Lost in translation

Don’t put too much stock into apology

Of all the surprises in the papers over the weekend, this one sorta slipped under the radar: The pudgy little tyrant of North Korea issued some sort of an apology. It was the weirdest thing. Or the most unexpected thing.

Apparently, somebody tried to defect the wrong way. The North Koreans are used to shooting people in the back as they flee Lil’ Kim and his Workers Paradise, in which workers are starved on frequent occasion. This time, the North Koreans had to shoot somebody in the front. We’re not sure how much trouble you’d have to be in, or how dangerous the posse, to try to get into

North Korea, but one South Korean official apparently tried. He is no longer among the quick.

The regime in Pyongyang, which has executed people with artillery before, issued an apology for shooting somebody trying to break in. The government said Lil’ Kim was “very sorry.”

“Comrade Kim Jong Un, the State Affairs Commission chairman, feels very sorry to give big disappointment to President Moon Jae-in and South Korean citizens because an unexpected, unfortunate incident happened,” the government said. Something was lost in translation, but the idea came through. We also note that in addition to the titles Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, Chairman of the National Defence Commission, Marshal of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, First Secretary of the Workers’ Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission,

he’s now been promoted to chairman of the State Affairs Commission. Kim Jong Un must take a lot of career development classes.

It is extremely rare, actually unheard of, for North Korea to issue any kind of apology to South Korea for anything, ever. So, just as the Kremlin watchers made notes of who stood where during parades to find out who was on the outs in the former USSR, watchers of the Pyongyang regime have been left wondering what the apology meant.

Was this an attempt at re-engagement with the South?

Was this a feint? After all, the same message said the South’s complaint about the dead official had used “blasphemous and confrontational words.” (Somebody should send the PR types above the 38th Parallel some Koreanto-English dictionaries.)

Was the government of North Korea sending a signal to the Americans? To the Chinese? To nobody?

Is it looking ahead to winter, and the all-too-common famines that tend to arrive with the cold weather? Thus setting the stage for a handout later?

The experts will pick this apology to pieces over the coming days.

But the simplest explanation may be the right one: Lil’ Kim had a good breakfast and dashed off a missive that made him feel good. His government operates according to his mood.

And considering the history of his government since he took over in 2011, that’s a scary thought.