All nations use propaganda to a degree to help ensure its peoples loyalty and support. North Korea is one of those nations that has this practice down do a well perfected art. I sketched an example of what an average propaganda poster might look like in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is interesting to note how they refuse to admit that there are two separate Korean states, but that is a different topic. In most pieces of propaganda, the Kim family is shown as the saviors of Korea, the ones responsible for the “success” and “prosperity” of the North. In my piece,  I had Kim Il Song placed prominently in the bottom right corner, open palm outstretched across the page. He looms larger than almost everything on the page, representing the shear magnitude of influence he has on the DPRK, and how important he is in the daily life of citizens. Across the bottom, I depicted the untamed wild and mountains fading into a modern city sky line. The caption, “Building our Future”, symbolizes the shift from a farming society to a modern community, Across the top, the banner of North Korea flies, signifying a Korea united under one flag. The top left corner displays the emblem of DPRK’s only political party. In addition, light radiates out from Kim Il Song, as if the sun was just rising from behind the mountain, showing how he represents a new start for Korea.

Disclaimer: I believe none of this. This was done as an assignment for class.

Today i participated in a physiology study. it was focused on human short term memory function and how different stimuli may affect it. the over all process was reality simple. The administrator began by recording out initial blood pressure and heart rates, to gauge how our bodies acted in a resting environment. Following the initial recording of vital stats, the test environment was commenced. the only purpose pf this section was to familiarize the participants with the test. in essence, all the test was comprised of was a quadrant with four marked sections, with an image appearing in one sector each iteration. the image would either be a scene appearing outside or inside, and the subjects would be required to record where it appeared. So , each iteration the participant would circle the quadrant in which the image appeared and weather it appeared outside or inside. following this section, subjects were asked to complete simple multiplications for five minutes (ie. 45X12, 11X21, 34X46). Following this blood pressure and heart rate were again measured. next in the procedure, subjects were presented with a blank quadrant, when each image was presented on screen, participants were askedto mark which quadrant each image appeared in. being a part of the control group, i was not subjected to any stressors however subsequent groups will be distracted by “obnoxious construction sounds” and other stressors, i am worried that this experiment will not produce any significant results because even though i was only the control and not subject to any stressors, i do not feel confident tat i correctly recorded any locations in the second part of the experiment.

Today we started watching the Chinese film, “To Live”, set in the mid 20th century, and it brought up some interesting points. Throughout the movie, the audience is given the viewpoint of townspeople in a small village, and how they are forced to react to the rising tide of communism. The film shows how in a lot of cases, what would pass for common sense in western culture was vilified and repressed by communist values. For example, when Chairman Mao begins his  Great Leap Forward, party officials began collecting every scrap of metal in the village, including pots, pans, and braziers. For all the trouble the town went through to create the steel, all they made was a relatively small ingot, barely enough to make a few cannon shells. The logic was, any food you need can be found at the communal kitchen. Water can be delivered to your home.  In addition, there is the absurd interference in daily life by the Party representative. Marriages, jobs, and housing are all arranged in accordance with the party’s whims. Party loyalty demands were unrealistically high, leading to unfounded accusations of leaders, or anyone at odds with anyone else. Any educated individuals were labeled as reactionaries and imprisoned.  This included academics, lawyers, even doctors, resulting in woefully inadequate medical facilities. I expect that this lack of medical availability will impact the film when the daughter of the main character goes into labor. I found it extremely interesting that the technology levels evident in the movie during the late 60s was comparable to what you could find in the US during the 20s. The disconnect between Chinese upper echelons and commoners has persisted to this day.

On Tuesday, a South Korean court began the trial of the former president, park Geun-hye. Submitting a plea of not guilty to charges of bribery, leaking state secrets, and abusing state power, she potentially faces life in prison. The accusations raise concerns from many South Koreans who still remember the authoritarian governance that dominated the state until democratic reforms in 1987. And their concerns are far from unfounded. When politicians are able to become so disconnected to abandon ethics and responsibility, a government is failing.

Following Ms. Park’s removal, an election was held in which liberal Moon Jae-in won by a comfortable margin. He promises to be a starch difference to Ms. Park, hoping to thaw relations with North Korea while strengthening ties with both Washington and Bejing. In addition, his planned reforms for the economy aim to boost them from their current 5 year low. Currently, there is concern over President Trump’s stated intentions to make unspecified changes to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. If the United States loosens ties economically with South Korea, China could stand to gain from the high tech industry in South Korea.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39996218?intlink_from_url=http://www.bbc.com/news/topics/68f68d12-c2d9-4173-9ed3-178363e46344/south-korea&link_location=live-reporting-story

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-05-08/south-koreas-new-president-will-face-challenges-from-all-directions

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