Obviously a continuation of Part 2; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-opening_12.html
Video Presentation:
While the physical stage was being reset after the Parade of Nations viewers where shown a short video presentation. Primarily to distract them.
This showed Korea's beautiful natural landscape as the seasons changed through the year. This re-affirmed that the Wu Xing was being used only as it refers to the changes of seasons.
The Wu Xing lays out the five essential elements which through their interaction can explain everything in the universe.
One of the more dubious things it is used to justify is Chinese herbal medicine. There is certainly significantly less scientific evidence to support claims this type of traditional medicine works then there is to support the claim that winter follows autumn.
Despite this lack of evidence President Xi Jinping is a firm believer of traditional Chinese medicine. He promotes it as way to boost Chinese influence globally. Unfortunately many traditional Chinese herbal remedies are made out of the body parts of endangered species. Such as the bones of Tigers or the tusks of Elephants.
By promoting traditional Chinese medicine President Xi is also promoting the hunting and poaching of some of the World's most endangered species. This is the RoK giving him a little bit of a rap on the knuckles over that.
It is also a small slight to the DPRK. In an effort to further distinguish itself from the RoK in 2015 the DPRK introduced its own timezone 30 minutes ahead of the RoK timezone (GMT+9).
Time is determined by your position on Earth relative to the Sun. So much like the weather time does not give a damn about political boundaries. Therefore there is certainly no reasonable explanation as to why the DPRK is 30 minutes behind the RoK.
Mainly though this video presentation was to prepare us for the big Climate Change lecture to come.
Beaten Black & Blue:
The point of the Wu Xing is that the five essential elements coexist in balance with each. Therefore while it would be easier for me to write up dividing the elements up to describe individually rather defeats the entire point.
As such this sequence deals with both Wood (Green) and Water (Black). Strictly speaking the water element is portrayed by the colour black. However it's always a short of blueish black, rather like water. As such particularly when you're doing lighting displays it is acceptable to portray water as blue. If you used black light no-one would see it.
The Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil featured a lengthy video presentation warning about Climate Change. This explained the human causes of Climate Change and the predicted effects that Climate Change would have on the natural environment. It was not artistic is was simply scientific.
Particularly on Mardi Gras we all know that Brazilians can throw a party. Their challenge as Olympic hosts was to show us that they can also do complex, technical and scientific things.
Climate Change is a topic of massive importance to Brazil. Along with its neighbours it is home to the World's largest Rainforest. These absorb Green House Gases (ghg's) and turn them into biomass (wood) and useful gases like Oxygen. They represent the best way to protect us from Climate Change.
Despite former US President Obama's claim that he has solved Climate Change through the Paris Agreement there are many who think that it remains a vitally important topic. Every day should involve a long lecture about Climate Change - no matter if it reveals Obama to be a liar.
Along with Brazil the RoK is another particularly significant nation in the fight against Climate Change.
Before the Paris Agreement ruined everything the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established something called the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The headquarters of the GCF are physically located in Seoul, RoK.
As the name suggests the GCF job is to raise and then disperse funds to projects to combat Climate Change.
That can mean something as simple as distributing Olympic Cauldron-style low fuel use stoves in Africa. It can also mean more complex things like putting heat insulation cladding onto tower blocks in a city such as London to reduce energy use.
On June 13th 2017 (13/6/17) activists for the UK Labour Party set fire to the Grenfell Tower block in London. They claimed the fire had been spread by insulation cladding attached to the building. They went onto claim this cladding had been installed because supporters of the evil Conservative Party don't even want to look at people.
For those working at the Green Climate Fund the UK Labour Party's lies were extremely obvious.
In honour of her sacrifice during the UNFCCC process the GCF headquarters were actually opened on my paternal grandmother's birthday.
So I'm sure the UK Labour Party can continue to run around town thinking certain things are going to go away. If they like.
However during this sequence one of the Four Guardians put in a small appearance. Black Turtle. Who signifies longevity.
During the sequence Black Turtle was shown as, well, a black turtle in hands of one of the childlike ciphers.
I feel I should point out though that Black Turtle is traditionally represented by a sort of Snake, Turtle hybrid. These are a reference to King of the North Xuanwu's two key Generals - Snake and Tortoise. In some versions of the legend Snake General and Tortoise General began life as Xuanwu's intestines and stomach.
In their multitude of criminal enterprises the UK Labour Party often try to present themselves a Charities - working for the good of the 'community.' They're definitely not trying to launder the proceeds from their drug and prostitution businesses.
Perhaps suspecting this topic might come up Britain has prepared. In the form the Oxfam Charity Abuse Scandal.
This began with reports of prostitution in Haiti. Even if the GCF don't know about it my accountant certainly remembers how I used Oxfam to unlock a lot of funding in response to Haiti's 2010 earthquake. Including from US movie stars like Sandra Bullock who apparently just writes cheques for anything.
We then all watched that money being squandered in a relief effort led by former US President Bill Clinton. Aided and abetted by his wife then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Not just on this topic it has been said by many that the Clinton Dynasty wasn't a political career. It was a crime wave.
The Oxfam scandal has though expanded to include Africa. A continent which has about the same level of electricity use as the DPRK. And has over the years (1945 -1979) has received about the same amount of US financial aid as the country of the RoK. Charity bosses across the UK are getting extremely nervous.
As I've said it must often feel as though I'm ignoring Korea. There is one thing that tipped me off that the RoK in particular is feeling ignored.
They insisted their news broadcaster Arirang World be included on my super secret satellite TV package. Judging by recent discussions over the US TV show; "The Unit" I appear to be the only person in the UK with access to this satellite package.
I remember the UK launch of Arirang World well. They sent their head of European news to interview the head of the network. This being a few years ago she was asking him lots of questions about how the network would take advantage of things like 4K TV and 5G wireless in the future.
He sat there with a look on his face as if to say; "Our satellite is powered by a hamster running around a wheel."
I can't say I've watched Arirang World much after that.
Although it is in the "News" section of the program guide it seems more to resemble an entertainment channel. Sort of a South Korean MTV with lots of information about the latest K-Pop stars, who they're dating and when their doing their stint in the military. I gather though there is a roughly 30 minute news bulletin each day at around 4AM.
In doing this Arirang World seem to be promoting a talking point about the phenomenon of News as Entertainment. This has long been a feature of US news and has recently been growing in the UK.
It used to be that we got news bulletins with journalists giving us facts. Now all we see to get are discussion shows with the type of people who are available in the middle of the working day giving us their wildly uniformed opinions. In the US it seems to be just one opinion - they really don't like President Trump.
Arirang World also seem to be winding up their regional rival Japan.
Japanese culture is extremely deferential and polite.
You often see Japanese people wearing surgical masks in public. People often mistake this for the Japanese being very afraid they will catch the other people's germs. It's the opposite. In Japanese culture if you have a cold the absolute rudest thing you could do is risk spreading those germs to other people but not wearing a mask in public.
The Japanese police also have a remarkably high conviction rate due to most suspects confessing. In no small part this is due to innocent people confessing to crimes they haven't committed because attempting to correct the police officers accusing them would be the height of rudeness.
Even in Japan their state news broadcaster NHK has a reputation for being extremely deferential and as a result not in any way holding its government or public figures to account.
Anyway as to how all this was portrayed during the ceremony;
It used the song "Arirang" sung by the 77 year old Kim Nang-ji
Often described as the unofficial national anthem of Korea there are an almost infinite number of versions of this over 600 year old song.
Arirang is listed by the UN's Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as intangible cultural heritage not once but twice. The RoK registered it as part of their heritage in 2012. The DPRK registered it as part of their heritage in 2014.
The central theme of the song is that a man and a woman meet on opposite sides of a river and fall in love. The song is the man's lament that because of the river the two can never be joined as one. In some versions he tries to cross the river and drowns.
As such Arirang serves as a metaphor for me relationship with my lesbian wife. Or my relationship with Rihanna whom I was married off to at the 2012 Para-Olympic Closing Ceremony. In short my love life is a mess.
I suppose at a push Arirang could also serve as a metaphor for the RoK and the DPRK and dreams of Unification. The river being the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ) along the 38th Parallel.
Prompting a discussion about cultural misappropriation the way Arirang was portrayed during the ceremony is absolutely nothing like the song.
It showed the childlike ciphers on a raft being rowed along a blue/green river. As if they were on the Amazon River travelling through Brazil's Rainforest.
It ends with the children drawing their futures in ice on the sky using what appear to be Harry Potter-style magic wands. I've never seen any of the Harry Potter movies or read any of the books. However the people who have seem utterly obsessed with this funny lightning bolt scar I've got on my forehead.
With the appearance of one of the Four Guardians there is an Augmented Reality (AR) sequence showing us the stars. This reminds us that the Four Guardians are constellations of stars. It also shows what appear to be Fireflies rising into the night sky.
This is a reference to the 2002 US TV Show; "Firefly." This was written and directed by supreme ruler of the universe Joss Whedon.
This TV show was a big feature of the 2012 Summer Games. To the point the British hosts named a special plane carrying the Olympic flame; "Firefly." Prompting people who'd seen the TV show to tut and point out the vessel in the show was named; "Serenity." It was a Firefly class spaceship.
Although to some it may appear to be a TV show Firefly is actually an exercise in "Existentialism." This philosophy has its roots in animist religions such as Korean Taoism.
One particular sequence shows the River Tam (Summer Glau, later of The Unit) character walking amongst Cherry Blossom trees. A powerful image in places like Korea, Japan and China. She is holding in her hand this beautiful branch.
We are then shown the same scene from the perspective of the rest of Serenity's crew. River is in fact standing in the ship's cargo bay waving a handgun around.
This explains existentialism through the US gun control debate;
A gun is an inanimate object made up of the Wu Xing elements of metal and wood. Or wood, water and earth if you want to get into plastic polymers. On its own a gun will just sit there without purpose. It is only when a person picks it up that it takes on a purpose and is defined as either good or evil.
Firefly also makes some interesting contributions to the US broadcast regulator - the FCC - strict prohibition on swearing and foul language.
Firefly exists in a future where the Chinese and US government have combined in a single global government. They have then set out to explore and colonise other planets. The unseen enemy are known as; "Reevers." Pronounced exactly the same as Muslim Uighurs from China's Xinjiang Province.
As a result of this bilingualism everyone in Firefly speaks both English and Chinese.
So when the characters come to swear they do so in Chinese. So the FCC can't understand them. I gather that having gone to the trouble of hiring Chinese translators the writers then just absolutely went for it conducting their own sort of; "Swearing Olympics."
Apparently if you speak Chinese it is the most foul mouthed program ever made.
Firefly also featured the actress Gina Torres. As she was married to Laurence Fishburne at the time her character is named "Zoe Washburne." I assure you Laurence Fishburne made his TV debut in; "M*A*S*H."
Joss Whedon's current big TV project is; "Marvels: Agents of Shield."
This, what I think is described as an "ensemble cast," features Chinese-American actress Ming-na Wen. The only concession she's made to westernise her Chinese heritage is to allow her given name - Ming-na - to be written before her family name - Wen. Normally it's the other way around.
Ming-na Wen's apparent love affair with the "Director" character has great fun with Joss Whedon's apparent obsession with eastern culture. The rumour is he's having an affair with an air hostess for and Chinese airline.
The show also features the actress Chloe Bennet who is mixed race - half white, half Chinese. The character she plays is also half white and half Chinese. Although using an alien metaphor the show features her struggle for identity and a researched and accurate learning about her Chinese heritage.
Chile Bennet's real name is Chloe Wang. However that makes her sound like a transsexual porn star. So she assumed a stage name.
Recently Chloe Bennet was attacked by Obama's Black Lives Matter warriors for that new crime of "Whitewashing her Chinese heritage" by adopting a stage name so people wouldn't giggle when she entered a room.
Apparently "Whitewashing" is now almost as great a thought crime as; "Cultural Appropriation."
So this is a half white, half Chinese actress in a major US network show.
Although she occasionally masquerades as Latina she is playing a half white, half Chinese character.
She stars alongside a proudly Chinese American actress.
The show explores mixed-raced people's search for identity and their difficulties finding acceptance and a place within society.
The show also explores Chinese culture in an accurate and well researched way that belies a deep respect for that culture. It also features scenes of entirely Chinese dialogue.
Yet the actress and the show are and continue to be attacked for not doing enough to promote diversity in the entertainment industry.
It's one of those moments where you really come to realise that under Obama the US just completely lost its mind.
I gather US/Korean snowboarder Chloe Kim has been doing rather well at these games.
At around 18:45 on 13/2/18 (UK date) I will try to pick this up after dinner. However it must be said the combination of alcohol and existentialism rarely results in coherent sentences.
Edited at around 13:55 on 14/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Agents of Shield also features as a recurring character the actor Patton Oswalt. The sheer number of characters he recurs as is something of a running joke of the show.
Patton Oswalt also narrates the sitcom; "The Goldbergs." This is about a movie obsessed Jewish kid growing up in 1980's America.
One episode centres around him gathering his friends together to remake the 1985 movie "The Goonies."
One of the jokes is that this is the only time they play with Dave Kim - the Korean American kid at school. They need him to play the Richard "Data" Wang character.
That obviously raises questions about racial stereotypes which even the show seems to find quite awkward. In a; "Did we really used to behave like that?" sort of a way.
In the TV show if not in real life Dave Kim is given the large role as one of the closest friends of the lead character. A prominent role for a Korean American actor.
The children who act as our guides through the ceremony do seem to have something of The Goonies about them as they go about their big adventure. In reference to the Goldbergs and in particular Dave Kim.
Having drawn their futures on the sky an inter-dimensional portal then appears. One-by-one it transports the children to those futures. This is shown in a complex video/digital animation sequence.
The Blue child becomes a doctor.
Due to the River Tam and her older brother Dr Simon Tam characters I did not so much watch "Firefly." I was hit around the head with a DVD copy of it until I memorised every little detail. It was worth it. It's where I learnt the little factoid about US broadcasters using a certain shade of black as a command signal for computerised systems.
I gather in the Muggle universe there is also a TV show called; "Doctor Who." This supposedly examines existential concepts such as Time And Relative Dimensions In Space (TARDIS). However these days it seems more interested in promoting dumb ideas like; "Gender Fluidity" and "Pansexualism." Odd for a kids show.
In his work as a doctor Blue is shown using complex computer imagery. Specifically of a human brain.
This obviously showcases the RoK perceived role as the most technologically advanced nation in the World. The use of the brain opens the discussion up to include a whole range of mental illnesses and complex neurological conditions such as Autism and Alzheimer's disease.
The Yellow child becomes a Artificial Intelligence (AI) Specialist.
As with the whole sequence this confirms that the RoK sees itself not only as the most technologically advanced nation on Earth but also a world leader in new technology. It also brings up the topic of AI itself.
This is one of the more controversial aspects of technological advances. The South African tech billionaire Elon Musk is very opposed to AI. As the US company Boston Dynamics were reminded of this week when the unveiled an AI robot that can open doors on its own.
I have also found myself dragged into the AI debate.
Normally when I finish writing a post like this I also post a link to it on Twitter.
On Twitter companies use AI bots to spam users with links to whatever they're trying to promote. This is obviously annoying for users. So Twitter uses its own AI bots to identify and block the spam bots. Due to the Democrats attempts to rig the 2016 US Presidential Election this has become a major talking point in particularly America.
Over the course of the past week I have Tweeted so many links using the word; "Olympic Opening Ceremony" Twitter's AI bots have decided I'm also an AI bot. As a result my ability to post links has been automatically suspended.
Well that's the official story anyway.
In her role as an AI specialist the Yellow child is shown visiting a luxurious house to work on an female AI robot. That robot itself is painting - showing that it is advanced enough to grasp abstract artistic concepts.
The style of the scene is very much based on the 2014 movie "Ex Machina." This starred Alicia Vikander.
The purpose of the opening ceremony is really to set the tone of discussion during the games. As a result they tend to include a vast array of conversation starters. People are also free to try and work their topics of conversations into the ceremony.
Despite being a movie that many had forgotten about that the time Ex Machina won several awards at the 2016 Oscars. That year was dominated by discussion of how make the Film Academy more diverse. In no small part due to her role in Ex Machina Alicia Vikander was fast-tracked into Academy membership by being nominated for her role in; "The Danish Girl."
If you are familiar with the rigours of the South Korean education system and the Park Guen-hye/Choi Soon-sil scandal you can have a lot of fun with the phrase; "Fast-tracked into the Academy."
The Black child became a K-Pop/Instagram/YouTube star.
This obviously brings up the topic of Korean Pop (K-Pop). They seem to be on a mission to take over the World. They'll probably succeed.
However it also references the movie; "Hidden Figures." This was a major success story at the 2017 Oscars.
As with some much else in Obama's America the facts of Hidden Figures didn't suit Black Lives Matter's political narrative. So they simply changed the facts.
However Hidden Figures deals with highly educated, professional black women working on the NASA space program in the 1960's. It fed into a wider discussion about shifts in Black American culture since the 1960's.
In short it seems that no-one wants to be a highly educated, professional black woman anymore. Instead they just want the easy fame and wealth of being a popstar like Beyonce.
At 15:00 on 14/2/18 (UK) Snake General and Tortoise General are insisting that it is lunchtime. I would hate for them to get upset.
Edited at around 15:55 on 14/2/18 (UK date) to tidy up and add;
The White child became what was described as; "An Augmented Reality (AR) Simulation Expert."
However from the way he was shown using an AR simulation in front of a class of school children it was clear this meant he was a teacher.
His chubby cheeked, comedic demeanour was a bit of a joke at my expense.
At the end of every games the Para-Olympics give out the Whang Youn Dai Award for achievement. It is named after South Korean Doctor Whang Youn Dai. She overcame Polio to not only become a doctor but also a major proponent of disability sport.
At the 2012 Para-Olympic Closing Ceremony I declared Whang Youn Dai to be Chinese. In my defence this was my 'wedding' to Rihanna. I only discovered that about half an hour into the ceremony.
Clearly though I'm never going to be allowed to live that down.
As 2018 hosts South Korea were granted a small sequence in the 2014 Closing Ceremony. That in part that featured a display of Chinese calligraphy. I said that was Korean calligraphy. The Korean Hangul alphabet is of course not logographic like the Chinese alphabet.
However Koreans do use Chinese borrow words and symbols as part of their language. This was the point that the sequence in the 2014 ceremony was trying to make.
I have come to accept though that if you're going to make mistakes at this level you have to take your lumps as the come. Or you might not get invited back.
For the past for years or so there has been a degree of happiness to let what I get up to go unspoken. However prior to that Britain was adamant that I must be sent to work in something like a supermarket. Before that there was some suggestion I should be a teacher. I do after all seem to have a talent for explaining complex concepts.
It must be said though that given my current job title its hard to imagine there's a job a UK Labour Party backbencher could conceive of that wouldn't be some form of demotion for me.
The Red child went onto become an architect.
When we talk about environmentalism people often think of things like wide open fields and the Amazon Rainforest. However for people living in cities the environment is roads, bridges and buildings.
What the UNFCCC and the RoK headquartered GCF having been trying to do is incorporate measures against Climate Change into the built environment. Through things like fitting insulation cladding to Grenfell Tower.
The red architecture sequence then further made clear to the UK Labour Party that no-one believes that the Grenfell Tower fire was an accident.
The cityscape created by the Red child and populated by the Black child seemed to resemble the futuristic Capitol in the "Hunger Games." Something that went on to be referenced in more detail in a later sequence.
At 16:35 on 14/2/18 (UK date) space limitations mean I'll have to continue this is in a seperate post.
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Monday, 12 February 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Opening Ceremony Pt.2
Obviously this should be read as a continuation of Part 1; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-opening_10.html
The early parts of the ceremony introduced us to Korea's tradition of animist religions and the Creation Myths they have spawned.
It also introduced us to the iconography of animist religions. This often involves circles as unbroken lines signifying unity. Particularly Taoism also features the Wu Xing - the five essential elements these are each assigned a colour; White, Green, Black, Yellow and Red.
The logo of the Olympic movement is five interlocked circles or rings coloured; White, Green, Black, Yellow and Red.
The rest of the ceremony was therefore loosely based around the Wu Xing.
Let There Be White:
Within the Wu Xing the colour white signifies the element metal: However this sequence as officially titled; "The Light From the Beginning."
Since the creation of the Republic of Korea (RoK/South) at the end of the Second World War the US has been aggressively promoting Christianity within the country. They see it as a counter-balance to the aggressive Communist atheism of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North). It has led to the suppression of Korea's traditional animist religions.
This US strategy was personified at the Opening Ceremony by the presence of America's Evangelical Christian Vice President Mike Pence. As a guest Vice President Pence had invited the father of Otto Warmbier - an American Evangelical Christian missionary who was arrested and later died in the DPRK.
The official title of the sequence - the light from the beginning - is reference to what here for fairness I have to describe as the Creation Myth of the Abrahamic religions. Laid down in the book of Genesis this is believed by all Jews, Christians and Muslims.
It is rather simple. A single god in another dimension creates the human dimension in six days and rests on the seventh. This process begins with him sayin; "Let there be light" and there was light.
By blending the book of Genesis with the Wu Xing the South Koreans seem to be making the point their animist creation myths are certainly a lot more elaborate then the Abrahamic one. Some would say far cooler.
The sequence began with a shot of the circular arena floor. In the centre there was another sunken circle.
The sunken centre slowly began to rise revealing a large number of well regimented Korean women all dressed in white and all playing the same traditional Korean drum.
The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, China. Its Opening Ceremony featured a world record 2,008 traditional Chinese drummers. It has become an oft referenced thing in subsequent Olympic ceremonies.
Here the South Koreans seemed to be highlighting their close cultural links to China.
In part this is simply a statement of fact. The border between China and the Korean Peninsula has shifted many times over the past 10,000.
However it did also seem to be a bit of a warning to the RoK's regional rivals Japan the DPRK. A reminder that the RoK currently enjoys better relations with China then either of them do.
The well regimented female drummers were soon joined by well regimented female dancers. They marched around the stage creating military shapes in almost military. I think the two most important were the star featured on the DPRK's flag and the Taoist Ying, Yang symbol.
This was a direct reference to the DPRK and their fondness for military parades. What is striking about those parades is not how well regimented the military are but well regimented the civilian spectators are.
This shows what an absolute dictatorship the DPRK is. There is absolutely no distinction between the military and civilians. Everyone is simply there to serve the leadership with absolute obedience. The Communist dream.
Prior to the games the DPRK agreed to send a 400 strong delegation to the games. This is largely made up of an all female cheer-squad. They are already providing competitors and visitors with little glimpses of the DPRK's extremely regimented society.
Aside from Vice President Pence this sequence also took another swipe at the US. Or more accurately former President Obama and his Democrat Party's efforts to turn America into the World's just dumbest nation.
In 2014 the Democrat Party needed a way to energise their base ahead of the November mid-term elections. So they invented a story about an innocent young black man named Micheal Brown being murdered by the racist police. While having his hands up in surrender and begging; "Don't Shoot!"
This birthed the "Black Lives Matter (BLM)" movement. That drove extremely well regimented riots and protests alongside a campaign to erase the Democrat's racist role in the US Civil War from history.
It has also turned public discourse in America into a contest to see who can come up with the most elaborate way of identifying racism and being offended by it where not racism exists. One of the largest elements of this is the concept of ; "Cultural Appropriation."
In more normal societies this is known as the doctrine of multiculturalism. However America now sees no greater crime then a white person doing something they claim is part of black culture.
Curiously Americans don't seem outraged by black rap groups like the Wu Tang Clan and in particular RZA appropriating Asian culture. Particularly that associated with martial arts. Despite the fact they get it so wrong it has anyone with even a basic knowledge of the culture they're appropriating seeing red with anger.
One artist who has been particularly accused of cultural appropriation is Justin Timberlake. His half-time show at the recent 2018 Super Bowl dealt primarily with this.
It featured what is termed a; "Drumline." In the UK this is synonymous with white Protestant marching bands like the Orange Order. They use them to intimidate equally white Catholics. However in the US drumlines are more associated with black culture.
Through the use of a white drumline Timberlake was posing the question of whether black Americans can really claim a cultural monopoly on the concept of hitting one object with another object in order to make a sound?
This sequences in the Opening Ceremony re-stated that question. On a much larger and grander scale.
There is a 2012 Quentin Tarantino move called; "Django Unchained." These deals with racism and slavery in the US. One of the oft quoted lines from the movie is;
"The D is silent ... Hillbilly!"
The drums used in this sequence were traditional Korean Django drums.
As something of an aside during his Super Bowl performance Justin Timberlake referenced both Elvis Presley and Bruno Mars. At the tender age of 4 Bruno Mars launched his career in the entertainment industry as an Elvis impersonator.
Do you want to see a video of it?
I think you do; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxjXp7cPBok
Throughout this sequence the director had been trying to subtly supplant the notion of the sun in your minds. The sun of course is the source of all light. Right at the end of the sequence there was what at that time just a blob of orange colour at the bottom of the shot. Rather like the orange of a rising or setting sun.
The flag of the RoK's big regional rival Japan is a red circle on a white background. This signifies the rising of the sun.
The RoK's flag is a blue and red circle on a white background. People often assume this is also the rising sun like Japan's flag. However it's actually the Taoist Ying,Yang symbol.
So this seemed like a good time for the South Koreans to bring out their flag as if to say;
"Oh, no. It's not like the Japanese flag. It's much, much better then them."
Flag & Anthem:
It is a matter of Olympic protocol that every ceremony must feature the raising or lowering of the flag of the host nation and the singing of the national anthem. Although I don't think its strictly speaking protocol this often involves a large flag being brought into a paraded around the arena by figures of significance.
The Opening Ceremony 2012 Summer Olympic held in London, UK actually featured a South Korean flagbearer. Former President Ban Ki-moon in his then role as Secretary General of the UN.
It also featured as a flagbearer Shami Chakrabarti in her role as head of British civil rights campaign group Liberty. Outside anti-Olympic protests were taking place by groups whose right to protest had been defended by Shami Chakrabarti in Court.
As a result the significance of these flagbearers can get quite complicated and take an extremely long time to write up. Fortunately the RoK just went with six of its famous Olympians. As far as I can tell their significance was simply their achievement as Olympians.
The only real bit of significance was that they were wearing traditional Korean winter dress. If you've watched the long-running US TV show; "M*A*S*H" set during the combat phases of the Korean War you might be somewhat familiar with this style of dress.
It was at this point the fear really hit me. Good as it is and no matter how many times you watch it M*A*S*H in no way prepares you for the complexity of the current relationship between the RoK and the DPRK. It does though feature both a young Laurence Fishburne and a young Ron Howard.
It is traditional that the job of raising the flag is given to members of the host nation's military. After all they raise and lower flags at least twice a day and up to 500 times a day. If they're being punished. As a result they're really good at it.
The problem arises when the host nation - like 2016 Summer Games host Brazil - have suffered under military dictatorships. Those societies are understandably much more sensitive about the military having a role in public, civilian life.
Growing up at I promise the end of the Cold War I was always sold this image of the RoK as this beautiful beacon of freedom bravely standing up to the tyranny of the Communist DPRK.
This is an utter lie. Park Chung-hee the RoK was an absolute military dictatorship between 1962 and 1979. The RoK didn't fully transition to democracy until after the Cold War in the mid-1990's when it was finally allowed to join the UN.
As a result they continue to be extremely sensitive about the role of the military and individual freedoms and privacy.
If in somewhere like the US or the UK the TV news are doing a story about the economy they will often illustrate it with stock footage of random members of the public on a shopping street.
In the RoK they're not allowed to interfere in a person's private life by confirming to the public that they may have attended a shop at some point in their lives. So news in the RoK often features lots of footage of people's feet or heavily blurred footage so you can't identify the people being shown.
As part of its transition from military dictatorship to democracy the RoK created something called the Royal Guard to perform this type of ceremonial pageantry. They are based on the military guard for royal palaces during the 500 year long Joseon Dynasty.
The RoK has military conscription. So at some point members of the Royal Guard will have served in the military and may at some point in the future serve in the military again. However despite their name an appearance they are not a military force.
They seem modelled on the Vatican's Swiss Guard. They are technically an army. However they rely on the Italian police to provide security for the Vatican.
The South Korean Royal Guard are also similar to the Yeomanry or "Beefeater" Guard you get at Britain's Tower of London.
For tourists its easy to mistake the Beefeaters for the military Guard regiments who guard other London landmarks like Buckingham Palace in red tunics and black bearskin hats. When they put on more sensible clothes these Guards are actually amongst some of the most elite troops in the British Army.
The Beefeaters however are civilians. Although they only employ people who are former members of the military.
As the Royal Guard raised the South Korean flag the South Korean anthem was sung by the Rainbow Children's Choir.
It is not so much a tradition as a cliche that at some point an Olympic ceremony will feature a multi-ethnic children's choir to signify peace, unity and inclusion. No matter how spiteful and hate filled the rest of the ceremony is.
This Opening Ceremony went on to have quite a bit of fun with this type of cliche. Particularly during the Yellow (Cheese) sequence featuring the songs of John Lennon.
At around 17:15 on 12/2/18 (UK date) I need to take a break from at least this screen.
Edited at around 19:50 on 12/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Parade of Nations:
It is protocol that each ceremony must include a segment in which the flags of the competing nations are parade around the arena and then raised. Although not compulsory many of the competitors choose to join their flag in this parade.
In many ways this parade is the most important in the ceremony. It focuses entirely on the competitors who will make the games happen.
However from the perspective of a viewer it can be quite dull. I've discovered the advantage of recording the ceremony is that you can whizz through the parade at x32 speed. You that then whizz back through it at x32 speed. While adding your own music for comic effect.
This parade though contained two very significant elements.
The first of these was the inclusion of the; "Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)."
The 2014 Winter Games were held in Russia. They were scene to just appalling levels of Islamist violence. Due to Russia's longstanding opposition to Islamist terrorism.
Under significant pressure from the UK and the US under former President Obama the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took the unusual step of siding with the terrorists against Russia.
Russia was partially banned from the 2016 Summer Olympic Games and totally banned from the 2016 Summer Para-Olympic Games. This was justified on the grounds that Russia had engaged in state sponsored drug cheating (doping).
If the IOC was serious about banning drug cheats it would have to ban probably most nations. It is well known that the US Olympic team itself engages in widespread, state sponsored doping. What is worse is the IOC give the US permission to cheat by issuing what are known as Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE's).
For example at the 2016 Olympics the entire US women's basketball team apparently suffered from Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Not only that they all apparently suffered from an extremely rare form of ADHD that can only be treated with amphetamines.
US gymnast Simone Biles who 'won' gold in 2016 also apparently has this extremely rare form of ADHD which can only be treated with amphetamines.
Stimulants like amphetamines and cocaine are why professional sports were forced to introduced drug testing back in the 1930's. So not only does the US engage in widespread, state sponsored and IOC sanctioned doping it doesn't even attempt to hide it.
In the weeks and months leading up to these games the US has been gripped by the trial of Larry Nassar. This former US Olympics gymnastics coach/doctor has been convicted of sexual abusing many young girls. The trial featured many prominent US Olympians including Simone Biles giving evidence and victim impact statements.
The timing of the trial seemed to be a gesture by the US that it was in no position to criticise Russia. Not only does the US Olympics team engage in widespread, state sponsored doping it also engages in the widespread and apparently officially sanctioned sexual abuse of its athletes.
Russia has been challenging the IOC's ban in such a long succession of cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) it's been hard to keep track of each one.
The day before the Opening Ceremony CAS issued its final ruling. It found that the IOC's actions cannot be explained by an attempt to punish doping cheats. It can only be considered an arbitrary and political decision.
However it also found that the IOC apparently retains the right to make arbitrary political decision. Thus dispelling any notion of competitive or fair sport at the Olympics.
Some Russian athletes have though been allowed to compete as independent athletes under the combined banner of OAR.
In itself that choice of acronym is interesting. There is a saying in particularly America that if someones position is untenable they; "Up sh*t creek without a paddle (oar)."
Much like the IOC's actions a creek filled with sh*t stinks.
At these Olympics the OAR may not make or wear any statement logo or gesture referencing Russia. So during the Opening Ceremony they had to wear a uniform of entirely neutral colours and parade behind the Olympic flag. They were not even allowed to carry that flag themselves. A member of the event staff had to do it for them.
The South Korean hosts made it quite clear that they thought of this. The staff member they provided was wearing the typical staff uniform of a blue hat, a white coat and red trousers.
In short; The colours of the Russian flag.
The Parade of Nations ended with the South Korean and North Korean competitors entering the arena as one flying the Unification flag of a blue image of the Korean Peninsula on a white background.
This was immediately followed by a one man South Korea protest against unification. He slid down the ski jump/ramp leading up to the cauldron while carrying a banner decrying unification. After the assembled media had been given plenty of time for photographs he was hauled off by security.
This was not show as part of the broadcast. However fireworks did then immediately light up the path to the cauldron the man had taken.
The man's protest began at the cauldron. With the exception of the VIP area this is probably the most secure part of the arena.
So this man's protest was state sanctioned as part of the ceremony. It laid the groundwork for the upcoming Black/Blue segment.
Within both North and South Korea the issue of unification is a deeply existential topic.
Although it's probably no help to viewers in somewhere like Tonga the nearest thing I can compare it to is Brexit in Britain.
Before the referendum on leaving the European Union (EU) British people were asked to divide themselves into Leavers and Remainers.
Following the result they've been asked to choose from a wide range of Brexit options like Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Red, White and Blue Brexit or Wibbly Wobbly Woo Brexit.
None of these terms actually mean anything in relation to the UK's future relationship with the EU. However the one you choose has became a massive statement of your identity and existence.
So you almost get people saying things like;
"I know I've just lynched some black teenagers for daring to look at a white woman. But I'm not racist. I voted to Remain!"
The term unification has a similar role within Korean society.
Particularly amongst younger South Koreans there is a growing number who don't want unification. They've lived their entire lives in the RoK and they're happy to continue living their lives in the RoK.
However most Koreans support unification in some form. It's rarely defined though whether they mean;
A unified Korean Peninsula under the Communism of the DPRK?
A unified Korean Peninsula under the Democracy of the RoK?
A unified Korean Peninsula under the RoK dictatorship of Park Chung-hee?
A unified Korea which includes Balhae - essentially the peninsula plus large parts of what are currently China and Russia?
Or do you simply mean that a mother can get to see her children one last time before she dies?
On both sides of the conflict intelligence agencies have nurtured different political movements based around different interpretations of "Unification." They often trot them out in protest to send messages to each other.
For example following the January 20th (20/1/18) agreement on DPRK participation RoK President Moon Jae-in's poll numbers have collapses. Supporters of really the Balhae school of unification have taken to the streets in protest. You've been able to see some of these around the Olympic Park.
This serves to send a message to the DPRK. Although the RoK supports a rapprochement for the Olympics there are limits to how far that rapprochement is going to go.
It is because of this sort of thing it often seems that I'm ignoring Korea. I understand that different protest groups are used to send messages. However I don't understand enough about the history of the groups of the type of messages they're sending to feel I can get involved.
In fact I'm a little concerned about the effect making this small example - which I think is well understood by both parties - clear will have.
So what may often seem like me ignoring Korea is actually me assessing the situation. Then concluding it is better for me to keep my mouth shut then ask stupid questions.
I am obviously interested in learning more about these spy games. However in 2014 I did the Winter Olympics, took a little break and did the World Cup.
Then I got involved in the war in Syria. I'm still there now.
21:00 on 12/2/18 (UK date).
The early parts of the ceremony introduced us to Korea's tradition of animist religions and the Creation Myths they have spawned.
It also introduced us to the iconography of animist religions. This often involves circles as unbroken lines signifying unity. Particularly Taoism also features the Wu Xing - the five essential elements these are each assigned a colour; White, Green, Black, Yellow and Red.
The logo of the Olympic movement is five interlocked circles or rings coloured; White, Green, Black, Yellow and Red.
The rest of the ceremony was therefore loosely based around the Wu Xing.
Let There Be White:
Within the Wu Xing the colour white signifies the element metal: However this sequence as officially titled; "The Light From the Beginning."
Since the creation of the Republic of Korea (RoK/South) at the end of the Second World War the US has been aggressively promoting Christianity within the country. They see it as a counter-balance to the aggressive Communist atheism of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North). It has led to the suppression of Korea's traditional animist religions.
This US strategy was personified at the Opening Ceremony by the presence of America's Evangelical Christian Vice President Mike Pence. As a guest Vice President Pence had invited the father of Otto Warmbier - an American Evangelical Christian missionary who was arrested and later died in the DPRK.
The official title of the sequence - the light from the beginning - is reference to what here for fairness I have to describe as the Creation Myth of the Abrahamic religions. Laid down in the book of Genesis this is believed by all Jews, Christians and Muslims.
It is rather simple. A single god in another dimension creates the human dimension in six days and rests on the seventh. This process begins with him sayin; "Let there be light" and there was light.
By blending the book of Genesis with the Wu Xing the South Koreans seem to be making the point their animist creation myths are certainly a lot more elaborate then the Abrahamic one. Some would say far cooler.
The sequence began with a shot of the circular arena floor. In the centre there was another sunken circle.
The sunken centre slowly began to rise revealing a large number of well regimented Korean women all dressed in white and all playing the same traditional Korean drum.
The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, China. Its Opening Ceremony featured a world record 2,008 traditional Chinese drummers. It has become an oft referenced thing in subsequent Olympic ceremonies.
Here the South Koreans seemed to be highlighting their close cultural links to China.
In part this is simply a statement of fact. The border between China and the Korean Peninsula has shifted many times over the past 10,000.
However it did also seem to be a bit of a warning to the RoK's regional rivals Japan the DPRK. A reminder that the RoK currently enjoys better relations with China then either of them do.
The well regimented female drummers were soon joined by well regimented female dancers. They marched around the stage creating military shapes in almost military. I think the two most important were the star featured on the DPRK's flag and the Taoist Ying, Yang symbol.
This was a direct reference to the DPRK and their fondness for military parades. What is striking about those parades is not how well regimented the military are but well regimented the civilian spectators are.
This shows what an absolute dictatorship the DPRK is. There is absolutely no distinction between the military and civilians. Everyone is simply there to serve the leadership with absolute obedience. The Communist dream.
Prior to the games the DPRK agreed to send a 400 strong delegation to the games. This is largely made up of an all female cheer-squad. They are already providing competitors and visitors with little glimpses of the DPRK's extremely regimented society.
Aside from Vice President Pence this sequence also took another swipe at the US. Or more accurately former President Obama and his Democrat Party's efforts to turn America into the World's just dumbest nation.
In 2014 the Democrat Party needed a way to energise their base ahead of the November mid-term elections. So they invented a story about an innocent young black man named Micheal Brown being murdered by the racist police. While having his hands up in surrender and begging; "Don't Shoot!"
This birthed the "Black Lives Matter (BLM)" movement. That drove extremely well regimented riots and protests alongside a campaign to erase the Democrat's racist role in the US Civil War from history.
It has also turned public discourse in America into a contest to see who can come up with the most elaborate way of identifying racism and being offended by it where not racism exists. One of the largest elements of this is the concept of ; "Cultural Appropriation."
In more normal societies this is known as the doctrine of multiculturalism. However America now sees no greater crime then a white person doing something they claim is part of black culture.
Curiously Americans don't seem outraged by black rap groups like the Wu Tang Clan and in particular RZA appropriating Asian culture. Particularly that associated with martial arts. Despite the fact they get it so wrong it has anyone with even a basic knowledge of the culture they're appropriating seeing red with anger.
One artist who has been particularly accused of cultural appropriation is Justin Timberlake. His half-time show at the recent 2018 Super Bowl dealt primarily with this.
It featured what is termed a; "Drumline." In the UK this is synonymous with white Protestant marching bands like the Orange Order. They use them to intimidate equally white Catholics. However in the US drumlines are more associated with black culture.
Through the use of a white drumline Timberlake was posing the question of whether black Americans can really claim a cultural monopoly on the concept of hitting one object with another object in order to make a sound?
This sequences in the Opening Ceremony re-stated that question. On a much larger and grander scale.
There is a 2012 Quentin Tarantino move called; "Django Unchained." These deals with racism and slavery in the US. One of the oft quoted lines from the movie is;
"The D is silent ... Hillbilly!"
The drums used in this sequence were traditional Korean Django drums.
As something of an aside during his Super Bowl performance Justin Timberlake referenced both Elvis Presley and Bruno Mars. At the tender age of 4 Bruno Mars launched his career in the entertainment industry as an Elvis impersonator.
Do you want to see a video of it?
I think you do; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxjXp7cPBok
Throughout this sequence the director had been trying to subtly supplant the notion of the sun in your minds. The sun of course is the source of all light. Right at the end of the sequence there was what at that time just a blob of orange colour at the bottom of the shot. Rather like the orange of a rising or setting sun.
The flag of the RoK's big regional rival Japan is a red circle on a white background. This signifies the rising of the sun.
The RoK's flag is a blue and red circle on a white background. People often assume this is also the rising sun like Japan's flag. However it's actually the Taoist Ying,Yang symbol.
So this seemed like a good time for the South Koreans to bring out their flag as if to say;
"Oh, no. It's not like the Japanese flag. It's much, much better then them."
Flag & Anthem:
It is a matter of Olympic protocol that every ceremony must feature the raising or lowering of the flag of the host nation and the singing of the national anthem. Although I don't think its strictly speaking protocol this often involves a large flag being brought into a paraded around the arena by figures of significance.
The Opening Ceremony 2012 Summer Olympic held in London, UK actually featured a South Korean flagbearer. Former President Ban Ki-moon in his then role as Secretary General of the UN.
It also featured as a flagbearer Shami Chakrabarti in her role as head of British civil rights campaign group Liberty. Outside anti-Olympic protests were taking place by groups whose right to protest had been defended by Shami Chakrabarti in Court.
As a result the significance of these flagbearers can get quite complicated and take an extremely long time to write up. Fortunately the RoK just went with six of its famous Olympians. As far as I can tell their significance was simply their achievement as Olympians.
The only real bit of significance was that they were wearing traditional Korean winter dress. If you've watched the long-running US TV show; "M*A*S*H" set during the combat phases of the Korean War you might be somewhat familiar with this style of dress.
It was at this point the fear really hit me. Good as it is and no matter how many times you watch it M*A*S*H in no way prepares you for the complexity of the current relationship between the RoK and the DPRK. It does though feature both a young Laurence Fishburne and a young Ron Howard.
It is traditional that the job of raising the flag is given to members of the host nation's military. After all they raise and lower flags at least twice a day and up to 500 times a day. If they're being punished. As a result they're really good at it.
The problem arises when the host nation - like 2016 Summer Games host Brazil - have suffered under military dictatorships. Those societies are understandably much more sensitive about the military having a role in public, civilian life.
Growing up at I promise the end of the Cold War I was always sold this image of the RoK as this beautiful beacon of freedom bravely standing up to the tyranny of the Communist DPRK.
This is an utter lie. Park Chung-hee the RoK was an absolute military dictatorship between 1962 and 1979. The RoK didn't fully transition to democracy until after the Cold War in the mid-1990's when it was finally allowed to join the UN.
As a result they continue to be extremely sensitive about the role of the military and individual freedoms and privacy.
If in somewhere like the US or the UK the TV news are doing a story about the economy they will often illustrate it with stock footage of random members of the public on a shopping street.
In the RoK they're not allowed to interfere in a person's private life by confirming to the public that they may have attended a shop at some point in their lives. So news in the RoK often features lots of footage of people's feet or heavily blurred footage so you can't identify the people being shown.
As part of its transition from military dictatorship to democracy the RoK created something called the Royal Guard to perform this type of ceremonial pageantry. They are based on the military guard for royal palaces during the 500 year long Joseon Dynasty.
The RoK has military conscription. So at some point members of the Royal Guard will have served in the military and may at some point in the future serve in the military again. However despite their name an appearance they are not a military force.
They seem modelled on the Vatican's Swiss Guard. They are technically an army. However they rely on the Italian police to provide security for the Vatican.
The South Korean Royal Guard are also similar to the Yeomanry or "Beefeater" Guard you get at Britain's Tower of London.
For tourists its easy to mistake the Beefeaters for the military Guard regiments who guard other London landmarks like Buckingham Palace in red tunics and black bearskin hats. When they put on more sensible clothes these Guards are actually amongst some of the most elite troops in the British Army.
The Beefeaters however are civilians. Although they only employ people who are former members of the military.
As the Royal Guard raised the South Korean flag the South Korean anthem was sung by the Rainbow Children's Choir.
It is not so much a tradition as a cliche that at some point an Olympic ceremony will feature a multi-ethnic children's choir to signify peace, unity and inclusion. No matter how spiteful and hate filled the rest of the ceremony is.
This Opening Ceremony went on to have quite a bit of fun with this type of cliche. Particularly during the Yellow (Cheese) sequence featuring the songs of John Lennon.
At around 17:15 on 12/2/18 (UK date) I need to take a break from at least this screen.
Edited at around 19:50 on 12/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Parade of Nations:
It is protocol that each ceremony must include a segment in which the flags of the competing nations are parade around the arena and then raised. Although not compulsory many of the competitors choose to join their flag in this parade.
In many ways this parade is the most important in the ceremony. It focuses entirely on the competitors who will make the games happen.
However from the perspective of a viewer it can be quite dull. I've discovered the advantage of recording the ceremony is that you can whizz through the parade at x32 speed. You that then whizz back through it at x32 speed. While adding your own music for comic effect.
This parade though contained two very significant elements.
The first of these was the inclusion of the; "Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)."
The 2014 Winter Games were held in Russia. They were scene to just appalling levels of Islamist violence. Due to Russia's longstanding opposition to Islamist terrorism.
Under significant pressure from the UK and the US under former President Obama the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took the unusual step of siding with the terrorists against Russia.
Russia was partially banned from the 2016 Summer Olympic Games and totally banned from the 2016 Summer Para-Olympic Games. This was justified on the grounds that Russia had engaged in state sponsored drug cheating (doping).
If the IOC was serious about banning drug cheats it would have to ban probably most nations. It is well known that the US Olympic team itself engages in widespread, state sponsored doping. What is worse is the IOC give the US permission to cheat by issuing what are known as Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE's).
For example at the 2016 Olympics the entire US women's basketball team apparently suffered from Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Not only that they all apparently suffered from an extremely rare form of ADHD that can only be treated with amphetamines.
US gymnast Simone Biles who 'won' gold in 2016 also apparently has this extremely rare form of ADHD which can only be treated with amphetamines.
Stimulants like amphetamines and cocaine are why professional sports were forced to introduced drug testing back in the 1930's. So not only does the US engage in widespread, state sponsored and IOC sanctioned doping it doesn't even attempt to hide it.
In the weeks and months leading up to these games the US has been gripped by the trial of Larry Nassar. This former US Olympics gymnastics coach/doctor has been convicted of sexual abusing many young girls. The trial featured many prominent US Olympians including Simone Biles giving evidence and victim impact statements.
The timing of the trial seemed to be a gesture by the US that it was in no position to criticise Russia. Not only does the US Olympics team engage in widespread, state sponsored doping it also engages in the widespread and apparently officially sanctioned sexual abuse of its athletes.
Russia has been challenging the IOC's ban in such a long succession of cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) it's been hard to keep track of each one.
The day before the Opening Ceremony CAS issued its final ruling. It found that the IOC's actions cannot be explained by an attempt to punish doping cheats. It can only be considered an arbitrary and political decision.
However it also found that the IOC apparently retains the right to make arbitrary political decision. Thus dispelling any notion of competitive or fair sport at the Olympics.
Some Russian athletes have though been allowed to compete as independent athletes under the combined banner of OAR.
In itself that choice of acronym is interesting. There is a saying in particularly America that if someones position is untenable they; "Up sh*t creek without a paddle (oar)."
Much like the IOC's actions a creek filled with sh*t stinks.
At these Olympics the OAR may not make or wear any statement logo or gesture referencing Russia. So during the Opening Ceremony they had to wear a uniform of entirely neutral colours and parade behind the Olympic flag. They were not even allowed to carry that flag themselves. A member of the event staff had to do it for them.
The South Korean hosts made it quite clear that they thought of this. The staff member they provided was wearing the typical staff uniform of a blue hat, a white coat and red trousers.
In short; The colours of the Russian flag.
The Parade of Nations ended with the South Korean and North Korean competitors entering the arena as one flying the Unification flag of a blue image of the Korean Peninsula on a white background.
This was immediately followed by a one man South Korea protest against unification. He slid down the ski jump/ramp leading up to the cauldron while carrying a banner decrying unification. After the assembled media had been given plenty of time for photographs he was hauled off by security.
This was not show as part of the broadcast. However fireworks did then immediately light up the path to the cauldron the man had taken.
The man's protest began at the cauldron. With the exception of the VIP area this is probably the most secure part of the arena.
So this man's protest was state sanctioned as part of the ceremony. It laid the groundwork for the upcoming Black/Blue segment.
Within both North and South Korea the issue of unification is a deeply existential topic.
Although it's probably no help to viewers in somewhere like Tonga the nearest thing I can compare it to is Brexit in Britain.
Before the referendum on leaving the European Union (EU) British people were asked to divide themselves into Leavers and Remainers.
Following the result they've been asked to choose from a wide range of Brexit options like Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Red, White and Blue Brexit or Wibbly Wobbly Woo Brexit.
None of these terms actually mean anything in relation to the UK's future relationship with the EU. However the one you choose has became a massive statement of your identity and existence.
So you almost get people saying things like;
"I know I've just lynched some black teenagers for daring to look at a white woman. But I'm not racist. I voted to Remain!"
The term unification has a similar role within Korean society.
Particularly amongst younger South Koreans there is a growing number who don't want unification. They've lived their entire lives in the RoK and they're happy to continue living their lives in the RoK.
However most Koreans support unification in some form. It's rarely defined though whether they mean;
A unified Korean Peninsula under the Communism of the DPRK?
A unified Korean Peninsula under the Democracy of the RoK?
A unified Korean Peninsula under the RoK dictatorship of Park Chung-hee?
A unified Korea which includes Balhae - essentially the peninsula plus large parts of what are currently China and Russia?
Or do you simply mean that a mother can get to see her children one last time before she dies?
On both sides of the conflict intelligence agencies have nurtured different political movements based around different interpretations of "Unification." They often trot them out in protest to send messages to each other.
For example following the January 20th (20/1/18) agreement on DPRK participation RoK President Moon Jae-in's poll numbers have collapses. Supporters of really the Balhae school of unification have taken to the streets in protest. You've been able to see some of these around the Olympic Park.
This serves to send a message to the DPRK. Although the RoK supports a rapprochement for the Olympics there are limits to how far that rapprochement is going to go.
It is because of this sort of thing it often seems that I'm ignoring Korea. I understand that different protest groups are used to send messages. However I don't understand enough about the history of the groups of the type of messages they're sending to feel I can get involved.
In fact I'm a little concerned about the effect making this small example - which I think is well understood by both parties - clear will have.
So what may often seem like me ignoring Korea is actually me assessing the situation. Then concluding it is better for me to keep my mouth shut then ask stupid questions.
I am obviously interested in learning more about these spy games. However in 2014 I did the Winter Olympics, took a little break and did the World Cup.
Then I got involved in the war in Syria. I'm still there now.
21:00 on 12/2/18 (UK date).
Saturday, 10 February 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Opening Ceremony.
How do you know the 2018 games are being held in Asia?
You have to complete a class BEFORE school; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-opening.html
Once you've all got your heads around that we can begin.
The Countdown:
Olympic Opening Ceremonies are broadcast live across many different broadcasters in many different nations. Therefore it is a longstanding tradition that they have to begin with a video countdown from 10 to 1. This allows everyone to calibrate and synchronise their coverage.
It also provides a way to gesture how much respect each broadcaster is showing the games.
For example do they not take the live feed at all instead choosing only to show edited highlights? Do they show the countdown or only show the ceremony itself? Do they, like Britain's BBC, show maximum respect by even broadcasting live shots of the stadium before the countdown begins.
As broadcast technology has advanced this countdown video has become less important.
It's an interesting fact that on US television you cannot broadcast a particular shade of black for more then a set length of time. If you do this it will trigger a computer to think that a commercial break has begun and switch the feed. All without a human being involved.
This has meant that the countdown has become part of the show itself. Some nations now use it as an opportunity to have some fun.
The Republic of Korean (RoK) quite reasonably considers itself to be one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth. If you are reading this on an electronic device there is a fair chance that device was make in the RoK. Or at least made using technology that had been invented in the RoK.
As such the RoK had a great deal of fun with this tradition.
The Opening Ceremony began with a short video. This intentionally took the idea of the Opening Ceremony welcoming visitors to the country comically literally.
Shot in Point of View (PoV) perspective it showed a guest arriving on an aeroplane, travelling through the airport before taking an Olympic-themed drive from the airport to the Olympic Stadium.
The video featured the promotional posters for all the previous Winter Olympics popping up in strange places. Like on the side of someones suitcase or in a magazine someone was reading. Although the posters were shown in the correct order the video also featured large numbers popping up in a completely random order.
So if you were trying to use this video to synchronise your coverage it would really have screwed you up.
When the video finished it cut to a shot of the stadium floor. At its centre in a circle and surrounded by a circle of light there stood the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great.
King Seongdeok the Great was the 33rd King of Silla - the kingdom that joined the Three Kingdoms creating the first unified Korean. The bell was commissioned by his son King Gyeongdeok.
Legend has it King Gyeongdeok had the bell cast and recast many times during his life but could never get it to sound. After his death his young son took over the work with the help of this mother the Queen. Again they had no success.
Then a monk dreamt that if a child was cast into the metal it would finally work. So they basically kidnapped a child from one of the poor villages and cast them into the metal. Finally the bell worked.
As a result it's known as the "Mother Bell" or "Emile Bell" -"Emile" being a rough translation of a Korean word for "Mother." However that legend is disputed so the bell does provide a talking point about western explorers misappropriating eastern, mystic culture.
A copy of the bell hangs in a Korean Pagoda in Angel's Gate Park in the US city of Los Angeles, California. It was donated by the RoK to the US as a gift on America's 200th birthday. As such this copy is known as the; "Friendship Bell."
This leads some people confusing the American copy with the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great and referring to them both as the Friendship Bell.
Some people - like BBC commentators - even go so far as to mistake them both for the "Peace Bell." That was made by Japan in 1952 as a gift to the United Nations. It hangs in a peace garden at the UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US.
In front of the bell the numbers 10 to 1 were projected onto the arena floor in the common English numerals which most users of the Latin alphabet are familiar with. At the same time the word of how you pronounce those numbers in Korean were also projected onto the empty - for competitors - seats. They were projected in the Latin alphabet.
Koreans of course don't use the Latin alphabet or English numerals. Instead they use their own Hangul alphabet which has its own numerals. One of the interesting differences between the RoK and the DPRK is the way that their languages and even alphabets have altered slightly over time since partition.
Contrary to popular belief Hangul is not logographic like the Japanese or Chinese writing system. It is much more similar to the Latin alphabet with symbols or letters being used to form words. However rather than just being a list Hangul letters are arranged in blocks of vowels and consonants.
In the run-up to the games the South Koreans used their language to play a little prank on Norway's Olympic team. Their chefs submitted a written order for 1,500 eggs. They were delivered 15,000 eggs.
Apparently someone had translated the request from Norwegian into English. Then from English into South Korean Hangul and then into North Korean Hangul.
When the countdown reached zero the bell sounded and from it the arena floor started to crack as it made from ice. These are the Winter Olympics after all.
We then cut to an aerial shot of the outside of the stadium.
What I found interesting was that there were searchlights snaking through the night sky. Particularly for British people this type of imagery is synonymous with the so-called; "Blitz."
During the Second World War Britain and Germany spent the best part of five years just absolutely carpet bombing each others civilian cities. This is known as; "The Blitz" from the German; "Blitzkrieg" meaning; "Lightening War." Perfected during the Spanish Civil War at places like Guernica this used aerial bombing in conjunction with rapid advances by ground forces.
Technically the Blitz was kind of Britain's fault. They bombed German civilians first prompting Hitler to follow suit. Although Hitler didn't exactly need much provocation for anything.
These searchlights struck me as a very clever way to very subtly acknowledge Korea's own difficult experience during the Second World War and its aftermath without being needlessly provocative.
The searchlights quickly gave way to the traditional firework display. The only thing of any note I spotted was the word; "WELCOME" written in the Latin alphabet spelled out on the ground in fireworks.
Meet the Cipher:
We were then shown another short video which introduced us to the characters who would be our guides throughout the ceremony. They were five humans of a distinctly child-like appearance.
This is quite a common story telling device used in TV and movies. The example I'll use is the 2015 US movie "Sicario" because I only watched it the other week.
This movie received a lot of coverage when it came out because it was one of the first mainstream action movies to feature a female lead - Emily Blunt's "Kate Macer." When we'd finished watching the movie my father said; "It's a good movie. I just didn't see the point of the Kate character."
The point of the Kate character is that she is a cipher through which we are introduced to the rest of the story.
Technically a cipher is any device which is used to turn create a code. Or to desconstruct a code.
The word; "Cipher" has common origins in French, English, Dutch, German, Slovak, Spanish, Serbia, Italian, Swedish and Arabic. It means "number" - often the number; "Zero."
Therefore one of the most simple ciphers is the Polyalphabetic Cipher. You assign a number to a letter of the alphabet A=1 etc and then write your message in numbers so; "YES" becomes "25519." You can even buy toy Secret Wheel Code kits. Or if no-one will get you one of those for Christmas you can make your own.
Big users of codes and ciphers are the military. The RoK is a nation at war so has compulsory military service. As a result all South Koreans have some experience of military codes and secrets. Even if it's just knowing that when a politician speaks you really need to learn to read between-the-lines.
As one of the Worlds most technologically advanced nations the RoK deal in extremely complex Symmetric-Key algorithmic ciphers. These are what make that little padlock icon appear in the top-lefthand corner of your Internet browser.
As you can probably tell from the still photograph and Betamax video propaganda they continue to put out DPRK is less technologically advanced.
At the Opening Ceremony the US was represented by Vice President Mike Pence. While the people who live on the Korean Peninsula have been talking in terms of unity and peace Mike Pence has been touring the region talking of war.
Vice President Pence even took the father of Otto Warmbier as his guest to the Opening Ceremony. One of the main reasons I object to that is that I don't think that is any place for a grieving parent. The situation requires us to insult him.
Therefore you can certainly have a lot of fun with a phrase such as; "Childlike Cipher."
Particularly if you're talking about someone who makes their own spy wheel cipher kits at home.
At around 21:40 on 10/2/18 (UK date) I need a little break to order my thoughts.
Edited around 22:20 on 10/2/18 (UK date) to add;
The reason why these five human ciphers had a distinctly childlike appearance is because they were in fact children.
They represented the Wu Xing - the five essential elements;
Metal: White,
Water: Black,
Wood: Green,
Fire: Red,
Earth: Yellow.
In particularly the Taoist religion these five elements make up all humans and all the things in the natural environment. This means that they explain everything from the way the human body works to the way political leaders rise and fall.
However their most commonly accepted role is in explaining cosmic cycles - the passing of the seasons basically.
Fire is Summer, Water is Winter, Metal is Autumn and Wood is Spring. The fifth, Earth covers those intermediate periods where it's not quite autumn but it's not yet winter and it's not quite spring but it's not yet summer.
After it being established that they represented the Wu Xing the children entered a cave. There they were surrounded of what where described as; "The 22 Korean Treasures."
I have Googled the 22 Korean Treasures extensively. I can find no reference to them. What I can find reference to is the 319 objects the South Korean government began listing as protected national treasures in 1962.
However the 22 objects shown in the video seem to bear no relation to the list of 319 National Treasures. The Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great for example is listed as number 29.
Therefore I'm tempted to go so far as to suggest the South Koreans are simply trying to wind up foreigners with this list of their mythical objects.
Finally in the cave the children come across a painting of a blue dragon. This comes alive.
It is our introduction to the Four Guardians;
The Azure Dragon,
The Vermilion Bird,
The White Tiger,
The Black Turtle.
These are just the names for the constellations of stars like the Plough, Orion's Belt etc.
However they are considered to be particularly spiritual beings appearing the sky as they travel between dimension. As such they represent mythological powers. The Azure Dragon represents the male force and the Vermilion Bird represents the female force.
As the video finished the children were then welcomed into the arena. The were joined first by the White Tiger guardian.
This took the form of dancers manipulating a paper sculpture with wooden polls. This is commonly associated with Chinese Dragon dances. That referenced China and Korea's shared history. It was the Chinese Tang dynasty that helped the Silla Kingdom unite Korea's Three Kingdoms. They were rewarded with Korea invading quite a large chunk of China.
Recently there has been a rumour doing the rounds in Syria. It is that China has deployed Special Operations Forces (SOF's) to fight particularly the Turkistan Islamist Party (TiP) element of Al Qaeda in Idlib Province. Particularly around the town of Jisr al-Shugour.
If true this would represent the first combat deployment by the Chinese military since they withdrew from the Korean War. If you're interested in growing Chinese regional influence and/or the technically ongoing Korean War this is the sort of rumour that really catches your attention.
The two specific Chinese SOF units mentioned in the rumour are the Night Tigers and the Siberian Tigers. I suppose if you mash them together in the context of an Olympic Ceremony you'd probably end up with a White Tiger.
If you tried mashing them together outside of an Olympic Ceremony you'd probably end up getting hurt.
It is interesting that the White Tiger is the guardian of the west. China is concerned by Al Qaeda's desire to establish Turkistan within their western Xinjiang. The White Tiger only appears when an Emperor is ruling with absolute virtue.
So that certainly does sound like the RoK giving a quiet nod of approval to their old Korean War foe.
As this was happening a video projection turned the arena floor into an overview of the Baekdu/Paektu Mountain range. This forms part of the border between the DPRK and China.
The range's highest peak is Mount Paektu, an active volcano. The Mount Paektu bloodline is central to the DPRK's creation myth. Amongst other things Kim Il-sung is said to have been born, thus creating the universe at the foot of Mount Paektu.
So this seemed like an appropriate moment for the RoK to bring out Bakiwang - the central female character in the more widely accepted Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth. As with the White Tiger see was represented in the form of a paper sculpture normally associated with Chinese Dragon dances.
I really do want someone to explain the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth to me properly. However my understanding is that Bakiwang began life as a Bear. She turned into a human woman and then marries Cheonjiwang and they have two sons who battle it out to become ruler of the human dimension.
The 2018 Winter Olympics of course pick up the baton from the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. A bear is a famous symbol of Russia so the arrival of Bakiwang seemed like a little nod to the Winter Olympics former life.
It could even be a subtle gesture of support for Russia in things like Syria and their on going battles with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the US Democrat Party.
The White Tiger and Bakiwang were joined by a third paper sculpture. Resembling a bird this caused a bit of confusion.
It could be the Vermilion Bird guardian. However the Vermilion Bird is often confused with the Fenghuang which are the masters of all birds.
The Fenghuang is often referred to as the Chinese Phoenix due to its vague similarities with the Phoenix from Greek mythology.
The Phoenix famously lives for a long time before flying into the Sun where it catches fire only to rise from its own ashes. The Fenghuang is also associated with the Sun. However it merely flies into the Sun to use it as a portal to travel to a different dimension.
Crucially the Fenghuang only enters the human dimension during times of peace. As such it is a symbol of peace.
If you can remember all the way back to the 2014 Sochi Opening Ceremony this heavily featured the Firebird from Russian mythology. Generally that is used as a metaphor for chasing the unobtainable. However it allows for another little nod to Russia.
The sequence ended with TV viewers being treated to an Augmented Reality (AR) projection of the stars showing the places of the Four Guardian constellations. If you're unfamiliar with Augmented Reality have you heard of a game called; "Pokemon Go."
Japan will host the 2020 Summer Olympics. As is protocol this granted them a small segment in the Closing Ceremony for the 2016 Summer Games held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.
I still have that Closing Ceremony stacked up my DVR. I promise I will at least cover Japan's segment. At this rate probably about two hours before the 2020 Opening Ceremony.
However the Japanese segment did feature a little bit of AR - an Olympic first.
Aside from the tensions stemming from the Japanese Empire there is a huge rivalry between Japan and the RoK over who exactly is THE most technologically advanced nation on Earth.
So if Japan are going to use a little bit of AR then the RoK are going to use a lot of AR. No matter how much that is completely lost on people watching live in the arena.
Introductions & Handshakes:
It is protocol that each Olympic ceremony features a short segment in which VIP's are welcomed. This is normally the head of the IOC - in this case former Olympic fencer Thomas Bach - and the Head of Government/State of the Host Nation. In this case RoK President Moon Jae-in.
After they've been welcomed everyone in the VIP box shakes hands, have a bit of a chat and sit down. Normally it's quite dull.
However on this occasion the VIP box also included Kim Yo-jong. The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and only member of the Mount Paektu Bloodline to every set foot in the RoK.
President Moon Jae-in duly shook hands with Kim Yo-jong who has the official title of; "Director of Propaganda & Agitation." Thus making this the first time that a member of the Mount Paektu Bloodline has ever shaken hands with a South Korean President.
The VIP box also included US Vice President Pence. The South Korean hosts who are getting a reputation for a mischievous sense of humour seated Vice President Pence directly in front of Director Kim.
Apparently they'd heard the rumours about Vice President Pence being uncomfortable in the company of women who are not his wife. Then decided to double it.
Eventually Vice President Pence insisted on being moved four seats along the row so at least he wasn't sitting directly in front of Director Kim.
The US media has been seemingly overjoyed at the sight of Donald Trump's Vice President being made to look uncomfortable. I think they would be better advised to take note of the fact it is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
As I think is well known prior to the 2016 US Presidential Election former President Obama ordered the FBI to set up a special unit to guard against Russian interference - particularly online.
To this day the US media continue to insist this Russian interference rigged the election in Donald Trump's favour and Obama's designated successor Hillary Clinton is their rightful President.
Prior to the 2012 South Korean President Election outgoing President Lee Myung-bak ordered the RoK equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - to set up a special unit to guard against North Korean interference - particularly online.
The NIS have since admitted this claim of foreign interference was merely a sham to allow them to rig the election in favour of Lee Myung-bak's designated successor Park Guen-hye.
So I think Americans would do well to remember that it is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
His female opponent along with the Director of the NIS are currently in prison.
So no, I don't think there will be any more Russia memos coming out during the Winter Olympics. You might be lucky in that small gap between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.
00:10 on 11/2/18 (UK date).
You have to complete a class BEFORE school; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-opening.html
Once you've all got your heads around that we can begin.
The Countdown:
Olympic Opening Ceremonies are broadcast live across many different broadcasters in many different nations. Therefore it is a longstanding tradition that they have to begin with a video countdown from 10 to 1. This allows everyone to calibrate and synchronise their coverage.
It also provides a way to gesture how much respect each broadcaster is showing the games.
For example do they not take the live feed at all instead choosing only to show edited highlights? Do they show the countdown or only show the ceremony itself? Do they, like Britain's BBC, show maximum respect by even broadcasting live shots of the stadium before the countdown begins.
As broadcast technology has advanced this countdown video has become less important.
It's an interesting fact that on US television you cannot broadcast a particular shade of black for more then a set length of time. If you do this it will trigger a computer to think that a commercial break has begun and switch the feed. All without a human being involved.
This has meant that the countdown has become part of the show itself. Some nations now use it as an opportunity to have some fun.
The Republic of Korean (RoK) quite reasonably considers itself to be one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth. If you are reading this on an electronic device there is a fair chance that device was make in the RoK. Or at least made using technology that had been invented in the RoK.
As such the RoK had a great deal of fun with this tradition.
The Opening Ceremony began with a short video. This intentionally took the idea of the Opening Ceremony welcoming visitors to the country comically literally.
Shot in Point of View (PoV) perspective it showed a guest arriving on an aeroplane, travelling through the airport before taking an Olympic-themed drive from the airport to the Olympic Stadium.
The video featured the promotional posters for all the previous Winter Olympics popping up in strange places. Like on the side of someones suitcase or in a magazine someone was reading. Although the posters were shown in the correct order the video also featured large numbers popping up in a completely random order.
So if you were trying to use this video to synchronise your coverage it would really have screwed you up.
When the video finished it cut to a shot of the stadium floor. At its centre in a circle and surrounded by a circle of light there stood the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great.
King Seongdeok the Great was the 33rd King of Silla - the kingdom that joined the Three Kingdoms creating the first unified Korean. The bell was commissioned by his son King Gyeongdeok.
Legend has it King Gyeongdeok had the bell cast and recast many times during his life but could never get it to sound. After his death his young son took over the work with the help of this mother the Queen. Again they had no success.
Then a monk dreamt that if a child was cast into the metal it would finally work. So they basically kidnapped a child from one of the poor villages and cast them into the metal. Finally the bell worked.
As a result it's known as the "Mother Bell" or "Emile Bell" -"Emile" being a rough translation of a Korean word for "Mother." However that legend is disputed so the bell does provide a talking point about western explorers misappropriating eastern, mystic culture.
A copy of the bell hangs in a Korean Pagoda in Angel's Gate Park in the US city of Los Angeles, California. It was donated by the RoK to the US as a gift on America's 200th birthday. As such this copy is known as the; "Friendship Bell."
This leads some people confusing the American copy with the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great and referring to them both as the Friendship Bell.
Some people - like BBC commentators - even go so far as to mistake them both for the "Peace Bell." That was made by Japan in 1952 as a gift to the United Nations. It hangs in a peace garden at the UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US.
In front of the bell the numbers 10 to 1 were projected onto the arena floor in the common English numerals which most users of the Latin alphabet are familiar with. At the same time the word of how you pronounce those numbers in Korean were also projected onto the empty - for competitors - seats. They were projected in the Latin alphabet.
Koreans of course don't use the Latin alphabet or English numerals. Instead they use their own Hangul alphabet which has its own numerals. One of the interesting differences between the RoK and the DPRK is the way that their languages and even alphabets have altered slightly over time since partition.
Contrary to popular belief Hangul is not logographic like the Japanese or Chinese writing system. It is much more similar to the Latin alphabet with symbols or letters being used to form words. However rather than just being a list Hangul letters are arranged in blocks of vowels and consonants.
In the run-up to the games the South Koreans used their language to play a little prank on Norway's Olympic team. Their chefs submitted a written order for 1,500 eggs. They were delivered 15,000 eggs.
Apparently someone had translated the request from Norwegian into English. Then from English into South Korean Hangul and then into North Korean Hangul.
When the countdown reached zero the bell sounded and from it the arena floor started to crack as it made from ice. These are the Winter Olympics after all.
We then cut to an aerial shot of the outside of the stadium.
What I found interesting was that there were searchlights snaking through the night sky. Particularly for British people this type of imagery is synonymous with the so-called; "Blitz."
During the Second World War Britain and Germany spent the best part of five years just absolutely carpet bombing each others civilian cities. This is known as; "The Blitz" from the German; "Blitzkrieg" meaning; "Lightening War." Perfected during the Spanish Civil War at places like Guernica this used aerial bombing in conjunction with rapid advances by ground forces.
Technically the Blitz was kind of Britain's fault. They bombed German civilians first prompting Hitler to follow suit. Although Hitler didn't exactly need much provocation for anything.
These searchlights struck me as a very clever way to very subtly acknowledge Korea's own difficult experience during the Second World War and its aftermath without being needlessly provocative.
The searchlights quickly gave way to the traditional firework display. The only thing of any note I spotted was the word; "WELCOME" written in the Latin alphabet spelled out on the ground in fireworks.
Meet the Cipher:
We were then shown another short video which introduced us to the characters who would be our guides throughout the ceremony. They were five humans of a distinctly child-like appearance.
This is quite a common story telling device used in TV and movies. The example I'll use is the 2015 US movie "Sicario" because I only watched it the other week.
This movie received a lot of coverage when it came out because it was one of the first mainstream action movies to feature a female lead - Emily Blunt's "Kate Macer." When we'd finished watching the movie my father said; "It's a good movie. I just didn't see the point of the Kate character."
The point of the Kate character is that she is a cipher through which we are introduced to the rest of the story.
Technically a cipher is any device which is used to turn create a code. Or to desconstruct a code.
The word; "Cipher" has common origins in French, English, Dutch, German, Slovak, Spanish, Serbia, Italian, Swedish and Arabic. It means "number" - often the number; "Zero."
Therefore one of the most simple ciphers is the Polyalphabetic Cipher. You assign a number to a letter of the alphabet A=1 etc and then write your message in numbers so; "YES" becomes "25519." You can even buy toy Secret Wheel Code kits. Or if no-one will get you one of those for Christmas you can make your own.
Big users of codes and ciphers are the military. The RoK is a nation at war so has compulsory military service. As a result all South Koreans have some experience of military codes and secrets. Even if it's just knowing that when a politician speaks you really need to learn to read between-the-lines.
As one of the Worlds most technologically advanced nations the RoK deal in extremely complex Symmetric-Key algorithmic ciphers. These are what make that little padlock icon appear in the top-lefthand corner of your Internet browser.
As you can probably tell from the still photograph and Betamax video propaganda they continue to put out DPRK is less technologically advanced.
At the Opening Ceremony the US was represented by Vice President Mike Pence. While the people who live on the Korean Peninsula have been talking in terms of unity and peace Mike Pence has been touring the region talking of war.
Vice President Pence even took the father of Otto Warmbier as his guest to the Opening Ceremony. One of the main reasons I object to that is that I don't think that is any place for a grieving parent. The situation requires us to insult him.
Therefore you can certainly have a lot of fun with a phrase such as; "Childlike Cipher."
Particularly if you're talking about someone who makes their own spy wheel cipher kits at home.
At around 21:40 on 10/2/18 (UK date) I need a little break to order my thoughts.
Edited around 22:20 on 10/2/18 (UK date) to add;
The reason why these five human ciphers had a distinctly childlike appearance is because they were in fact children.
They represented the Wu Xing - the five essential elements;
Metal: White,
Water: Black,
Wood: Green,
Fire: Red,
Earth: Yellow.
In particularly the Taoist religion these five elements make up all humans and all the things in the natural environment. This means that they explain everything from the way the human body works to the way political leaders rise and fall.
However their most commonly accepted role is in explaining cosmic cycles - the passing of the seasons basically.
Fire is Summer, Water is Winter, Metal is Autumn and Wood is Spring. The fifth, Earth covers those intermediate periods where it's not quite autumn but it's not yet winter and it's not quite spring but it's not yet summer.
After it being established that they represented the Wu Xing the children entered a cave. There they were surrounded of what where described as; "The 22 Korean Treasures."
I have Googled the 22 Korean Treasures extensively. I can find no reference to them. What I can find reference to is the 319 objects the South Korean government began listing as protected national treasures in 1962.
However the 22 objects shown in the video seem to bear no relation to the list of 319 National Treasures. The Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great for example is listed as number 29.
Therefore I'm tempted to go so far as to suggest the South Koreans are simply trying to wind up foreigners with this list of their mythical objects.
Finally in the cave the children come across a painting of a blue dragon. This comes alive.
It is our introduction to the Four Guardians;
The Azure Dragon,
The Vermilion Bird,
The White Tiger,
The Black Turtle.
These are just the names for the constellations of stars like the Plough, Orion's Belt etc.
However they are considered to be particularly spiritual beings appearing the sky as they travel between dimension. As such they represent mythological powers. The Azure Dragon represents the male force and the Vermilion Bird represents the female force.
As the video finished the children were then welcomed into the arena. The were joined first by the White Tiger guardian.
This took the form of dancers manipulating a paper sculpture with wooden polls. This is commonly associated with Chinese Dragon dances. That referenced China and Korea's shared history. It was the Chinese Tang dynasty that helped the Silla Kingdom unite Korea's Three Kingdoms. They were rewarded with Korea invading quite a large chunk of China.
Recently there has been a rumour doing the rounds in Syria. It is that China has deployed Special Operations Forces (SOF's) to fight particularly the Turkistan Islamist Party (TiP) element of Al Qaeda in Idlib Province. Particularly around the town of Jisr al-Shugour.
If true this would represent the first combat deployment by the Chinese military since they withdrew from the Korean War. If you're interested in growing Chinese regional influence and/or the technically ongoing Korean War this is the sort of rumour that really catches your attention.
The two specific Chinese SOF units mentioned in the rumour are the Night Tigers and the Siberian Tigers. I suppose if you mash them together in the context of an Olympic Ceremony you'd probably end up with a White Tiger.
If you tried mashing them together outside of an Olympic Ceremony you'd probably end up getting hurt.
It is interesting that the White Tiger is the guardian of the west. China is concerned by Al Qaeda's desire to establish Turkistan within their western Xinjiang. The White Tiger only appears when an Emperor is ruling with absolute virtue.
So that certainly does sound like the RoK giving a quiet nod of approval to their old Korean War foe.
As this was happening a video projection turned the arena floor into an overview of the Baekdu/Paektu Mountain range. This forms part of the border between the DPRK and China.
The range's highest peak is Mount Paektu, an active volcano. The Mount Paektu bloodline is central to the DPRK's creation myth. Amongst other things Kim Il-sung is said to have been born, thus creating the universe at the foot of Mount Paektu.
So this seemed like an appropriate moment for the RoK to bring out Bakiwang - the central female character in the more widely accepted Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth. As with the White Tiger see was represented in the form of a paper sculpture normally associated with Chinese Dragon dances.
I really do want someone to explain the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth to me properly. However my understanding is that Bakiwang began life as a Bear. She turned into a human woman and then marries Cheonjiwang and they have two sons who battle it out to become ruler of the human dimension.
The 2018 Winter Olympics of course pick up the baton from the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. A bear is a famous symbol of Russia so the arrival of Bakiwang seemed like a little nod to the Winter Olympics former life.
It could even be a subtle gesture of support for Russia in things like Syria and their on going battles with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the US Democrat Party.
The White Tiger and Bakiwang were joined by a third paper sculpture. Resembling a bird this caused a bit of confusion.
It could be the Vermilion Bird guardian. However the Vermilion Bird is often confused with the Fenghuang which are the masters of all birds.
The Fenghuang is often referred to as the Chinese Phoenix due to its vague similarities with the Phoenix from Greek mythology.
The Phoenix famously lives for a long time before flying into the Sun where it catches fire only to rise from its own ashes. The Fenghuang is also associated with the Sun. However it merely flies into the Sun to use it as a portal to travel to a different dimension.
Crucially the Fenghuang only enters the human dimension during times of peace. As such it is a symbol of peace.
If you can remember all the way back to the 2014 Sochi Opening Ceremony this heavily featured the Firebird from Russian mythology. Generally that is used as a metaphor for chasing the unobtainable. However it allows for another little nod to Russia.
The sequence ended with TV viewers being treated to an Augmented Reality (AR) projection of the stars showing the places of the Four Guardian constellations. If you're unfamiliar with Augmented Reality have you heard of a game called; "Pokemon Go."
Japan will host the 2020 Summer Olympics. As is protocol this granted them a small segment in the Closing Ceremony for the 2016 Summer Games held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.
I still have that Closing Ceremony stacked up my DVR. I promise I will at least cover Japan's segment. At this rate probably about two hours before the 2020 Opening Ceremony.
However the Japanese segment did feature a little bit of AR - an Olympic first.
Aside from the tensions stemming from the Japanese Empire there is a huge rivalry between Japan and the RoK over who exactly is THE most technologically advanced nation on Earth.
So if Japan are going to use a little bit of AR then the RoK are going to use a lot of AR. No matter how much that is completely lost on people watching live in the arena.
Introductions & Handshakes:
It is protocol that each Olympic ceremony features a short segment in which VIP's are welcomed. This is normally the head of the IOC - in this case former Olympic fencer Thomas Bach - and the Head of Government/State of the Host Nation. In this case RoK President Moon Jae-in.
After they've been welcomed everyone in the VIP box shakes hands, have a bit of a chat and sit down. Normally it's quite dull.
However on this occasion the VIP box also included Kim Yo-jong. The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and only member of the Mount Paektu Bloodline to every set foot in the RoK.
President Moon Jae-in duly shook hands with Kim Yo-jong who has the official title of; "Director of Propaganda & Agitation." Thus making this the first time that a member of the Mount Paektu Bloodline has ever shaken hands with a South Korean President.
The VIP box also included US Vice President Pence. The South Korean hosts who are getting a reputation for a mischievous sense of humour seated Vice President Pence directly in front of Director Kim.
Apparently they'd heard the rumours about Vice President Pence being uncomfortable in the company of women who are not his wife. Then decided to double it.
Eventually Vice President Pence insisted on being moved four seats along the row so at least he wasn't sitting directly in front of Director Kim.
The US media has been seemingly overjoyed at the sight of Donald Trump's Vice President being made to look uncomfortable. I think they would be better advised to take note of the fact it is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
As I think is well known prior to the 2016 US Presidential Election former President Obama ordered the FBI to set up a special unit to guard against Russian interference - particularly online.
To this day the US media continue to insist this Russian interference rigged the election in Donald Trump's favour and Obama's designated successor Hillary Clinton is their rightful President.
Prior to the 2012 South Korean President Election outgoing President Lee Myung-bak ordered the RoK equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - to set up a special unit to guard against North Korean interference - particularly online.
The NIS have since admitted this claim of foreign interference was merely a sham to allow them to rig the election in favour of Lee Myung-bak's designated successor Park Guen-hye.
So I think Americans would do well to remember that it is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
His female opponent along with the Director of the NIS are currently in prison.
So no, I don't think there will be any more Russia memos coming out during the Winter Olympics. You might be lucky in that small gap between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.
00:10 on 11/2/18 (UK date).
Friday, 9 February 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Opening Ceremony. (Intro Class).
On Friday (9/2/18) the Opening Ceremony of 2018 Winter Olympic took place in Pyeongchang in the Republic of Korea (RoK/South).
It is traditional that these ceremonies welcome visitors to the host nation by giving them an introduction to that nation's culture and history. That tradition presents something of a problem for the Republic of Korea. Their recent history is awkward to say the least.
In some form or another there has been a Korean people with a distinct language and culture populating the Korean Peninsula for at least the last 10,000 years.
However in 1910 the Korean Peninsula was invaded and colonised by the Japanese Empire. During their occupation one of the things the Japanese Empire did is what would now be considered the crime against humanity of sexual slavery.
The Japanese Empire took thousands if not tens of thousands of Korean and Chinese women prisoner and forced them to work as prostitutes for the Empires elite and soldiers.
There are differences between the way the Japanese Empire treated these so-called; "Comfort Women" and what the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been doing to particularly Yezidi women and girls. However those differences are extremely slight and nuanced.
Normally the RoK and Japan are regional allies against the common rival China. However when the issue of the Comfort Women come up those alliances can shift dramatically and the mood darken significantly.
The occupation of the Korean Peninsula by the Japanese Empire was brought an end by the Second World War in which the Japanese Empire sided with Nazi Germany. As with Germany itself the northern part of the Korean Peninsula was liberated by Soviet forces while the southern part was liberated by US forces.
This partition led to the creation of the nations of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) and the Republic of Korea (RoK). It also led to war between the two Koreas which began in 1950 and despite an armistice in 1953 continues to this day.
The partition and war took a huge toll on the Korean people.
It very literally tore families apart. Husbands and wives and parents and children suddenly found themselves citizens of different nations. The Iron Curtain of the Cold War meant that not only couldn't they visit each other they couldn't even write to each other or call each other on the telephone.
Partition and war even changed something as fundamental as the religion of the Korean people.
Adopting Soviet Communism the DPRK became aggressively atheist. The US tried to combat this by aggressively promoting Christianity in the RoK. As a result it might surprise you to learn that the largest religion in the RoK is actually Christianity.
I think the most famous example of this US strategy is the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon - sometimes known as; "The Moonies." It is also why to this day slightly odd US Evangelical Christians such as Otto Warmbier and Mike Pence continue to travel to try and cause trouble on the Korean Peninsula.
The Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics neatly avoided this by focusing on the shared religion of the Korean people that existed before the annexation by the Japanese Empire.
Traditionally the religion of the Korean people has been the; "Animist" school. If I was being lazy I would describe it simply as Buddhism. However with the Taoist; "Ying/Yang" symbol being at the centre of the RoK's flag I think Taoism and Hmongism also need to be considered.
All animist religions believe in the importance of the natural elements and the balance between them. So for example light balances dark, male balances female etc.
Within Korea this belief system has created a story of creation far more elaborate than the story of Genesis in the Abrahamic religions. It is closer to the mythology of the Greek and Roman gods.
I think that in Cheonjiwang Bonpuri variation the Celestial King - Cheonjiwang - travels to Earth. He marries a woman - Bakiwang - who used to be a bear and they have two sons. The two sons battle it out to become ruler of the human world with the loser being turned into some sort of insect.
Therefore I would like to take a moment to congratulate the director of the Opening Ceremony for deftly coping with a very difficult topic.
I would also like to take a minute to curse them. I've now got to go and read up on animist religions and Korean creation stories in such a way as I can explain them to other people. I'm already a day behind.
However I should say that once you grasp that central theme and do a bit of your own research the rest of the ceremony does fall very neatly into place.
At around 02:10 on 10/2/18 (UK date) this is obviously going to grow and be subject to edits.
Edited at around 15:00 on 10/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Explaining any of the animist religions is extremely difficult.
The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe that there is a single God who lives in another dimension. At various points over history he has sent messengers or prophets to share his rules and teachings with people on Earth.
These various teachings and rules have been codified into books which followers of the religion have to study and learn. Often under threat of being hit by a Nun with a ruler. Although that might just be a Catholic thing.
So if I want to explain to you what Judaism, Christianity or Islam are about I can simply give you a copy of the book and tell you to read. Or I'll hit you with a ruler.
Animist religions do not have a single god and a codified version of his rules and teachings.
Instead they are based on an amalgamation of the written teachings of various philosophers. Confucius probably being the most famous and significant. These written teachings are combined with philosophies passed down through the unwritten oral tradition.
Particularly when it comes to the unwritten teachings there can a very wide variety of belief systems. The largest of the animist religions is Buddhism. However even describing Buddhism as Buddhism significantly down plays the variety of teachings and beliefs its followers subscribe to.
To make matters even more complicated many of the variations are defined by geographic location. As determined by human migration patterns in a time when walking or riding on horseback were the only ways to travel.
The central belief of animist religions though is not a particularly controversial one. It is that we physically exist. We exist within a physical world which also exists.
Both we as humans and the natural environment we exist in are made up of core elements. There is some differences over exactly how many of these elements there are and what they are. However the all exist in unity with each other.
The objective of life is to keep these essential elements in balance with each other. Both within ourselves an within our physical environment.
As a result circles - as an unbroken line - are very big within the imagery of animist religions. For example many Buddhists particularly Indian Buddhists write their prayers in the form of a wheel or cylinder. Some Hindus also use this tradition.
Probably the most famous animist symbol is the Taoist "Yin,Yang." This is unbroken circle containing the negative/positive, light/dark forces in perfect balance.
It is perhaps easier to understand animist religions if you first understand the Druze religion. This is particularly popular in the middle-east in nations such as Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
However I do remember recently saying something like; "The Druze religion is much easier to understand if you first understand the Unified Field Theory of Quantum Physics."
The human story of how families were divided by the partition of Korea at the end of the Second World War is much easier to understand.
Being near universal it is almost exactly the same as the story of how Syrian and Israel Druze families were divided by the partition of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day War.
While I was writing the above in technically the very early hours of this morning Israel and Syrian were examining these similarities amongst themselves.
Israel claims that a Syrian drone - like the ones which featured heavily in the Opening Ceremony - crossed into the Israel occupied Golan Heights. After shooting down the drone Israel then responded by conducting airstrikes within Syria.
With the two nations technically still being at war this is a common thing for Israel to do. However on this occasion Syrian air defences shot down one of the F-16 jets badly injuring one of the aircrew. This set off air raid sirens and dumped wreckage across not only the Golan Heights but also Jordan.
With Indian Hindus, Pakistani Muslims and Chinese atheists now all seeming to get involved things have escalated rapidly. To the point I may have to forget about this to deal with that directly. Although I'm not sure how much if any of that I could actually publish on the Internet.
I'm just grateful Vietnamese Hmongs have yet to get involved. After all we've clearly got to save them for the Para-Olympics.
Beyond the physical dimension in which we exist animists believe that there are many other dimensions. Certainly particularly spiritual beings can travel between these dimensions.
This notion of spiritual beings or gods travelling between dimensions has given rise to a number of what are termed; "Creation Myths."
However I should point out that they're described as myths not because they aren't believed. It's because they exist as part of the mythological oral tradition similar to Roman Mythology or Greek Mythology.
So there is no God writing ten rules on tablets of stone and then handing them to Moses atop of Mount Sinai. Instead the stories are slightly different depending on who you ask, when you ask them and why you are asking them.
According to Wikipedia there are four main Korean Creation Myths; Changsega, Cheonjiwang Bonpuri, Magohalmi and Sirumal.
Between 57 B.C and 668 A.D there were the Three Kingdoms of Korea; Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo. They all followed slightly different animist religions and slightly different creation myths.
Through an alliance with Chinese Tang dynasty the Kingdom of Silla joined the three kingdoms under the Silla belief system.
I gather this included the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth. However I am not happy to be quoted on the details of any of this and apologise if I have made a mistake and caused offence.
With the Three Kingdoms joined as one the Chinese Tang dynasty was expelled in roughly 676 A.D. This created really the first example of a unified Korea.
In 698 A.D this unified Korea under the leadership of former Goguryeo General Dae Joyeong expanded into an area which includes what are now the Chinese cities of Changchun, Jiamusi and even the Russian city of Khabarovsk. Dae Joyeong named this area; "Balhae."
Falling under Soviet control at the end of the Second World War the new northern kingdom of the Korean Peninsula - the DPRK - banned religion and became aggressively atheist.
However religion is a powerful thing that it is almost impossible to ban completely.
So in order to sate the public's religious impulses and consolidate their power the North Korean government of Kim Il-sung invented a new creation myth built around the ruling Kim family.
Particularly around the Mount Paektu Bloodline. Of which Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong are all part.
Despite his death in 1994 Kim Il-sung is still considered the President of the DPRK. Rather like Sobyeolwang (Small Star King) is considered the eternal ruler of the human dimension in the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth.
The list of things that Kim Il-Sung created include the sun, the entire earth and the weather.
Although I am trying to be polite is hard to describe the Mount Paektu Bloodline creation myth without it sounding like I'm mocking North Korea. Which is probably why the South Koreans have chosen creation myths as such a big theme of the Opening Ceremony.
The North Korean people aren't being allowed to watch this.
16:50 on 10/2/18 (UK date).
It is traditional that these ceremonies welcome visitors to the host nation by giving them an introduction to that nation's culture and history. That tradition presents something of a problem for the Republic of Korea. Their recent history is awkward to say the least.
In some form or another there has been a Korean people with a distinct language and culture populating the Korean Peninsula for at least the last 10,000 years.
However in 1910 the Korean Peninsula was invaded and colonised by the Japanese Empire. During their occupation one of the things the Japanese Empire did is what would now be considered the crime against humanity of sexual slavery.
The Japanese Empire took thousands if not tens of thousands of Korean and Chinese women prisoner and forced them to work as prostitutes for the Empires elite and soldiers.
There are differences between the way the Japanese Empire treated these so-called; "Comfort Women" and what the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been doing to particularly Yezidi women and girls. However those differences are extremely slight and nuanced.
Normally the RoK and Japan are regional allies against the common rival China. However when the issue of the Comfort Women come up those alliances can shift dramatically and the mood darken significantly.
The occupation of the Korean Peninsula by the Japanese Empire was brought an end by the Second World War in which the Japanese Empire sided with Nazi Germany. As with Germany itself the northern part of the Korean Peninsula was liberated by Soviet forces while the southern part was liberated by US forces.
This partition led to the creation of the nations of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) and the Republic of Korea (RoK). It also led to war between the two Koreas which began in 1950 and despite an armistice in 1953 continues to this day.
The partition and war took a huge toll on the Korean people.
It very literally tore families apart. Husbands and wives and parents and children suddenly found themselves citizens of different nations. The Iron Curtain of the Cold War meant that not only couldn't they visit each other they couldn't even write to each other or call each other on the telephone.
Partition and war even changed something as fundamental as the religion of the Korean people.
Adopting Soviet Communism the DPRK became aggressively atheist. The US tried to combat this by aggressively promoting Christianity in the RoK. As a result it might surprise you to learn that the largest religion in the RoK is actually Christianity.
I think the most famous example of this US strategy is the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon - sometimes known as; "The Moonies." It is also why to this day slightly odd US Evangelical Christians such as Otto Warmbier and Mike Pence continue to travel to try and cause trouble on the Korean Peninsula.
The Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics neatly avoided this by focusing on the shared religion of the Korean people that existed before the annexation by the Japanese Empire.
Traditionally the religion of the Korean people has been the; "Animist" school. If I was being lazy I would describe it simply as Buddhism. However with the Taoist; "Ying/Yang" symbol being at the centre of the RoK's flag I think Taoism and Hmongism also need to be considered.
All animist religions believe in the importance of the natural elements and the balance between them. So for example light balances dark, male balances female etc.
Within Korea this belief system has created a story of creation far more elaborate than the story of Genesis in the Abrahamic religions. It is closer to the mythology of the Greek and Roman gods.
I think that in Cheonjiwang Bonpuri variation the Celestial King - Cheonjiwang - travels to Earth. He marries a woman - Bakiwang - who used to be a bear and they have two sons. The two sons battle it out to become ruler of the human world with the loser being turned into some sort of insect.
Therefore I would like to take a moment to congratulate the director of the Opening Ceremony for deftly coping with a very difficult topic.
I would also like to take a minute to curse them. I've now got to go and read up on animist religions and Korean creation stories in such a way as I can explain them to other people. I'm already a day behind.
However I should say that once you grasp that central theme and do a bit of your own research the rest of the ceremony does fall very neatly into place.
At around 02:10 on 10/2/18 (UK date) this is obviously going to grow and be subject to edits.
Edited at around 15:00 on 10/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Explaining any of the animist religions is extremely difficult.
The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe that there is a single God who lives in another dimension. At various points over history he has sent messengers or prophets to share his rules and teachings with people on Earth.
These various teachings and rules have been codified into books which followers of the religion have to study and learn. Often under threat of being hit by a Nun with a ruler. Although that might just be a Catholic thing.
So if I want to explain to you what Judaism, Christianity or Islam are about I can simply give you a copy of the book and tell you to read. Or I'll hit you with a ruler.
Animist religions do not have a single god and a codified version of his rules and teachings.
Instead they are based on an amalgamation of the written teachings of various philosophers. Confucius probably being the most famous and significant. These written teachings are combined with philosophies passed down through the unwritten oral tradition.
Particularly when it comes to the unwritten teachings there can a very wide variety of belief systems. The largest of the animist religions is Buddhism. However even describing Buddhism as Buddhism significantly down plays the variety of teachings and beliefs its followers subscribe to.
To make matters even more complicated many of the variations are defined by geographic location. As determined by human migration patterns in a time when walking or riding on horseback were the only ways to travel.
The central belief of animist religions though is not a particularly controversial one. It is that we physically exist. We exist within a physical world which also exists.
Both we as humans and the natural environment we exist in are made up of core elements. There is some differences over exactly how many of these elements there are and what they are. However the all exist in unity with each other.
The objective of life is to keep these essential elements in balance with each other. Both within ourselves an within our physical environment.
As a result circles - as an unbroken line - are very big within the imagery of animist religions. For example many Buddhists particularly Indian Buddhists write their prayers in the form of a wheel or cylinder. Some Hindus also use this tradition.
Probably the most famous animist symbol is the Taoist "Yin,Yang." This is unbroken circle containing the negative/positive, light/dark forces in perfect balance.
It is perhaps easier to understand animist religions if you first understand the Druze religion. This is particularly popular in the middle-east in nations such as Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
However I do remember recently saying something like; "The Druze religion is much easier to understand if you first understand the Unified Field Theory of Quantum Physics."
The human story of how families were divided by the partition of Korea at the end of the Second World War is much easier to understand.
Being near universal it is almost exactly the same as the story of how Syrian and Israel Druze families were divided by the partition of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day War.
While I was writing the above in technically the very early hours of this morning Israel and Syrian were examining these similarities amongst themselves.
Israel claims that a Syrian drone - like the ones which featured heavily in the Opening Ceremony - crossed into the Israel occupied Golan Heights. After shooting down the drone Israel then responded by conducting airstrikes within Syria.
With the two nations technically still being at war this is a common thing for Israel to do. However on this occasion Syrian air defences shot down one of the F-16 jets badly injuring one of the aircrew. This set off air raid sirens and dumped wreckage across not only the Golan Heights but also Jordan.
With Indian Hindus, Pakistani Muslims and Chinese atheists now all seeming to get involved things have escalated rapidly. To the point I may have to forget about this to deal with that directly. Although I'm not sure how much if any of that I could actually publish on the Internet.
I'm just grateful Vietnamese Hmongs have yet to get involved. After all we've clearly got to save them for the Para-Olympics.
Beyond the physical dimension in which we exist animists believe that there are many other dimensions. Certainly particularly spiritual beings can travel between these dimensions.
This notion of spiritual beings or gods travelling between dimensions has given rise to a number of what are termed; "Creation Myths."
However I should point out that they're described as myths not because they aren't believed. It's because they exist as part of the mythological oral tradition similar to Roman Mythology or Greek Mythology.
So there is no God writing ten rules on tablets of stone and then handing them to Moses atop of Mount Sinai. Instead the stories are slightly different depending on who you ask, when you ask them and why you are asking them.
According to Wikipedia there are four main Korean Creation Myths; Changsega, Cheonjiwang Bonpuri, Magohalmi and Sirumal.
Between 57 B.C and 668 A.D there were the Three Kingdoms of Korea; Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo. They all followed slightly different animist religions and slightly different creation myths.
Through an alliance with Chinese Tang dynasty the Kingdom of Silla joined the three kingdoms under the Silla belief system.
I gather this included the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth. However I am not happy to be quoted on the details of any of this and apologise if I have made a mistake and caused offence.
With the Three Kingdoms joined as one the Chinese Tang dynasty was expelled in roughly 676 A.D. This created really the first example of a unified Korea.
In 698 A.D this unified Korea under the leadership of former Goguryeo General Dae Joyeong expanded into an area which includes what are now the Chinese cities of Changchun, Jiamusi and even the Russian city of Khabarovsk. Dae Joyeong named this area; "Balhae."
Falling under Soviet control at the end of the Second World War the new northern kingdom of the Korean Peninsula - the DPRK - banned religion and became aggressively atheist.
However religion is a powerful thing that it is almost impossible to ban completely.
So in order to sate the public's religious impulses and consolidate their power the North Korean government of Kim Il-sung invented a new creation myth built around the ruling Kim family.
Particularly around the Mount Paektu Bloodline. Of which Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong are all part.
Despite his death in 1994 Kim Il-sung is still considered the President of the DPRK. Rather like Sobyeolwang (Small Star King) is considered the eternal ruler of the human dimension in the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth.
The list of things that Kim Il-Sung created include the sun, the entire earth and the weather.
Although I am trying to be polite is hard to describe the Mount Paektu Bloodline creation myth without it sounding like I'm mocking North Korea. Which is probably why the South Koreans have chosen creation myths as such a big theme of the Opening Ceremony.
The North Korean people aren't being allowed to watch this.
16:50 on 10/2/18 (UK date).
Thursday, 8 February 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Security Pt.2.
Obviously this picks up from Part 1; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-security.html
The 2018 Winter Olympics pick up the baton from the 2014 Winter Olympics which were held in Sochi, Russia.
Those games were marred by just appalling levels of Islamist violence.
That violence stemmed from a meeting held in Moscow, Russia in August 2013. This saw the then head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency Prince Bandar bin Sultan meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prince Bandar's message to President Putin was quite clear. Russia must stop opposing the Saudi backed terrorist groups which have become known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Army of Conquest/Jaish al-Fatah (JAF). Otherwise Saudi Arabia will use those groups to conduct terrorist attacks against the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In December 2013 - less then two months before the 2014 games - Prince Bandar followed through on his threat.
On December 29th 2013 (29/12/13) 34 Russian civilians were murdered in twin Islamist suicide bombings in the city of Volgograd. For the 2014 games Volgograd was the main transit hub. Visitors would fly into Volgograd and then travel by road or train to Sochi.
The 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany were attacked by the Muslim but not Islamist Black September group. Following Israel's response; "Operation: Wrath of God" this went extremely badly for Black September along with Palestinian waiters who were unlucky enough to be classed as collateral damage.
So in response to the Volgograd bombings global intelligence agencies united to stop Saudi Arabia conducting terror attacks against the 2014 Winter Olympics. From the way that corpses kept mysterious appearing in cars loaded with weapons it was clear that spy agencies who are normally rivals were sharing intelligence in a unified effort.
Then US President Barack Obama however felt the need to apologise to Saudi Arabia for stopping them murdering people at the 2013 games.
The first part of this apology was to hijack the gay-rights issue to whip up opposition to Russian President Putin personally. In doing this Obama turned calls for gay-rights into a western conspiracy against Russia legitimising homophobic attitudes. Obama really let us see his true colours there.
The second part of Obama's apology was to back a coalition of actual Word War 2 Nazis and Islamists to overthrow the government of Ukraine, The Russian city of Sochi is almost directly bordered by Ukraine. This plunged a nation on Russia's border into a civil war that continues to this day.
Despite it being the result of his actions Obama used this civil war to impose the sanctions on Russia that he'd long wanted to impose as a way to support ISIL and the Army of Conquest.
Obama also used the civil war in Ukraine to start anti-Russian conspiracy theories in the US. He then attempted to use those conspiracy theories to rig the 2016 US Presidential election in favour of his designated successor Hillary Clinton.
This was done primarily but setting up a dedicated unit of the FBI answering directly to Obama with the task of removing criticism of Hillary Clinton from social media. Under the guise of guarding against foreign (Russian) interference in the election.
This will likely be a big talking point at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In 2012 outgoing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak tried to rig the election in favour of his designated successor Park Guen-hye.
This was done primarily through the South Korean equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - setting up a special unit answering directly to Lee Myung-bak with the task of removing criticism of Park Guen-hye from social media. This too was done under the guise of guarding against foreign (North Korean) interference in the election.
Having been impeached just before the 2016 US Presidential Election Park Guen-hye is currently in prison.
I gather that through a coin toss the US Olympic team are already discussing what an absolute shithole Obama turned their country into. However from the latest developments in the associated Lee Jae-yong case I also gather that absolutely no-one is impressed by Mike Pence.
Obama's elaborate two-part apology however was not sufficient for the Islamic Kingdom of Malaysia.
Midway between the Winter Olympics and the Winter Para-Olympics Malaysia Airlines crashed their flight MH370 in mysterious circumstances with the loss of 239 lives. Flight MH370 has still not been recovered.
Although this did not effect the 2014 games directly it certainly cast a dark pall over them. Not least by generating massive tensions between Malaysia and all the nations who lost citizens aboard the flight - predominately longterm ISIL/JAF opponent China - along with all the nations the flight may have flown over or crashed near to.
The Islamist violence at the 2014 Winter Olympics was directed at Russia rather than the Olympics themselves.
Since then International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved to completely appease those responsible for the violence.
Russia was partially banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics and totally banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics. Although clearly done as a security measure officially this is because of accusations of Russian cheating.
Russia recently took those allegations to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS). The Court found them to be baseless and the IOC's actions to be unlawful.
This prompted the head of the IOC who can reasonably be described as Abu Sayyaf to scream something about Sharia Law being the only law and declare the unlawful ban would stand. Causing CAS to adjourn further Russian legal challenges.
This too all happened during Sunday (4/2/18) Super Bowl.
Following the 2018 Winter Olympics Saudi Arabia has undergone something of a change of direction. Prince Bandar was almost immediately fired from his role as head of the nation's intelligence agency. In June 2017 Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman effectively became ruler of Saudi Arabia. In November 2017 he briefly imprisoned Prince Bandar.
Therefore while still far more significant then the threat from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) the Islamist threat to the 2018 Winter Olympics remains low. Certainly much lower then to the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The main cause for concern remains Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He obviously supported Saudi Arabia's attempts to attack the 2014 Winter Olympics. While Saudi Arabia was firing and imprisoning Prince Bandar Erdogan has been shooting down Russian jets and murdering Russian Ambassadors.
Erdogan also aggressively supported Obama's efforts to plunge Ukraine into civil war.
One particular element of the Army of Conquest that Erdogan backs in Syria is the Sultan Mehmed Brigade. They take their name from Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II known as; "Mehmed the Conqueror."
One of the places Mehmed the Conqueror conquered was Ukraine. To this day there remains an ethnically Turkish population in Ukraine known as; "Tartars." They have significantly assisted in attempting to ethnically cleanse Ukraine of its Russian speaking population. Not least in a wave of terror attacks against the power grid in the winter of 2015/16.
Emboldened by the IOC's policy of appeasement Erdogan used the 2016 Summer Olympics as opportunity to formally invade and illegally occupy an area of northern Syrian known as; "Garvaghy Road."
The purpose of Erdogan's invasion to prevent the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) cutting ISIL and the Army of Conquest's supply lines with Turkey.
On January 20th 2018 (20/1/18) Erdogan went one step further. He sent regular Turkish forces to attack the SDF directly in an area under their control known as; "Afrin Canton." This sits directly to the west of Garvaghy Road. Erdogan's ultimate objective is to permanently and illegally occupy Afrin Canton alongside Garvaghy Road.
However this operation was launched really because Erdogan lost a bet with Russia.
Erdogan gambled that the threat to attack Russian forces stationed in Afrin Canton would be enough to force Russia to pressure Syria into ending a highly successful operation against Army of Conquest forces in an area known as; "The Sudetenland." This sits directly south of Afrin Canton.
This obviously did not work. Despite Erdogan's attacks on the SDF the Syrian offensive has continued.
As I've been doing the Super Bowl and now this I do not have the exact current Turkish deathtoll in Afrin Canton to hand. However after just two weeks it is fast approaching the total of 72 killed in the five month operation in Garvaghy Road. As such if it hasn't done so already it is likely to soon dawn on Erdogan the unsustainability of his forces occupying Afrin Canton longterm.
Meanwhile Syrian successes against Erdogan backed forces in the Sudetenland have if anything increased in pace.
On January 29th 2018 (29/1/18) ISIL and the Army of Conquest announced they were launching a joint offensive against Syrian forces at the town of Saraqib. They promised this offensive would be; "Epic."
I took my eye off this for a single day. By January 31st (31/1/18) I could find no indication of this offensive.
It seems that in the space of just 24 hours this offensive had not only collapsed but ISIL and the Army of Conquest's lines around Saraqib had completely collapsed allowing the Syrians to rapidly liberate a large amount of territory.
Amid these twin pressures Erdogan has become increasingly aggressive.
On February 3rd (3/2/18) he instructed fighters from the Al Qaeda element of the Army of Conquest to shoot down a Russian jet using a MAN Portable Air Defence (MANPAD) missile which he'd supplied. The thinking being that this would intimidate Russia into at least suspending air operations.
This backfired on Erdogan spectacularly with Russia intensifying air operations. After all unlike the IOC they know the only way to deal with a bully is to break his nose.
Having again gambled and lost Erdogan has once again been ratcheting up false claims of Chemical Weapons use by the Syrians- particularly around Saraqib. The hope being the international community - as it did under Obama - will respond by pretending it can't see the obvious lie and demand a ceasefire to protect Al Qaeda.
This is highly unlikely to succeed raising the risk that Erdogan will again attempt to escalate and do something extremely stupid during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
At around 18:15 on 8/2/18 (UK date) I will have to attempt to explore his possible options after dinner. As my body already seems to be adjusting to South Korean time.
Edited at around 20:00 on 8/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Due to the pressure of time I do not think that Erdogan will be able to mount a terror attack against the games themselves.
Saudi Arabia's attacks on the 2014 Winter Olympics were more then a year in the planning. Plus the RoK has a much smaller Muslim population then Russia from which Erdogan can draw recruits.
Therefore I think Erdogan would be limited to something like Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Something which doesn't directly affect games competitors but does cast a significant shadow over the games by targeting the competing nation - making already short tempers even shorter.
The games are of course being held on the Korean Peninsula. This has been central for former US President Obama's; "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy. This aimed to contain China using a two-track process.
The security track focused on helping the DPRK develop its nuclear weapons and missile program. The intention being to allow the US to present itself as the only ones who could protect nations in the region from the bogeyman.
The economic track focused on opening trading relationships between the US and nations in the region who really should remain isolated by international sanctions. The most extreme example of this is Myanmar/Burma.
Erdogan fancies himself not only as a regional power but as a global power on a level with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC). As a result he has used Myanmar as a way to muscle in on discussions about the DPRK.
Erdogan has done this by establishing an Islamist terror group within Myanmar calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). They then attacked Burmese security forces triggering a crackdown. Erdogan has then attempted to portray this security crackdown as an ethnic cleansing targeting Myanmar's minority Rohingya Muslim population.
Therefore Erdogan certainly has the capability to use ARSA to launch further attacks in Myanmar. The hope being to trigger another security crackdown and derail complex negotiations on the issue amid frenzied claims of genocide.
The media within Myanmar is very strictly controlled. Therefore it is likely that only a select group of people with the highest security clearances will get to hear about any further violence there. That is actually worse for the Olympics because its very hard to hold a group discussion when most of the group doesn't know what is being discussed.
Erdogan certainly has the capacity to conduct terror attacks in Syria and Iraq. However because he has been doing that for nearly 8 years everyone has become rather immune to violence there. I myself no longer attempt to list all the violent incidents - merely prioritise the most important ones.
As such to be noticed Erdogan would have to do something like a big - Nerve Agent - Chemical Weapons attacks similar to the ones he carried out in East Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shiekhoun in 2017.
The Khan Shiekhoun attack in particular seemed to originate in claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un used the nerve agent VX to kill his brother Kim Jong-nam at an airport in Malaysia. Therefore a nerve agent attack in particularly Syria is likely to be highly disruptive during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Erdogan may also attempt to disrupt the games with a conventional terror attack in a nation with lower levels of violence.
Therefore we could well see a repeat of the November 2015 Paris Massacres, the July 2016 Nice attack or the December 2016 Berlin attack. This is a long list.
In terms of access Erdogan is best placed to mount an attack in Egypt.
Due to its role in the Ottoman Empire Erdogan has been conducting attacks there for almost at long as he's been conducting attacks in Syria.
The Easter 2017 attacks on Christian Churches along with the December 2017 attacks on Christian Churches are just some examples. As is the November 2017 attacks on Mosque.
That in particular shows how this type of attacks can disrupt sporting events. The following day Egyptian footballer Mo Saleh scored for Liverpool against his old club Chelsea. He did not celebrate which led to him being condemned by some Liverpool fans for not celebrating a goal against his old club.
Then some other Liverpool fans pointed he'd just seen 305 of his countrymen murdered. He was not in a celebratory mood.
On October 31st 2015 (31/10/15) the Russian passenger jet Metrojet flight 7K9268 was bombed out of the skies over Egypt murdering 217 people.
Due to the similarity with Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and the November 29th 1987 (29/11/87) bombing of Korean Air flight 858 the bombing or shooting down with a MANPAD of a civilian airliner is also a distinct possibility.
So it is likely I spend these games remaining focused on particularly Syria.
After all that's where any security threats are going to start.
20:40 on 8/2/18 (UK date).
The 2018 Winter Olympics pick up the baton from the 2014 Winter Olympics which were held in Sochi, Russia.
Those games were marred by just appalling levels of Islamist violence.
That violence stemmed from a meeting held in Moscow, Russia in August 2013. This saw the then head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency Prince Bandar bin Sultan meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prince Bandar's message to President Putin was quite clear. Russia must stop opposing the Saudi backed terrorist groups which have become known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Army of Conquest/Jaish al-Fatah (JAF). Otherwise Saudi Arabia will use those groups to conduct terrorist attacks against the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In December 2013 - less then two months before the 2014 games - Prince Bandar followed through on his threat.
On December 29th 2013 (29/12/13) 34 Russian civilians were murdered in twin Islamist suicide bombings in the city of Volgograd. For the 2014 games Volgograd was the main transit hub. Visitors would fly into Volgograd and then travel by road or train to Sochi.
The 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany were attacked by the Muslim but not Islamist Black September group. Following Israel's response; "Operation: Wrath of God" this went extremely badly for Black September along with Palestinian waiters who were unlucky enough to be classed as collateral damage.
So in response to the Volgograd bombings global intelligence agencies united to stop Saudi Arabia conducting terror attacks against the 2014 Winter Olympics. From the way that corpses kept mysterious appearing in cars loaded with weapons it was clear that spy agencies who are normally rivals were sharing intelligence in a unified effort.
Then US President Barack Obama however felt the need to apologise to Saudi Arabia for stopping them murdering people at the 2013 games.
The first part of this apology was to hijack the gay-rights issue to whip up opposition to Russian President Putin personally. In doing this Obama turned calls for gay-rights into a western conspiracy against Russia legitimising homophobic attitudes. Obama really let us see his true colours there.
The second part of Obama's apology was to back a coalition of actual Word War 2 Nazis and Islamists to overthrow the government of Ukraine, The Russian city of Sochi is almost directly bordered by Ukraine. This plunged a nation on Russia's border into a civil war that continues to this day.
Despite it being the result of his actions Obama used this civil war to impose the sanctions on Russia that he'd long wanted to impose as a way to support ISIL and the Army of Conquest.
Obama also used the civil war in Ukraine to start anti-Russian conspiracy theories in the US. He then attempted to use those conspiracy theories to rig the 2016 US Presidential election in favour of his designated successor Hillary Clinton.
This was done primarily but setting up a dedicated unit of the FBI answering directly to Obama with the task of removing criticism of Hillary Clinton from social media. Under the guise of guarding against foreign (Russian) interference in the election.
This will likely be a big talking point at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In 2012 outgoing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak tried to rig the election in favour of his designated successor Park Guen-hye.
This was done primarily through the South Korean equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - setting up a special unit answering directly to Lee Myung-bak with the task of removing criticism of Park Guen-hye from social media. This too was done under the guise of guarding against foreign (North Korean) interference in the election.
Having been impeached just before the 2016 US Presidential Election Park Guen-hye is currently in prison.
I gather that through a coin toss the US Olympic team are already discussing what an absolute shithole Obama turned their country into. However from the latest developments in the associated Lee Jae-yong case I also gather that absolutely no-one is impressed by Mike Pence.
Obama's elaborate two-part apology however was not sufficient for the Islamic Kingdom of Malaysia.
Midway between the Winter Olympics and the Winter Para-Olympics Malaysia Airlines crashed their flight MH370 in mysterious circumstances with the loss of 239 lives. Flight MH370 has still not been recovered.
Although this did not effect the 2014 games directly it certainly cast a dark pall over them. Not least by generating massive tensions between Malaysia and all the nations who lost citizens aboard the flight - predominately longterm ISIL/JAF opponent China - along with all the nations the flight may have flown over or crashed near to.
The Islamist violence at the 2014 Winter Olympics was directed at Russia rather than the Olympics themselves.
Since then International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved to completely appease those responsible for the violence.
Russia was partially banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics and totally banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics. Although clearly done as a security measure officially this is because of accusations of Russian cheating.
Russia recently took those allegations to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS). The Court found them to be baseless and the IOC's actions to be unlawful.
This prompted the head of the IOC who can reasonably be described as Abu Sayyaf to scream something about Sharia Law being the only law and declare the unlawful ban would stand. Causing CAS to adjourn further Russian legal challenges.
This too all happened during Sunday (4/2/18) Super Bowl.
Following the 2018 Winter Olympics Saudi Arabia has undergone something of a change of direction. Prince Bandar was almost immediately fired from his role as head of the nation's intelligence agency. In June 2017 Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman effectively became ruler of Saudi Arabia. In November 2017 he briefly imprisoned Prince Bandar.
Therefore while still far more significant then the threat from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) the Islamist threat to the 2018 Winter Olympics remains low. Certainly much lower then to the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The main cause for concern remains Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He obviously supported Saudi Arabia's attempts to attack the 2014 Winter Olympics. While Saudi Arabia was firing and imprisoning Prince Bandar Erdogan has been shooting down Russian jets and murdering Russian Ambassadors.
Erdogan also aggressively supported Obama's efforts to plunge Ukraine into civil war.
One particular element of the Army of Conquest that Erdogan backs in Syria is the Sultan Mehmed Brigade. They take their name from Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II known as; "Mehmed the Conqueror."
One of the places Mehmed the Conqueror conquered was Ukraine. To this day there remains an ethnically Turkish population in Ukraine known as; "Tartars." They have significantly assisted in attempting to ethnically cleanse Ukraine of its Russian speaking population. Not least in a wave of terror attacks against the power grid in the winter of 2015/16.
Emboldened by the IOC's policy of appeasement Erdogan used the 2016 Summer Olympics as opportunity to formally invade and illegally occupy an area of northern Syrian known as; "Garvaghy Road."
The purpose of Erdogan's invasion to prevent the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) cutting ISIL and the Army of Conquest's supply lines with Turkey.
On January 20th 2018 (20/1/18) Erdogan went one step further. He sent regular Turkish forces to attack the SDF directly in an area under their control known as; "Afrin Canton." This sits directly to the west of Garvaghy Road. Erdogan's ultimate objective is to permanently and illegally occupy Afrin Canton alongside Garvaghy Road.
However this operation was launched really because Erdogan lost a bet with Russia.
Erdogan gambled that the threat to attack Russian forces stationed in Afrin Canton would be enough to force Russia to pressure Syria into ending a highly successful operation against Army of Conquest forces in an area known as; "The Sudetenland." This sits directly south of Afrin Canton.
This obviously did not work. Despite Erdogan's attacks on the SDF the Syrian offensive has continued.
As I've been doing the Super Bowl and now this I do not have the exact current Turkish deathtoll in Afrin Canton to hand. However after just two weeks it is fast approaching the total of 72 killed in the five month operation in Garvaghy Road. As such if it hasn't done so already it is likely to soon dawn on Erdogan the unsustainability of his forces occupying Afrin Canton longterm.
Meanwhile Syrian successes against Erdogan backed forces in the Sudetenland have if anything increased in pace.
On January 29th 2018 (29/1/18) ISIL and the Army of Conquest announced they were launching a joint offensive against Syrian forces at the town of Saraqib. They promised this offensive would be; "Epic."
I took my eye off this for a single day. By January 31st (31/1/18) I could find no indication of this offensive.
It seems that in the space of just 24 hours this offensive had not only collapsed but ISIL and the Army of Conquest's lines around Saraqib had completely collapsed allowing the Syrians to rapidly liberate a large amount of territory.
Amid these twin pressures Erdogan has become increasingly aggressive.
On February 3rd (3/2/18) he instructed fighters from the Al Qaeda element of the Army of Conquest to shoot down a Russian jet using a MAN Portable Air Defence (MANPAD) missile which he'd supplied. The thinking being that this would intimidate Russia into at least suspending air operations.
This backfired on Erdogan spectacularly with Russia intensifying air operations. After all unlike the IOC they know the only way to deal with a bully is to break his nose.
Having again gambled and lost Erdogan has once again been ratcheting up false claims of Chemical Weapons use by the Syrians- particularly around Saraqib. The hope being the international community - as it did under Obama - will respond by pretending it can't see the obvious lie and demand a ceasefire to protect Al Qaeda.
This is highly unlikely to succeed raising the risk that Erdogan will again attempt to escalate and do something extremely stupid during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
At around 18:15 on 8/2/18 (UK date) I will have to attempt to explore his possible options after dinner. As my body already seems to be adjusting to South Korean time.
Edited at around 20:00 on 8/2/18 (UK date) to add;
Due to the pressure of time I do not think that Erdogan will be able to mount a terror attack against the games themselves.
Saudi Arabia's attacks on the 2014 Winter Olympics were more then a year in the planning. Plus the RoK has a much smaller Muslim population then Russia from which Erdogan can draw recruits.
Therefore I think Erdogan would be limited to something like Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Something which doesn't directly affect games competitors but does cast a significant shadow over the games by targeting the competing nation - making already short tempers even shorter.
The games are of course being held on the Korean Peninsula. This has been central for former US President Obama's; "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy. This aimed to contain China using a two-track process.
The security track focused on helping the DPRK develop its nuclear weapons and missile program. The intention being to allow the US to present itself as the only ones who could protect nations in the region from the bogeyman.
The economic track focused on opening trading relationships between the US and nations in the region who really should remain isolated by international sanctions. The most extreme example of this is Myanmar/Burma.
Erdogan fancies himself not only as a regional power but as a global power on a level with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC). As a result he has used Myanmar as a way to muscle in on discussions about the DPRK.
Erdogan has done this by establishing an Islamist terror group within Myanmar calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). They then attacked Burmese security forces triggering a crackdown. Erdogan has then attempted to portray this security crackdown as an ethnic cleansing targeting Myanmar's minority Rohingya Muslim population.
Therefore Erdogan certainly has the capability to use ARSA to launch further attacks in Myanmar. The hope being to trigger another security crackdown and derail complex negotiations on the issue amid frenzied claims of genocide.
The media within Myanmar is very strictly controlled. Therefore it is likely that only a select group of people with the highest security clearances will get to hear about any further violence there. That is actually worse for the Olympics because its very hard to hold a group discussion when most of the group doesn't know what is being discussed.
Erdogan certainly has the capacity to conduct terror attacks in Syria and Iraq. However because he has been doing that for nearly 8 years everyone has become rather immune to violence there. I myself no longer attempt to list all the violent incidents - merely prioritise the most important ones.
As such to be noticed Erdogan would have to do something like a big - Nerve Agent - Chemical Weapons attacks similar to the ones he carried out in East Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shiekhoun in 2017.
The Khan Shiekhoun attack in particular seemed to originate in claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un used the nerve agent VX to kill his brother Kim Jong-nam at an airport in Malaysia. Therefore a nerve agent attack in particularly Syria is likely to be highly disruptive during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Erdogan may also attempt to disrupt the games with a conventional terror attack in a nation with lower levels of violence.
Therefore we could well see a repeat of the November 2015 Paris Massacres, the July 2016 Nice attack or the December 2016 Berlin attack. This is a long list.
In terms of access Erdogan is best placed to mount an attack in Egypt.
Due to its role in the Ottoman Empire Erdogan has been conducting attacks there for almost at long as he's been conducting attacks in Syria.
The Easter 2017 attacks on Christian Churches along with the December 2017 attacks on Christian Churches are just some examples. As is the November 2017 attacks on Mosque.
That in particular shows how this type of attacks can disrupt sporting events. The following day Egyptian footballer Mo Saleh scored for Liverpool against his old club Chelsea. He did not celebrate which led to him being condemned by some Liverpool fans for not celebrating a goal against his old club.
Then some other Liverpool fans pointed he'd just seen 305 of his countrymen murdered. He was not in a celebratory mood.
On October 31st 2015 (31/10/15) the Russian passenger jet Metrojet flight 7K9268 was bombed out of the skies over Egypt murdering 217 people.
Due to the similarity with Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and the November 29th 1987 (29/11/87) bombing of Korean Air flight 858 the bombing or shooting down with a MANPAD of a civilian airliner is also a distinct possibility.
So it is likely I spend these games remaining focused on particularly Syria.
After all that's where any security threats are going to start.
20:40 on 8/2/18 (UK date).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
