September 28, 1995 - Yale Daily News: RPCV Bruce Cummings says media is ignoring Korea

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Korea: Peace Corps Korea : The Peace Corps in Korea: September 28, 1995 - Yale Daily News: RPCV Bruce Cummings says media is ignoring Korea

By Admin1 (admin) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 12:04 pm: Edit Post

RPCV Bruce Cummings says media is ignoring Korea



RPCV Bruce Cummings says media is ignoring Korea

Speaker says media is ignoring Korea

BY KEE WON SHIN
Contributing Reporter


More than 90 students and professors gathered last night to hear Bruce Cummings, a professor of international relations at Northwestern University, discuss contemporary issues in North Korea.

During the presentation in William L. Harkness Hall, Cummings explored the influence of the media on the relationship between North Korea and the United States, and the North Korean government's possible plan to develop a nuclear bomb.

"With the introduction of the information highway, news is an important part of American lives. But the irresponsible blitz of the media exaggerating information that isn't correct caused an unnecessary scare in America," Cummings said.

"It happened in the L.A. riots, and it happened again in the North Korean situation," he added.

The Northwestern professor explained how the media portrayed the nuclear situation in North Korea during 1992-94 as the most threatening situation in the world, even though there was no clear evidence that North Korea even had the resources or the technology to make a nuclear bomb.

Even established news media including Newsweek magazine and The New York Times exaggerated the actual situation to create something out of nothing, he added.

Cummings discussed his disappointment with the number of "yellow journalists" in the United States, who often overemphasize the importance of events when they first happen and then forget about them.

Describing the phenomenon as "a big brouhaha and then a long silence," Cummings referred to the L.A. riot story in May 1992, which is now hidden under the shadow of the overwhelming O.J. Simpson trial.

And reporters now ignore the situation in North Korea -- which grabbed headlines as recently as last year -- and concentrate exclusively on the situation in Bosnia, he added.

After the presentation, Cummings opened the floor and students and professors asked questions of the featured speaker.

International relations Professor H. Bradford Westerfield asked about the United States' diplomatic role between North and South Korea.

While the U.S. is not acting as an ally for either country, it has attempted to aid negotiations, Cummings said.

Cummings told the audience about how he first became interested in Korean issues, recalling his visit to South Korea in 1967 as a member of the Peace Corps. Since then, he has twice visited North Korea -- still a place of mystery to many Americans -- and has written numerous books about the modern history of Korea.

Members of the Korean Student Task Force, which co-sponsored the event with the Yale International Relations Association, said Cummings' visit will help Yale focus much-needed attention on Korean issues.

"On the base level, I hope these kinds of activities raises the awareness about Korea among Yalies, and on the advanced level, these kinds of events will result in more support for Korean-related courses," KSTF Co-chairperson Laura Kim '97 said.

"If you look at the Blue Book, the word 'Korea' is almost nonexistent. Through these kinds of programs, KSTF is trying to get students, Korean or not, interested in the subject. We have been trying to make a course about Korea through college seminars, and so far, we have gotten positive feedbacks," KSTF co-chair Jane Yoon '97 added.

KSTK is a division of Korean American Students at Yale, which was created to promote Korean cultural awareness and develop more Korea-related courses in the curriculum, KASY President Andrew Park '97 said.


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Story Source: Yale Daily News

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Korea

PCOL6216
98

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By Anonymous (cat140088-12.gw.connect.com.au - 203.63.151.22) on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - 7:45 pm: Edit Post

this tells me nothing!


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