Talk:National Defence Commission of North Korea

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[edit] Please fix translation in infobox

The infobox below was copied from the old Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea page, which was merged into this page. I assume the Korean includes the word 'Chairman'. If someone who knows the language can fix it, it would help. Guanxi 03:46, 5 October 2007 (UTC)


National Defence Commission of North Korea
Chosŏn'gŭl 조선민주주의인민공화국 국방위원회 위원장
Hancha 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國國防委員會委員長
McCune-Reischauer Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk Kukpangwiwŏnhoe Wiwŏnjang
Revised Romanization Joseon Minjujuui Inmin Gonghwaguk Gukbangwiwonhoe Wiwonjang

[edit] Non-US English

The DPRK seems to be opposed to the hegemony of "yankee cultural imperialism" http://www.korea-dpr.com/users/jisge/database/db_articles.html so is it appropriate for this our article to be titled and written in the US variant of English?

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me could move it to it's correct title (as officially translated by the DPRK) of "National Defence Commission of North Korea" with a "c" instead of an "s"? Alice.S 03:25, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Since no more experienced editor has responded to the move request, I will now attempt to do this using the instructions here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_rename_%28move%29_a_page

Apologies in advance if I do something wrong!Alice.S 01:51, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia's general policy is that no one variety of English is preferred, so it's usually a bad idea to change American spellings to UK spellings (or vice versa). The convention is to let each article remain in the same standard form of English that it was originally written in, with a few exceptions. Imposing a generalized sense of anti-Americanism doesn't seem to me to be a very good reason at all (but maybe you meant that as a joke? Sorry if I missed it). If the North Korean government has an official spelling, that would indeed be a good reason to use it. However, the Juche Idea Study Group of England is not an agency of the NK government, and it's not at all surprising that a group in England would use UK spellings. In English-language articles on www.kcna.co.jp, I find both spellings. Please don't make further moves or edits to enforce one variety of English or another, except in the special cases described here: WP:ENGVAR. Thanks. --Reuben (talk) 23:05, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I referenced the English site only to give a reference to KIM IL SUNG'S "THE PATH OF THE KOREAN REVOLUTION" book talking about "yankee cultural imperialism" - not to imply that the English website had official approval (although it actually does). The "Great Leader" is not renowned for his sense of humour (in the West at least) but (being named in the DPRK's constitution as eternal president) he is about as official a source as it is possible to get that the DPRK OFFICIALLY uses non_US variants of English. Do you not think we should use the official translation of the constitution as a guide to the English language titles of DPRK organs, Reuben?
Or do you think that our article http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Constitution_of_North_Korea_%281972%29&oldid=450975#SECTION_2._THE_NATIONAL_DEFENCE_COMMISSION is just plain wrong? Alice.S 00:34, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
I see varied usage in various documents from the North Korean government, as for example in the news archive at www.kcna.co.jp. That a certain translation of the NK constitution appears on a government-sponsored site, naenara.net, does not necessarily mean that it's the official translation; it only tells us that NK government-sponsored sources sometimes use the "C" spelling. But there are equally official sources that use "S." As for the English site, I looked through the quotation from "The Path of the Korean Revolution," and I can't seem to find any official statements about official English-language spellings, or for that matter, any reference to "Yankee cultural imperialism." Could you please be more specific about what exactly in that site leads you to believe that there's an established official spelling? --Reuben (talk) 00:50, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
Before I do that, Reuben, would you kindly answer my question as to whether our Wikisource article http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Constitution_of_North_Korea_%281972%29&oldid=450975#SECTION_2._THE_NATIONAL_DEFENCE_COMMISSION is just plain wrong? Because if you concede that the Official English translation names it thus, then I think I can rest my case.
If you do think it wrong, why do you think that www.kcna.co.jp is more authoritative as to the title of this particular organ of state, when it it the Japanese news service of the DPRK and local (ie Japan- based translators tend to use their ex-occupier's spelling by routine)? Alice.S 02:09, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
When did I say the Wikisource article is wrong? It's a perfectly good translation that appeared on a North Korean government-sponsored site, and it is official only in that sense - no more, no less. It is directly comparable to the kcna.co.jp articles. As the one claiming that UK usage should be enforced, the burden is on you to show that one or the other is more authoritative. I have only noted that both spellings are used by official sources. I still have no idea what you were referring to with the "Yankee cultural imperialism" comments. It seems that you have been keen to impose UK English on other articles as well. I won't stand in your way; I have no desire to make such a change one way or the other. But I will suggest that such edits tend to give the appearance of a particular bias and agenda, which will not go unnoticed by other editors. I will let it stand with that, so you may have the last word. --Reuben (talk) 08:14, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
Thanks, Reuben, I'll take it: I have no particular desire that "UK usage should be enforced". There are many national variants of English that are non-US. I merely suggested that our article title have one letter changed to reflect the more prevalent sources (including our own articles) and the stated preference of the (dead but) eternal president (and thus, technically, still head) of the Commission. I thought I waited a decent interval (before I acted - 11 days) and then, more than a month later up you popped. As I made clear above, I'm just a newbie here and my only real agenda is that of most editors here, I hope, co-operating to make a better encyclopedia.
It's just been suggested on my talk page that there is some sort of "3rd opinion" procedure - do you know how that would work? Finally I agree that the status quo should obtain until there is a consensus for change; this was a very lonely place until you popped up so, welcome aboard and just revert me if you think that the letter "s" is better than the letter "c" in our article's title. Did I at least handle the technical parts of the renaming correctly?
PS: You might want to update your user page which is indicating that you are inactive... Alice.S 08:36, 29 November 2007 (UTC)