2006 in Seongnam's Taepyeong-dong.
In a move unexpected during this time of heightened tension and fear on the peninsula, North Korea has expressed its support for beleaguered citizens and expatriates in South Korea by threatening to fire on that country's loudspeakers.
"If South Korea installs new speakers for psychological warfare, we will directly aim at them and open fire to destroy them," an unnamed North Korean military commander said in a statement, carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
"If the South Korean traitors challenge our rightful response, we will counter with mightier physical strikes to eliminate the root cause of their provocation," the statement said.
The Korea Times reports on the laws governing use of loudspeakers and dancers during election season:
According to the National Election Commission (NEC), candidates running for mayors, provincial governors, district chiefs and city or province council members can use only one speaker. They can make speeches from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. with car speakers and from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. with portable speakers.
"For recorded songs or speeches, we reduced the hours to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. starting in 2010 to mitigate inconveniences," an NEC official said.
No laws are being broken when trucks roll through the neighborhood blaring "If You're Happy and You Know It" for some no-name candidate at 6:12 a.m., but people aren't happy. Earlier in the article:
Kim Won-ho, a 30-year-old office worker, had his weekend ruined because of the loud campaign jingles played in front of his apartment building.
"For the June 2 elections, I have to choose from eight candidates. With so many candidates vying to win seats, their campaigns seem to be louder than usual," Kim said.
Though he recognizes the need for election campaigns, he was annoyed by the unwanted noise. "I know one thing for sure - I will not vote for the city council candidate who canvassed so loudly on Saturday morning," he said.
5 comments:
Because some people need such an explanation, and because jokes are always funnier when they're explained, yes, I know the propaganda loudspeakers North Korea is talking about are different. Just a happy coincidence of news, or about as "happy" as you'll get in a situation like this.
ha! very fun...it's pretty annoying listening to those loud speakers and the jets flying over head. It was impossible getting any sleep on health day yesterday.
Oh, well...it is election time!
Last night, I was grumbling about the stupidity of having these election trucks zooming around, parked on every major intersection, with 50 year old women wearing white gloves and dancing and handing out cards while the speakers blasted the most silliest of songs with my wife. I argued that I would want to know a particular person's views on certain issues before I even began to think to vote for him or her. Someone blaring NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE informs me of nothing about how they feel about certain issues and what steps they would take to address them. I've seen candidates next to these trucks but they are so loud it's difficult at best to talk to them (not that my Korean is up at that level but still).
My wife explained to me that it's not the individual that people really care about but rather the party or group they represent. Somehow, that made a lot of sense to me in this culture.
Personally if I could vote, I'd consider voting for the guy who hired some doume (more like "do me") girls who were flirtatious. I'd also consider voting for a female candidate who had the balls to get some hot guy dancers to do the same thing for the female constituents! Either way, it'd be more honest and purposeful than what they are doing now...
1 more week of this nonsense to go!
Last election cycle I witnessed in Korea, one of the candidates had his bongo truck/stage in Myeong Dong. His election video came on... blaring the theme music of Battlestar Galactica (the new series). Hmmmm. I'm sure he had no clue where the music came from.
I can't help but wonder if early-morning loudspeakers are counterproductive. Have candidates considered the possibility? It's not hard to imagine Richard Nixon authorizing a "dirty trick" involving a loudspeaker at 6 am in suburban neighborhoods promoting the candidacy of his opponent: "Wake Up America! Vote for McGovern!"
Post a Comment