Understanding North Korea's Public Messaging: - Rachel Minyoung Lee

The Wilson Center Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy was established in 2015 with the generous support of the Hyundai Motor Company and the Korea Foundation to provide a coherent, long-term platform for improving historical understanding of Korea and informing the public policy debate on the Korean peninsula in the United States and beyond. [...] The higher the level of communication vehicle, the stronger the regime's commitment, and as a result the more carefully the language is reviewed. [...] The lower the level of communication, the weaker the regime's commitment to the message. [...] The faster the response, the more sensitivity North Korea has, and the slower the reaction, the less sensitivity. [...] Compare these two passages from Kim Jong Un's telegrams to Xi Jinping marking the 55th and 60th anniversaries of the DPRK- China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in 2016 and 2021, respectively (bold added by the author for emphasis): 2016: "It is the consistent stand of our party and the government of the DPRK to consolidate the bilateral relations of long historical roots.".