Tensions have been on the rise between the West and the Far East in recent months between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, missile threats from North Korea and international economic fluctuations. Between United Nations (UN) sanctions and pandemic consequences felt around the world, North Korean leaders have gathered urgency to recover.
This past month, North Korea has launched 86 missiles, threatening countries such as the U.S. and Japan. With UN sanctions and hardships from Covid-19, the authoritarian government has threatened a “Neo-Cold War” to boost their partnerships with other authoritarian nations such as Russia and China. With the threat of election fraud and downfall of democracy in the U.S. midterms amid former President Donald Trump’s Republican party, it is evident that there is contention between the free press and the ideals of the ruling party.
In an interview with Naoko Aoki, former Beijing correspondent and current American University professor, Aoki discussed her time as a journalist in an authoritarian country and her 18 visits to North Korea between 2004 and 2009.
Aoki began working for a Japanese news agency, covering Japanese politics, financial and foreign policy for nine years before becoming a Beijing Correspondent – covering China and North Korea from there.
“My first trip was when I was living in Tokyo. This was because I accompanied the Japanese Prime Minister who visited North Korea, which was the first time ever, and there have only been two visits,” said Aoki.
With tensions rising between the U.S. and North Korea, especially on matters such as freedom of the press, democracy and nuclear arms, Aoki recalls her experience as a journalist in a country that ranks in the top five least free media in the world.
“Reporting in North Korea is very challenging in the sense that you don’t really get to do whatever you like. So you have to kind of negotiate with the North Koreans what you can do, and typically will not get everything you want. In fact, it’s typical to get very little of what you want to do,” said Aoki.
Journalism is very different in North Korea compared to the U.S. The government owns all news outlets in which the reporters are party members under strict supervision to uphold government journalistic standards. Only high-ranking officials have approval to use the internet, which is often limited to pre-programmed broadcasting of government propaganda.
“In China, you’re a correspondent in an authoritarian country. Obviously, this is different from in Japan because it’s a very different political system. There’s no freedom in the press, at least for the local press. You try to navigate that as a foreign correspondent,” said Aoki.
Despite the differences between democracy and freedom of the press in North Korea and the U.S., Aoki recalls her observations of society during her time there.
“I would say that we on the outside tend to forget that real people live in North Korea with lives and dreams and all of that – like we all do. I know that many of them have very few opportunities and choices. We have lots of choices, right? Whereas, people in North Korea do not have the same choices,” said Aoki.
Experiencing North Korean society showed Aoki what was behind all the controversy between the authoritarian country and the West, seeing the internal issues and dynamics that are shielded from the rest of the world.
“It’s easy to forget that because when we talk about North Korea, we talk about nuclear, missiles, propaganda, but I think it’s important to remember that there are real people with lives there, just like [in the U.S.],” said Aoki.
The U.S. has had its own troubles with the press, especially recently with midterm elections and the rise of election fraud claims. Because of this, voters responded in the polls and Republicans did not see the expected “red wave” due to election deniers’ newfound unpopularity.
Although these problems have arisen in the U.S., the environment is evidently different in countries such as North Korea. Criticism of the regime is uncommon and extremely sensitive in countries such as China and North Korea, in contrast to the U.S.
“It’s anything about the leadership, leadership’s family – all those items are really sensitive issues. And obviously that’s not the case [in the U.S.], right? You can criticize leadership and that’s not a problem in countries like the United States and Japan. Obviously in North Korea that is not the case,” said Aoki.