North Korean propaganda pretends to be Abraham Lincoln in open letter to Obama
The letter, titled "Advice from Lincoln to Obama" and written in the supposed voice of late President Abraham Lincoln, was posted in Korean on the website of the Hermit Kingdom's state publication DPRK Today. North Korea regularly publishes anti-American propaganda aimed at a domestic audience.
"Hey, Obama," it begins, according to The Associated Press. "I know you have a lot on your mind these days. ... I've decided to give you a little advice after seeing you lost in thought before my portrait during a recent Easter Prayer Breakfast."
The letter questioned why the US discourages nuclear proliferation without scaling back its own nuclear arsenal, according to the AP.
The fake Lincoln advised: "If the United States, a country with the world's largest nuclear weapons stockpile, only pays lip service, like a parrot, and doesn't do anything actively, it will be a mockery to the entire world."
It continued
The tactic by past American presidents, including me, who deceived the people ... is outdated. That doesn't work now. The world doesn't trust an America that doesn't take responsibility for what it says.
The letter further suggested that achieving a nuclear-free world might be impossible.
"You talked boastfully how you would try your best even though it may seem impossible to realize such a world in your term, but how much progress have you made so far?" the letter said, according to The Washington Post. "None. Instead of abolishing nuclear weapons, the US has modernized its nuclear arms and conducted the "B61-12' nuclear test in Nevada last year."
Fake Lincoln continued:
If you were going to make the world nuclear free, the process would have to begin in the US, where numerous nuclear weapons are deployed domestically and internationally. I said this once when I was alive, but I'll say this once more. The government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth. This is the truth.
Lately, North Korea has been provoking its enemies abroad by boasting about its supposed nuclear and ballistic-missile capabilities. Experts believe that North Korea exaggerates its capacity to launch nuclear attacks.