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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The New C(old) War: Shaping North Korea in American Political and Cultural Discourse Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3958r6p6 Author Ho, Lisa Publication Date 2017 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO The New C(old) War: Shaping North Korea in American Political and Cultural Discourse A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies by Lisa Ho Committee in charge: Professor Yen Le Espiritu, Chair Professor Kirstie Dorr Professor Dayo Gore Professor Jodi Kim Professor Jin Kyung Lee 2017 The Dissertation of Lisa Ho is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2017 iii DEDICATION For my maternal grandmother, Am Lu Dinh. Every achievement, success, and obstacle overcome has been made possible because of her. In her absence, I will keep on. iv Table of Contents Signature Page .................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................v List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... vii Vita ..................................................................................................................................... ix Abstract of the Dissertation .................................................................................................x Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: “But we know their true nature”: Cataloguing the Common Sense of the North Korean human rights movements ...........................................................................23 Chapter Two: “You’re Korean, don’t you care about your own people?”: The Korean Diasporic Politics of LiNK’s “People Over Politics” Campaign ......................................58 Chapter Three: ‘I’m playing the rice card, not the race card,’ The Unassimilable Alien In Margaret Cho’s North Korea ............................................................................................93 Chapter Four: Black Power in the Hermit Kingdom: Re-imagining Cold War North Korea through the North Korean International Documentation Project .........................118 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................148 Appendix .........................................................................................................................154 References .......................................................................................................................155 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Han-mi watching her mother .........................................................................34 Figure 1.2: Han-mi and President George W. Bush .........................................................39 Figure 1.3: A drawing of prisoners and prison guards witnessed by So Lee ....................48 Figure 1.4: Steps to #EXPOSENK ...................................................................................54 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Yen Le Espiritu for chairing my dissertation committee. Yen’s tireless efforts to help me develop, frame, and finish this dissertation demonstrated her steadfast commitment as an educator. Yen pushed me to grow as a scholar and a teacher—I will forever be grateful to her for driving me to do the best that I can. Yen’s work ethic has been a true inspiration to me during this process and I can only hope to have such strength one day. I would also like to thank my other committee members: Jin Kyung Lee, Jodi Kim, Dayo Gore, and Kirstie Dorr. There are many professors I would like to thank that have been instrumental in getting me to this point: Grace Hong, Victor Bascara, Keith Camacho, Thomas Fujita- Rony, and Marjorie Jolles. The mentorship and guidance provided by these wonderful people have given me the encouragement, support, and strength needed to pursue a graduate education and excel while doing so. I want to express my many thanks to the members of the Critical Immigration and Refugee Studies group: Mohamed Abumaye, Jael Vizcarra, Linh Nguyen, Davorn Sisavath, Rawan Arar, Alexis Meza, and Simeon Man. All of your feedback and support has been so helpful in framing my overall project. I want to thank the many writings partners that made this project possible: Brie Iatarola, Marilisa Navarro, and Wendi Yamashita. Their generosity and brilliance has enriched my work and me in so many ways. Also, in the solitude of graduate school, their friendships have sustained me when I needed it the most. vii In my seven years at UCSD, I have met so many amazing people that provided me with such relentless support that I could never fully articulate my gratitude for. Christina Green, her friendship has meant the world to me and I don’t know where I would be without her. Her spirit and strength has made me a better person. Sal Zarate, our writing sessions were immensely helpful and the many breaks we took during them made me realize over time we were meant to be friends. His kindness has been such a force for all of us. Also, I want to thank my students—they have made me a better teacher and person in so many ways. I continue for them. I appreciate all of my friends and family that kept me going on this journey. Their confidence and love was instrumental. I want to acknowledge the following people: Tracy Lee, Colleen Oinuma, Parija Patel, Chun Mei Lam, Raissa Diamante, Tami Seeger, Luis Manuel, and Mary Keovisai. I want to thank my mother, Hoa Cam Phuong and my father, Chuan Tsan Ho. Without them, none of this could be. As working-class immigrants, my parents are not familiar with the path I have chosen but their steadfast belief in me has made it possible for me to continue to do so. I want to thank my younger brother, Kevin. I am lucky to have him. I want to thank Brenda Montes, my loyal confidant and chosen sister. Her strength has been a constant light for me and I am so grateful to have her in my life. Finally, I want to thank the love of my life, David Chia. There is nothing I could ever say to express how much he means to me. His constant care, love, and support lifted me up when I needed it the most. I am so fortunate to be loved by him. Chapter 3, in part, contains material that has been submitted for publication. Lisa Ho. The dissertation author was the primary investigator and author of this material. viii VITA 2008 Bachelor of Arts, Asian American Studies and Women’s Studies, California State University, Fullerton 2010 Master of Arts, Asian American Studies University of California, Los Angeles 2012 Master of Arts, Ethnic Studies University of California, San Diego 2017 Doctor of Philosophy, Ethnic Studies University of California, San Diego FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Ethnic Studies Studies in Asian American Studies Professor Yen Le Espiritu Professor Jodi Kim Studies in Cultural Studies Professor Kirsite Dorr Studies in Asian Studies Professor Jin Kyung Lee ix ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION The New C(old) War: Shaping North Korea in American Political and Cultural Discourse by Lisa Ho Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies University of California, San Diego, 2017 Professor Yen Le Espiritu, Chair This project adopts an interdisciplinary lens grounded in the transnational analytics of Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies, and Asian Studies to better understand the formation of North Korea as a political and cultural construct within a U.S.-based context. This project analyzes a collection of texts such as: congressional hearings, documentaries, archival materials, non-fiction material, and comedy to draw out x the larger common sense that portrays North Korea as an unstable, rogue nation. I argue that this common sense establishes North Korea as being “interiorly different” which adds ideological difference as another measure of racial difference. The goal of this dissertation is to outline the ways in which the interiorized difference of North Korea has been used to fulfill the imperatives of different political projects such as: American militarism, global humanitarianism, and the global American Left. As such, this project explicates how North Korea has become a malleable construction that has been shaped in different ways within American political and cultural discourse. xi Introduction On November 17, 2011, President Barack Obama addressed the Australian Parliament to detail the objectives of the pivot towards the Asia Pacific, an endeavor that counts on Australia as an ally. Obama explained that since the threats of Iraq and Afghanistan have waned, the U.S. will “pivot” from these areas to focus on the “vast potential” of the Asia Pacific.1 Obama portrayed the United States as a “Pacific nation,” citing the role that

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