Memo #10
By: Hyung-Gu Lynn
News and internet channels around the world reacted with indignation, pity, and outrage to reports that the coach of North Korea’s World Cup soccer team, Kim Chong-hun, had been sent to a labour mine and forced to work for 14 hours a day after a 6 hour public harangue of most of his team and staff.
Unfortunately, this looks to be the latest in a series of unreliable reports on the North Korean national soccer team. Earlier reports about the purported defection of 4 North Korean players at the World Cup were deflated when the players appeared at a practice session the following day.
North Korean officials have flatly denied the story about Kim’s demotion and have stated that after a lengthy assessment Kim Chung-hun has been retained to coach the team in international tournaments in 2011.
The Coach Kim story originated with Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporting the alleged harangue and expressing concern about the fate of the coach (the RFA is funded by the US Congress). RFA’s report was based on unconfirmed claims by an unidentified Chinese businessman and another unidentified “source.” The conservative, anti-communist South Korean daily, Chosun Ilbo, built on the RFA report with additional interviews with South Korean intelligence sources that simply expressed more concerns about Kim’s possible fate. These were picked up by the British tabloid, The Sun, which added the comment about the exile to the mines. The Chosun Ilbo and other outlets in South Korea then re-introduced the Sun article back into Korea as “fact.”
As international coverage of the Coach Kim incident spread and the factual base came under closer scrutiny, South Korean media outlets, including the Choson Ilbo itself, quickly distanced themselves from the original story and published articles analyzing the reasons for the latest installment of misinformation.
It won’t be clear until the January 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar whether Coach Kim kept his job. However, immediately apparent are the dangers of relying on unverified reports circulating in newspapers and Internet blogs. North Koreans can face very real risks when interacting with foreigners. But given the proliferation of “cut and paste” journalism, unverified reports about North Korea, whether positive or negative and not just about the soccer team, need to be viewed with skepticism. Caveat lector.
About the Author:
Hyung-Gu Lynn is the AECL/KEPCO Chair in Korean Research, Institute of Asian Research, The University of British Columbia.
Links:
- Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas Since 1989, Book by Hyung Gu Lynn, November 2007
- North Korea soccer coach fears for his life, Toronto Star, July 2010 (one of many articles that reproduced the original story on the ‘fate’ of the N.K. team)
- North Korea’s retribution on its players demand FIFA response, Sports Illustrated, August 2010 (columnist’s comment on the issue)
- 북한 축구 김정훈 감독 노역설 사실무근 (Reports of North Korean Coach Banished to Forced Labor Groundless), Chosun Ilbo, August 2010 (acknowledges high likelihood of misreporting)
- 사실무근’ 北 감독 강제노역설, 왜 나왔나 (Why Did the False Reports of the North Korean Coach Being Sent to the Mines Spread?), Edaily SPN, August 2010 (analysis of why the misreporting occurred in this case)
Related Memos:
See our other memos on North Korea and South Korea.