"Since the non-events in North Korea seem to require some academic or historical context, I've been quoted these last few days in Le Monde, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. As my colleagues in the Leeds University School of History assured me today at a weekend undergraduate recruiting event, this is all great, because it's not every day the media takes an interest in one's work. Huzzahs all around!
Yet, being at least slightly aware of the compromises and inevitable oversimplifications this activity entails, I must dwell on the darker side of the phenomenon that now faces me — and my colleagues in the field: The danger exists of developing a case of 'North Korea commentitis.'
Since commentary and social media discussion among university scholars, think tank members, and ex-diplomats on the Kim Jong-un disappearance seems to be moving quickly to stage 2 (cannibalism), colleagues in the field may wish to have a working definition, so as to avoid this condition."
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