I am from South Korea. I lived in there for 23 years. I have not only heard of North Korea plenty of times but also seen lots of images of reality of North Korea. I conclude that Jungeun Kim, the leader of North Korea, governs the country with a personal dictatorship. The most interesting is how the dictatorship of Kim’s family has been lasting for more than 60 years. There must be propaganda to control their citizens in North Korea. Furthermore, Ilsung Kim, the first leader of North Korea, had made an effort to cheat on people in the world.
For instance, Kim designated himself as the leader of the democratic people’s republic of Korea on The New York Times. This propagandized ad was definitely a waste money because most people did not believe it. This is the worst propaganda I have ever seen. Then, why did Kim pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the ads?Jeremy argues that the ads were propaganda not for western readers but for people in North Korea. As North Korean media reported on the ads, the government could claim the articles written by westerners who praise North Korea.
Cunningham mentions, “… propaganda is now envisaged, in highly deterministic language, as a wholesale sociological phenomenon in modern society, an inevitable component in our modern technologically structured society.” It is obvious that our society is technologically structured society as propaganda prevails in our society. The meaning of propaganda might be applied to North Korea. Kim made a technological structured society in order to manipulate the public; he blocks all media from outside and makes his own media. Also, through the media, he makes himself like a god which the public has to trust. Propaganda is not simply phenomenon in North Korea. Propaganda is absolute social atmosphere reinforcing his dictatorship.
Cunningham mentions, “people were generally irrational and highly impressionable in their response to messages, ideas, and event” in a section of ‘New Propaganda as Public Relations.’ It means that nature of people undoubtedly accept propagandized information from media. So, Kim use the nature in order to control people. Kim prevents all culture and civilization from other country and isolate people from the external influence. If people have a chance to absorb Western culture or compare their culture with other culture, Kim could not keep the dictatorship.