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WHILE IRELAND’S PERCEPTION of North Korea is, by and large, in line with that of other Western countries – that North Korea is something of an economic and political failure – Pyongyang seems to keep quite a close eye on what’s happening over here.
The website of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) – which issues regular daily despatches in English and Spanish as well as in Korean – often features references to the economic and political goings-on over here.
So, for example, those getting their news from KCNA will be aware of Vision-Net.ie analysis telling them that five Irish firms “collapsed” per day in the first 11 months of this year, leaving aggregate debts of €1.15 billion.
They will also be aware of our recent presidential election, with the president of its Supreme People’s Assembly – the de facto head of government Kim Yong-nam – sending his best wishes to “Micheal Higgins” last month after his October election.
North Koreans are also kept well abreast of the fall in Irish car sales last month, the simultaneous fall in consumer confidence, the dip in retail sales in the third quarter, Eamon Gilmore’s address to the UN General Assembly.
They are also informed, as a matter of sweet diplomacy, that Kim Yong-nam sends St Patrick’s Day greetings to us most years – including in 2009 and 2010.
North Korea’s worker-oriented politics find close favour with those of similar mindsets in Ireland. KCNA tells us that in September 2005, the Irish Workers’ Party appointed a committee to prepare for the 60th anniversary of the foundation of its ruling Korean cousin.
Though little evidence remains of what that committee may have achieved, the KCNA report does tell us that the committee was to be chaired by Sean Garland, the then-president (and current treasurer) of the Irish Workers’ Party.
Garland – a senior figure in the Official IRA – allegedly has other links with North Korea; he is currently the subject of an application to be extradited to the United States, whose currency he is alleged of counterfeiting.
It should be explained that counterfeit $100 bills are one of North Korea’s main exports: as NPR reported earlier this year, shadier businessmen will exchange real US dollars for counterfeit ones, often at a rate of around $60 genuine to $100 fake ones.
The Workers’ Party has other historical solidarity with North Korea – joining with the Communist Party and the Irish-Korean Friendship Society in April 2001 to write to the Irish government, expressing support for North Korea and condemning the US-led campaign against it.
While representations from North Korea are rarely raised at Oireachtas level, North Korean representatives have been present to see some of the Dáil’s most important business.
On the first day of Dáil sittings after Ireland agreed to apply for EU-IMF funding, proceedings were held up (albeit only by a few seconds) to welcome DPR Korea’s ambassador to Ireland, Ja Song-nam, who was watching business in the visitors’ gallery.
North Korea does not have an embassy in Ireland – its British ambassador is accredited here – while the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs’ embassy in Seoul, South Korea is also accredited to Korea DPR.
Despite the two countries establishing formal diplomatic relations in 2003, the Department of Foreign Affairs has affirmed this afternoon that it had “no plans at this point to issue a statement in relation to the death of Kim Jong Il”.
Indeed, relations between the countries – on an official level – are not entirely without their hitches: one of Michael Noonan’s first formal acts as Minister for Finance was to reaffirm a ban on financial transfers to the world’s most secretive state.
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We should dispatch a Minister next year to Pyongyang for Paddys’s day. Maybe all of them! :)
Both countries run by lunatics !
Really good report. Very few people would have expected a connection with Ireland.
There’s always connections between countries FFS
I was in Pyongyang for a week back in September and our young “minder” didn’t even know where Ireland was so don’t assume the average joe gets to read those reports on the press site. There is no Internet but there is a special intranet which the students in the library can use to look up stuff about the “imperialist” USA. Have to say it was a bizarre week!
Don’t forget, plenty of members of the Workers’ Party, which had links to the USSR, are now high-profile members of the Labour Party.
de Rossa’s letter looking for £1 million is a good example:
http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/1986-letter-from-the-workers-party-to-the-communist-party-of-the-soviet-union-cpsu-looking-for-funds/
Sssush Ciaran .. some people don’t want to mention these things anymore :-/
Do ‘special activities’ include oifig an phoist and men in balaclava’s or a sponsored silence or what?
Reply from the CPSU your request for 1 million has been granted!!! “Will denomination’s of $100.00 dollar bills be OK ? See you in North Korea …have an empty suit case handy….good luck getting all those Worker Party , Democratic Left now Labour leaders & TD’s elected..see you at the next Lost Revolution Conference!!!!
Wonder what Michael D thought of getting congratulated by Kim Jong
In the 2009 St Patrick’s day greeting, Mr Kim (or his press secretary) seems to be under the impression that the former President was male: “Kim … wished the President … success in his work for the prosperity of Ireland.”
By 2010, the confusion seems to have mounted as Mr Kim opted not to identify Comrade MacAleese with any gender: “… the message wished the Irish President success …”
Great article. Having some diplomatic ties or exchanges between ourselves and countries like DPRK is certainly not something to be embarrassed about. You can’t moan about the insular and secretive nature of such states and in the same vein decry the fact that some degree of civility exists between the two, regardless of politics.
It is better to take many small steps in the right direction.. and all that
He’s no more a lunatic than George W. Bush
Well, both acted with impunity.. that’s where the similarities end, though.
They prob get a load of their info from President of the Korean Friendship Association, Alejandro Cao de Benos .. a Spaniard and total hack for the NK regime .. check out a documentary (I’m sure it’s on YouTube) called Friends of Kim .. you’ll see just how crazy he is
I was in North Korea at the end of November (must have been the last Paddy there before the Dear Leader crocked it!) and agree with Stephen above, most of the North Korean’s I spoke with hadn’t the first clue where Ireland was, never mind keeping a close eye on our current affairs.
Curiously we also did a tour to the museum that houses all the gifts from various nations to Kim Jong Il and there was some very fine Connemara marble on show courtesy of the Irish Workers Party’s trip there a few years back…nothing from Michael D yet, must be still in the post.
The DPRK was an interesting trip, would highly recommend it.
Yet again article of the week goes to Gav Reilly. Love reading his articles, he’s my favorite member of staff in the Journal.
I have heard the Koreans described as the Irish of the Orient – they’ve been under the yoke of a larger and more aggressive neighbour, plus they used to go abroad to work on building sites. While the north of both countries may be ruled by lunatics, it’s a lot easier to cross the border from Newry than Kaesong, and you won’t get thrown in prison for tuning into RTE.
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