Triumph of the Il

"Do you think North Korea is going to start a war?"

Ju Yeon asked me with the kind of look that lets you know that no matter what answer you give, you're screwed.

My South Korean English-as-a-Second-Language student explained that her morning-class teacher had used the phrase, "North Korea will start a war" in an example of the first conditional grammar form (eg. "North Korea will start a war if normal countries start reacting to its nuclear blackmail, massive human rights violations and insane provocations with the condemnation and sanctions it so richly deserves). She was upset over the "incident" and had already complained about the instructor. Now she wanted to know my opinion.

"Well, um, I don't know... I mean, maybe it will, maybe it won't, I don't know, I'm just an English teacher in Vancouver!" I blurted out. "What do I know?"

She nodded and frowned and stewed in her chair for the remainder of the class. I was off the hook, but she would have a score to settle with her morning instructor at another time.

I always advise new instructors to steer clear of controversial examples when they are teaching new language. To me, the idea that North Korea might start a war (either on purpose or by accident) is simply taking what I read about and see on TV to its logical conclusion. It's not so much controversial as common sense. I assumed this would be clear to someone who actually lives in a country within range of 13,000 North Korean artillery pieces, but... whatever.

Some people just don't see it. At a protest rally for peace in Lebanon on the weekend, the local communists (and I'm not kidding - they were card-carrying members of the Trotskyist League) were out in strength. The headline of their free newspaper was "Defend North Korea" - just below "Zionist Rampage in Gaza". Nice.

It's sad that some Canadians are so brainwashed by their own propaganda that they would support a regime that has more torture chambers than public washrooms.

For those who have no opinion either way or can't tell Kim Jong Il from Chan Ho Park (but would like to know more), I've created the video posted above. You can also view the version on YouTube here.

tags: North Korea, Kim Jong Il, nuclear blackmail, DMZ, South Korea, propaganda