I’d be happy to kiss a frog even if I don’t get a prince. I’ve always found frogs to be charming creatures. From fat, croaking toads to agile jumpers, these amphibians never fail to make me smile. Frogs can leap more than 20 feet, and some can even get you high. But I’ve got to say, my favorite is the fire-bellied toad. If its distinctive spots and badass name don’t make you appreciate it, its bright red underside will.
The coolest thing about the fire-bellied toad is how I first learned about it. Kim Yo-jung—the North Korean politician and diplomat—told me about the toads in a Q&A on social media. She’s not some boogeyman; she has a Facebook account. She’s patient when there’s good faith, and she was very polite both times I’ve asked her a question.
Western media depicts the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as backward and evil, but this is just a continuation of Cold War red scare propaganda. Media constantly uses language that undermines the DPRK’s perceived legitimacy. They call it North Korea and describe its political leaders as being in a “regime.” They leave out the words democratic and republic because those words don’t fit their narrative.
Western pundits intentionally mistranslate Korean whenever it suits them. Another way of saying “prime minister” is “supreme leader;” they use the latter because it sounds less democratic, despite meaning the same thing. They even make things up entirely. There’s no ban on hairstyles in the DPRK, though western media will run stories claiming that only eight hairstyles are allowed.
When I first asked Kim Yo-jung about creatures indigenous to Korea, I was expecting some kind of mammal—something large and intimidating. The fire-bellied toad symbolizes the DPRK better than any large aggressor. The toad shows its namesake off as a warning to potential threats; it’s not looking for a fight, but it will defend itself. While it’s not naturally poisonous, consuming bugs in the wild causes them to secrete poison; they are only dangerous because of their environment. That poison comes in handy: it wards away larger and scarier predators.
During the Korean War, NATO—led by the United States—invaded Korea and ended up splitting the country in half. Half of their country was taken and occupied by the USA. US troops have invaded and killed people in Korea, yet no DPRK soldier has ever stepped foot on American soil with the intent of killing someone.
NATO was not the first to invade Korea; the history of Korea is the history of being subjugated by larger powers. Until NATO interfered, Korea was almost unified. Japan had been kicked out a few years prior after several decades of occupation, and the Korean People’s Army (KPA) had surrounded the remaining South Korean troops. NATO invaded and cut off the KPA, forcing them to retreat across the 38th parallel. NATO still has troops in the Republic of Korea. South Korea is a neocolony under the control of larger Western countries.
Before I knew about the fire-bellied toad, my favorite frogs were Vietnamese mossy frogs. These little things are just stunning, truly a wonderful creation of nature. The mossy frogs are all threatened or endangered and would have fared worse if the US hadn’t been defeated in a war that destroyed animals and vegetation as well as the people of Vietnam. Understanding how Vietnam won its independence is crucial to understanding why the DPRK acts the way it does.
In his essay The Path that Led Me to Leninism, Ho Chi Minh posed a question to decide who he should align with. He asked, “Which International sides with the peoples of colonial countries?” to which he was told it was Lenin’s Third International. This would lead Ho to new allies and a new way of thinking. Marxist-Leninism guided him in starting the movement that would liberate Vietnam from both French and US occupation, although Ho himself would not live to see a free Vietnam.
All of Vietnam is liberated, so now there’s not much need for manufacturing hatred towards the Vietnamese. On the other hand, Korea is still split and NATO would love to control the entire peninsula. So, media in NATO countries present things to make their enemies look bad. They need a population willing to go to the other side of the planet just to kill people. And they need the rest of us, who aren’t so zealous, to just accept war whenever and wherever they want. Racism isn’t just slurs and personal discrimination; racism is also believing baseless accusations against entire races.
Simply not being racist isn’t enough, we must be actively anti-racist. Being opposed to racism means loudly denouncing what racists are doing—even when it loses you friends. It’s opposing colonization in any form it takes. It’s standing in solidarity with colonized people wherever they are. That’s why I became a Marxist-Leninist: because when somebody asks who stands with colonized people, I want to be in the group they point to.
Once you unlearn what you were taught about Korea and start to really understand it, you can see how much they’ve overcome. The DPRK has never brought criminal charges against one of its citizens for their gender or sexuality. It has gorgeous architecture and beautiful cityscapes. The subway system at Pyongyang station makes the New York Metro look like a garbage dump. Kim Jong-il is an excellent writer, and I highly recommend his book On the Juche Idea if you want to understand how they see the world and their method for interacting with it.
The more I learn about the DPRK, the more I admire them. They were occupied by China, then Japan, and then NATO. But despite their country’s small size, they managed to survive and hang on by adapting to their environment. The next time you hear something bad about “North Korea,” try to remember that opinion was manufactured. The next time you see a frog, remember that no matter how small you are, there’s always hope for you to persevere against the largest and most powerful enemies.
