North Korea-China Fishing Incident: The Logical Fallacy of "Neither Admitted Nor Denied"

A commenter on Facebook recently cited a sensationalized headline published by a local partisan news outlet—“North Korean Patrol Boat Opens Fire! At Least 3 Dead Among 10 Chinese Vessels”—to reel off a righteous list of presumed “facts,” declaring that illegal Chinese fishers deserved punishment and that Beijing was covering up the tragedy.

When another forum member calmly pointed out the single salient truth—“There is zero official confirmation from either government”—the original commenter fired back aggressively: Well, they didn’t deny it either!

The Kindergarten Level of Internet Sophistry

This rhetorical gambit—treating the lack of a denial as positive proof of guilt—is an ancient logical fallacy (argumentum ad ignorantiam).

Under this infantile logic, anyone could accuse a stranger: “Do you deny having an IQ below 80?”

• If you say “No,” you confess to low intelligence.
• If you say “Yes,” you confirm it anyway.
• If you ignore the absurdity, you are accused of guilty silence.

This bizarre interrogation method mirrors the notorious cultural-revolution-era line used against political purges in historical show trials: “If you do not speak up, your silence is a confession of guilt!”

Why Would a Sovereign State Debunk Rumors from Foreign Tabloids?

Why on earth would the leadership of North Korea (DPRK) demean itself by issuing formal diplomatic denials every time a tabloid in Seoul or an ultra-partisan outlet in Taiwan manufactures an unsourced military skirmish?

For cynical netizens who derive dopamine solely from anti-China schadenfreude, factual accuracy is irrelevant. What matters is feeding their confirmation bias. A mature civic society requires media literacy: distinguishing verified investigative journalism from ungrounded political gossip.