocative acts by the enemy,"
requiring emergency training for the Red Guard of Workers and Peasants and
local reserve corps. Air raid and blackout training and meetings of People's
Units for self-criticism have also been taking place.
But authorities have taken no
special countermeasures - civilian or military - during the South Korea-U.S. joint military drill Key-Resolve, from March 9
to 20, although they raised the rhetoric against the South, claiming "it
is preparing for a war aimed at our Republic (North Korea)."
The No. 9 Military
Collective, a huge military unit composed of several armies, local reserve
forces and the Red Guard Workers and Peasants, announced that it would begin
training, but the precise date wasn't released.
In late March, however,
blackout training and air defense training was carried out several times a day.
The source implied that all of this training was relatively ineffective,
pointing out, "In a situation in which there is no electricity, what's
blackout training other than turning off the lights?"
Several sources explained,
however, that this civilian training is not to practically prepare for war, but
to raise the level of tension in society and tie the entire population to the
system of one-leader-one-ideology of Kim Jong-il.
The rumor circulating among
cadres, however, is that the United States and Japan might try to intercept our
satellite, so the people have now really begun to feel the strain. The people
see that such an interception could trigger a war.
The source described the
atmosphere in North Korean society, saying that due to the possibility of
interception, People's Unit chairpersons are having difficulty getting
residents to take part in joint construction projects within their neighborhood
because, "the situation is so tough."
Other side effects are the
tension and strain of the warlike atmosphere in factories and farms.
"Workers are pressuring
those they loaned money to repay them, trying to wrap up all of their dealings
quickly."
And the source offered
information on a new decree issued by authorities.
"Even though war could
break out, we still have to work." Ironically, the wartime atmosphere
generated by the authorities among the people is creating a defeatist attitude, so cadres are trying to calm them, saying that, 'The
Americans cannot draw their sword.'"
