October 21^st, 2014.

[Review] Northeast Center Colloquium

“Visual Politics & North Korea: Seeing is believing” presented by David Shim (University of Groningen)

Joo, Dow Kyung

On last Tuesday, October 21^st, Seoul National University Asia Center Northeast Center had invited David Shim, professor at University of Groningen for general colloquium.

The presentation was based on the book of David Shim, titled ‘Visual Politics and North Korea: Seeing is Believing,’ which was also used as the title of the colloquium.

Shim wrote his book on the political implications of the images related to North Korea.

Shim, with Korean cultural background, had studied in Europe, and is actively involved in international grounds. He had worked in research institutions and schools of various backgrounds, including Cambodia, Germany, and Netherlands. He also plans to go to Colombia next year.

The research presented in the colloquium was an attempt to reduce the gap between the two directions of political research extremes, one on theory-based studies, and the other on policy-based studies. The presentation was a study on how the politics of the visual images in politics are used in the case of North Korea. It was approached from the perspective that the behaviors can be changed by the visual presentations.

Out of all the images produced about North Korea, daily life and satellite photos were selected as two categories of images for comparison. First, the structure of the images is to be observed, the production of the images is to be assessed, and then the relationship between the images and different symbols will be speculated to discover how the visual politics are realized.

Everyday images in North Korea are often presented in two extreme types of characteristics. Some images show North Korea as being the isolated, behind the modern technology, sometimes dangerous, with people showing passive characteristics, waiting for a change, rather than actively demanding and seeking freedom.

On the other side, some images of daily life in North Korea show how happily the people live. The families are gathered together, with plentiful food, enjoying picnic on a lazy day. In such images, North Korea is no longer a distant place of mysteries, but a friendly and approachable place just like any other homes.

As can see from these two opposite images, two contrary perceptions on North Korea would be formed, depending on what kinds of images had been projected. Just as the part of the title indicates, what you see becomes what you believe.

The satellite photos are political since they influence the decisions made by the government, national intelligence organizations, or military, and others. For an example, in the late 1990s, U.S discovered that North Korea started nuclear tests through the information obtained by the satellite photos, and conducted investigation. Upon this opportunity, North Korea would intentionally make nuclear test facility construction noticeable in the satellite photos for provocation, knowing that U.S is watching them through the satellites.

Professor Shim is also conducting research studies on how the visual images of the GAF (German Armed Forces) are presented in SNS as a further research on North Korea. He is also studying how geographical politics are presented in cartoons, and how the cartoons reflect international politics and securities. Shim closed the presentation by saying that how the images can become an object of analysis, and the political implications possessed in images should always be considered. It was left for the audience to go back to their daily lives and question every image presented before them.

Heated discussions followed the presentation. The lecture was conducted in English, but having Korean background, Shim also used Korean alternatively in answering the questions and explaining further details. Ideas were exchanged in a friendly atmosphere.

The problem of the subjectivity in the interpretation of the images was brought to attention. The form of the comments in SNS structure was suggested to be one way to resolve the issue of the subjectivity. In the fundamental problem of the validity of the visual politics, it was pointed out that the unique characteristic of North Korea, a country not so exposed to the world, made the studies on the usage of the images more applicable. It was also commented that the basic knowledge of the subject would be an important factor in the political implications of an image. The colloquium provided an opportunity to widen the view by having the open discussion between the speaker with European educational background and Korean educational background.