Kim Jong Un just might be the most famous face on the Internet. He’s a fixture on social media feeds, often depicted as characters like Russell from the animated kid’s movie “Up” and a wrestler named “Kim Jong Un-dertaker.” Thanks to a handful of photoshopped images, I’ll probably always picture him in a blue suit and sunglasses belting out “Gangnam Style.”
He’s a leader, a dictator and the head of North Korea’s notorious regime. So in effect, we’re laughing in (or at) the face of terrorism. That doesn’t resonate with me. You want to undermine Kim Jong Un? Take his face off of the Internet, entirely. 
I get it. The rhetoric often serves a greater purpose. Some might argue that it lightens the mood or informs the public of current events in a creative way. But most often, I find that people are using memes or social media to taunt North Korea’s government and reiterate just how many people don’t take “the boy who cried wolf” seriously.
My concern is that we’re walking a fine line between mockery and instigation. Kim Jong Un is young and unpredictable. Let’s not forget how the story goes: the boy who cried wolf eventually encountered a wolf.
Last week’s edition of The Economist featured a photo of the dictator on its cover with giant block letters above him that read, “Korean roulette.” The corresponding article considered the great possibility that Kim Jong Un is blowing smoke.
“The nuclear threat against mainland America is patently hollow,” the article said. “It will be years before the North has the technology to dispatch nuclear tipped missiles.”
But in roulette, there’s inherent risk. The Economist also considered the potential for dire consequences, should the United States and South Korea misjudge North Korea.
“Nobody should doubt the cult-like commitment of the North’s armed forces,” The Economist wrote.
I should clarify that I’m not suggesting that we should feel victim to Kim Jong Un’s threats, nor should we fear his authority, because the reality is that Americans are not at risk.
When North Korea re-deployed missiles to its eastern coast, The Washington Post reported that it wasn’t clear what types of missiles they were, but there were two likely possibilities: the Musudan Missiles or the KN-08. KN-08 resembles an “intercontinental ballistic missile” and North Korea claims that it can reach about 6,000 miles to include Los Angeles, but it’s never been tested. Who knows if the missile could survive the launch or if it even exists. The Musudan, on the other hand, has been tested. It is believed to have a range that includes Japan and South Korea. 
If the missiles are ever launched, the chaos wouldn’t end there. Judging by past conflict, North Korea would be destroyed, too. Leaving its people, who’ve been “force-fed on the fear of nuclear annihilation,” to face the repercussions of their young leader.
Those are the people who will suffer most. The ones who might not even have access to the Internet or the mockeries sent swirling around the globe. According to The Economist, more than 150,000 of North Korea’s people are living as prisoners of their own country in detention camps. One in four children are stunted from malnutrition. If they’re lucky, they’ll make 3,000 won per month. That’s less than 50 American cents.
I think it’s safe to say that pouring gasoline on the fire isn’t doing them any favors.
And yet, we do it anyway. Recently the famous computer hackers, who call themselves “Anonymous,” decided to give Kim Jong Un a dose of his own medicine. The group claims to have broken into North Korea’s Twitter account “Uriminzokkiri” where it posted a picture of Kim Jong Un’s face, Photoshopped onto a “Wanted” sign and adorned with pig features.
Prior to the “attack,” Anonymous stated, “So you’re into demonstrations of power? Here is ours.”
Bold? Yes. Flawed? Incredibly so.
This power struggle is far greater than Anonymous, with the potential to wipe out at least 1 million people; many of whom would be Americans. I’m certain this is not the time or place for one-upping dictators. Especially when this dictator couldn’t care less about the lives at stake.
Mockery may satisfy our own desire to laugh in the face of terrorism but The Economist is right, we’re playing roulette. Taunting an unpredictable man in an unstable country will only make him trigger happy. You want to undermine Kim Jong Un? Take his face off the internet. It doesn’t deserve to be famous.
Carly Samuelson can be reached at samu5380@stthomas.edu.
I think that this article does a good job of pointing out that despite the levity with which we treat North Korea, there are major international and humanitarian issues taking place that need to be dealt with in a serious, critical way. That being said, Kim Jong-Un’s latest rhetoric appears to be in response to internal politics far more than external politics, and it certainly has little to do with what the American public may or may not think of him.
“What we are witnessing is pretty much Pyongyang’s standard operating procedure, which consists of incendiary verbiage and provocative behavior – albeit ratcheted up to a level higher than we’ve witnessed in recent memory. Why? This question cannot be answered with absolute certainty, but the most plausible explanation is that a youthful, 20-something, untested supreme leader believes he must work extra hard to prove his mettle.
Kim Jong Un has been in power for nearly 18 months, assuming the mantle of leadership upon his father’s death in December, 2011. The primary audience for this barrage is not foreign; indeed, its main targets are key domestic constituencies. Kim aims to elevate his stature in the eyes of older civilian and military leaders as well as in front of rank and file regime loyalists.”
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/04/11/us-must-deter-north-korea-and-reassure-south-korea
There is a naivety in this article that almost makes me smile, almost. If only the problems with North Korea, not to mention other belligerent regimes, simply stemmed from vulgar internet humor and the proliferation of photo editing software. Although you strive to bring out the seriousness of the situation, there is something belittling about the juxtaposition of the crisis in the Korean Peninsula with distasteful internet humor.
Your mistaken belief that the dictator of North Korea would be provoked into war by internet hijinks exposes your poor understanding of the situation. This is not a man who couldn’t care less. Kim Jong Un is playing the game of tit for tat with the United States in the hopes of consolidating his position domestically and potentially wrangle more aid out of the global community. What your article does show is that you have fallen into the common popular trap of believing that the leadership of North Korea is full of easily provoked buffons. Bellicose yes, but the leadership of North Korea is anything but stupid.
I agree with Paul and Christina. The internet memes you seem so concerned about are a non-issue. Kim Jong-Un has better things to worry about. He’s a 30 year old totalitarian dictator with nuclear capabilities whose family has killed millions of North Koreans over past decades. If you are going to talk about North Korea, delve into the nuclear issue or the massive human rights violations or the fact that the economy is in the toilet, not internet memes. More than anything I think this article demonstrates why POLS 104 needs to be part of the core curriculum.