South Africa

Picked this up on the wire. Seems some clown Prof. from South Korea who is on sabbatical in SA had the following to say about former North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung :

 

"Ranked among the likes of India's Gandhi, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Mao Zedong of China, Kim Il-sung stands out as a great leader, revered by the people of the Third World...Therefore, the people of Africa feel more affinity with North Korea than with South Korea...Most of the fighting against dictatorships in Africa was actually directed against the outside power of the U.S., so for them Kim Il-sung, the leader of a Far Eastern country who was brave enough to stand up to the U.S. even before they did, makes him as worthy of honor as their own leaders. Whenever I am given preferential treatment just because I come from the same country as Kim Il-sung, I feel a little embarrassed." - Jang Shi-ki, professor of English Literature, Dongguk University

 

So this guy has been in SA for maybe hmm 2 months and already he knows all this? I doubt more than a handful of South Africans (or African for that matter) know who Kim Il Sung is or even care. However, there is a group in Africa that has definitely "benefitted" from Kim Il Sung's brutal methods of State sponsored suppression fight against dictatorships :

 

"The 5 Brigade came into existence under Prime Minister Mugabe's command. In October 1980, Mugabe signed an agreement with North Korean President Kim Il Sung that arranged for North Korean training of Zimbabwean troops. 106 [North] Koreans were sent to train this new brigade which Mugabe said would be used to "deal with dissidents and any other trouble in the country...The deployments of the 5 Brigade into Matabeleland in the early 1980s were marked by terror and shock, with actions meant to draw out anti-government "dissidents". Within the first weeks of the first deployments, 5 Brigade troops had murdered more than two thousand civilians, beaten thousands more, destroyed property and burned houses. Civilians, not "dissidents," seemed to be specifically targeted during those weeks: dozens or hundreds of civilians were rounded up, marched at gun point to a central area, like a school or village well, beaten with sticks, and made to sing Shona songs praising ZANU-PF. These gatherings would then end with public executions.

 

Statistics on the violence committed against civilians were documented by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, and backed by figures collected by human-rights workers, journalists, missionaries, and lawyers. As many as 7000 civilians were killed and thousands more were injured by the time the 5 Brigade withdrew from Matebeleland...The scars of the 1980s, however, have not healed, and although Mugabe has offered compensation for victims of those years' events, many are cynical. The human rights abuses of the early 1980's leave not only physical injuries, but mental and social ones as well. Individuals, groups, and entire villages have lost their loved ones, their property, their ability to get an education, and their community way of life. The pain that exists as an aftereffect of the murders and beatings deserves to be heard and spoken of if the people of Zimbabwe, particularly those in Matabeleland, are to understand their own history, share it with others, overcome their bitterness and suspicion of the government, and unite against the possibility of these events happening again." * Extracts taken from Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, "Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980 to 1988"

 

So Prof, what you think of as "preferential treatment" is probably more like embarrassed incredulity that someone who has a doctorate can make such sweeping and misinformed statements about their host country (continent?). It's a sort of South African tradition not to insult house guests - even when they have made a huge faux paux. We're just humouring you, you silly boy! The South African Embassy in Seoul has also released a press statement rejecting Jang's loony stand on things - politely of course.

 

"What is, however, difficult to understand is how an academic, after visiting South Africa only two months, can make statements on behalf of South Africans and Africans that are totally distorted from reality..."

 

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

 

Update : A Korean blogger "The Marmot" has good perspective on this.