Jasmine revolution and magnolia revolution

Tunisia is a classic example of an Arab country whose population half consists of people age 25 or younger. They have no idea of what a president is except for former dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali because he ruled the country for 23 years. History has shown that war or revolution occurs when the share of the younger population is large. In Tunisia, the younger generation grew frustrated and enraged over high unemployment and ousted Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia. This is the sociopolitical background of the “jasmine revolution,” named after the national flower of the North African country.

Young Tunisians live in urban areas and are connected with cell phones, the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They can freely use mobile phones and 3.5 million out of the Tunisian population of 10.4 million regularly use the Internet. Around 1.6 million Tunisians are Facebook users. Despite government censorship, Tunisians created "TuniLeaks" and exposed the corruption of the president and his relatives that WikiLeaks unveiled. This led to mass protests. Secret police blocked access to YouTube but not to TuniLeaks.

Bloggers and citizen journalists of neighboring Arab countries are applauding the Arab world’s first democratic revolution. North Koreans, however, might not know of Tunisia’s revolution because of lack of access to the Internet. Pyongyang teaches its people how to use computers but strictly controls Web use. Even North Korean intelligence has begun to focus on the flow of South Korean and Chinese movies or video clips into the Stalinist country. Only a few North Koreans use cell phones near the border to contact the outside world after smuggling them from China. This explains the importance of using shortwave radios, balloons and bullhorns to let North Koreans know about what is going on in the outside world.

Though Seoul pledged to resume psychological warfare after the Cheonan sinking last year, it is cautious about using bullhorns. Giving and receiving information are basic human rights. North Koreans are certain to undergo change once they learn of their leader Kim Jong Il’s lavish lifestyle and how much their country is ridiculed due to its third-generation power succession. Jasmine is the national flower of Tunisia and magnolia that of North Korea. Will the day eventually come when the North’s communist regime gives in to its angry people afer they find out the truth? Will this usher in a “magnolia revolution” in the North?

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)