Deciphering Korean propaganda on the Clintons

For those not accustomed to pronouncements by North Korea’s official news agency, the contrast seemed dizzying.

On Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) trumpeted the arrival of former President Bill Clinton, noting that he “courteously” conveyed a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il from President Obama and held a “wide-ranging exchange of views on matters of common concern.”

Less than two weeks earlier, KCNA derided Mr. Clinton’s wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a “funny lady” who at times “looks like a primary schoolgirl” or “a pensioner going shopping” and makes “vulgar” remarks.

No one, except maybe North Koreans, ever accused KCNA of fairness or objectivity.

But Pyongyang’s official mouthpiece also can provide valuable clues about the secretive, totalitarian state.

For instance, Mr. Clinton clearly received kid-gloves treatment because the North Koreans wanted to portray him as a high-profile U.S. emissary out to make amends for what the North Koreans see as a “hostile” U.S. policy toward the country.

The former president, according to the Obama administration, was on a private visit to secure the release of two jailed American journalists - Euna Lee and Laura Ling - but was greeted at Pyongyang’s airport by North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan.

“The vast majority of [KCNA coverage] is really directed at North Korea’s internal audience,” said Scott A. Snyder, a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of a book on North Korean negotiation strategies. “The primary purpose is a propaganda purpose.”

Similarly, the comments last month about Mrs. Clinton “didn’t come out of a vacuum,” said former CNN Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy.

They showed just how upset North Korean leaders were when Mrs. Clinton compared them a few days earlier to unruly children, he said.

“They take tremendous exception to anything that belittles the system or the leadership,” Mr. Chinoy said.

Calls to the North Korean mission to the United Nations about the verbal jousting with Mrs. Clinton were not returned.

A few days after the “funny lady” comment, KCNA reported that North Korea had rejected the continuation of long-stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear future. Instead, the news agency called for “specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation” - a euphemism for bilateral talks with the U.S.

Mr. Clinton’s visit is being portrayed as fulfilling that demand - an especially useful point for the regime to make internally during a time of uncertainty over succession to Mr. Kim, who is reported to be gravely ill.

“They have signaled that any future dialogue with the United States is going to be on the basis of two [equal] nuclear powers,” Mr. Chinoy said.

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