For Wednesdays class I started by reading “The Oddity of the East: Imagining North Korea,” which was really interesting because it brought up how the media makes jokes about Kim Jong Un. The movie The Interview is really interesting because in one scene there was a fake grocery store filled with plastic fruit food and it reminded me of when I was writing my chapter I wrote about how Kim Jong Un built a ski resort and many high end restaurants just to show outsiders that there’s nice things in North Korea. I also read the article about Kim Jong Un on a horse, which was also showing the media making fun of Kim.
Before arriving to class, we had to find an article about a current affair and describe why we chose it. I chose one saying that Kim Jong Un will use nuclear weapons if threatened. I chose this one because Kim used to send threats all the time about nuclear weapons and this is frightening knowing he vows that he will use them.
In class, we talked in groups about why the Kim regime can’t be thrown out. Firstly, I said that people do not have access to media outside of North Korea and only learn history about North Korea so they do not know how the world is outside the country. They think that this it normal. Additionally, the people have been put in their place so they are scared to even do anything because they know they will be severely punished or executed. Lastly, outsiders cannot do anything because there is a huge risk of Kim using nuclear weapons so aggravating him would not be in the interest for anyones safety. For Fridays class I did my peer review and we talked about useful tips for writing.
On my todo list I have finishing up my chapter.
