 |
| An accurate summary |
A lot of my thoughts about North Korea are conveniently contained within a Huffington Post article titled '20 Things I Learned While I Was in North Korea'. I'd recommend taking the time to read it. Not all of the 20 points I agree with or experienced, but here are the ones that are most relevant to my visit to North Korea:
The leaders are a really big fucking [sic] deal there
Everywhere you go, you are reminded about the wonderful and godlike Kim dynasty. Impressive statues are everywhere, depicting the leaders in a range of heroic poses. It seemed like most people we met wore a lapel badge showing either the first leader or the two deceased leaders together. When we took photos of statues, we had to abide by strict rules of propriety or risk having our memory cards deleted. If we touched a newspaper which had the image of the current leader on the front page (all newspapers have an image on the front page), we had to be careful not to fold the paper over his image. Some countries have religion, North Korea has the Kims. Perhaps that is why the country is so petrified of religion taking hold - the Kims may lose their grip.
Everyone lies about everything all the time
We were fed bullshit from beginning to end. The guides have obviously received constant indoctrination and I think many of them actually do believe the crap they passed onto us. Other people showed signs that they knew their whole existence was basically to live and propagate the lie. When we stayed near the DMZ in the Folk Hotel, members of my group (some with military experience) heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire in the distance - according to the guides, it was the sound of hammers.
Most visitors to the country are forced to stay in the same hotel in Pyongyang
This is partially true - most tourists do stay in the Yanggakto Hotel as it is the best Pyongyang has to offer. However, we stayed in the Ryanggang Hotel and many other groups stay in different accommodation. One thing all the hotels have in common is that they are either isolated or surrounded by high walls to prevent anyone wandering off.
Propaganda is absolutely everywhere
True. Everywhere. Lapel badges, statues, newspapers, museums, TV. The thing that started to annoy me the most was the constant martial music. However, by the end of the trip, I had developed the ability to filter it out.
It's not cool to call North Korea "North Korea"
They prefer the DPRK although the people I met didn't take too much offence when I referred to the country as North Korea.
The same physical place can be fancy and shitty at the same time
This is absolutely correct. I'll quote directly from the Huffington Post on this point.
Simultaneous fancy shittiness happens when a poor country tries to act like things are going fantastically. So there will be a gorgeous museum with huge chandeliers and polished marble floors, but the water won't be running in the bathroom. Or a high-end restaurant with upscale decor that's also sweltering hot because the air conditioning isn't working.
We stayed in some nice hotels. However, in one hotel outside Pyongyang, lack of hot water was not an issue. We didn't have any water at all. In the Folk Hotel, my room was fine, but there was a fire in the next room.
North Koreans still talk about the Korean War constantly
True. It is mentioned at least every 10 minutes or so. As I said in a previous post, I believe the threat of another war is a useful tool to cow the population in obedience.
It's best to just not bring up the huge rocket hotel in the middle of Pyongyang
This unfinished hotel is a behemoth - massive and totally out of place amongst the other shabby Pyongyang buildings. In recent years it has been glazed, but is apparently still just a shell. In order to avoid blaming the North Korean government for the lack of funds to complete the hotel, on our tour, the Egyptians were blamed.
Kim Jong-Il used a MacBook Pro
Yes, this seems correct. We saw the carriage where the former leader died after suffering a heart attack, and sure enough, there was a MacBook on his desk. Because I used a MacBook Air, I seemed to score brownie points from some of our guides.
It turns out there is a place in the world that will make you enter China and think, "Thank god for this land of boundless freedom!"
I didn't realise what effect North Korea was having on me. Visiting the country for 1 week is probably as much as anyone could feel comfortable with. When we rejoined the real world in Beijing, I was surprised to find just how relieved I was.
A fascinating trip. I feel privileged to have been able to see North Korea with my own eyes and to understand the situation a bit better. I feel sorry for the people who continue to suffer out of sight of the rest of the world. I was also lucky to meet such a great crowd of travelling companions, people who I am sure will remain friends long into the future. And with this post, stories of my trip to North Korea, are at an end.
The important thing for me was to see that the average North Korean person is the same as everyone else around the world. They are on the whole friendly and just require the very basics of life - food, shelter, and safety. Like so many other people around the world, the North Koreans are abused and failed by their government.Everywhere you go, you are reminded about the wonderful and godlike Kim dynasty. Impressive statues are everywhere, depicting the leaders in a range of heroic poses. It seemed like most people we met wore a lapel badge showing either the first leader or the two deceased leaders together. When we took photos of statues, we had to abide by strict rules of propriety or risk having our memory cards deleted. If we touched a newspaper which had the image of the current leader on the front page (all newspapers have an image on the front page), we had to be careful not to fold the paper over his image. Some countries have religion, North Korea has the Kims. Perhaps that is why the country is so petrified of religion taking hold - the Kims may lose their grip.
Everyone lies about everything all the time
We were fed bullshit from beginning to end. The guides have obviously received constant indoctrination and I think many of them actually do believe the crap they passed onto us. Other people showed signs that they knew their whole existence was basically to live and propagate the lie. When we stayed near the DMZ in the Folk Hotel, members of my group (some with military experience) heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire in the distance - according to the guides, it was the sound of hammers.
Most visitors to the country are forced to stay in the same hotel in Pyongyang
This is partially true - most tourists do stay in the Yanggakto Hotel as it is the best Pyongyang has to offer. However, we stayed in the Ryanggang Hotel and many other groups stay in different accommodation. One thing all the hotels have in common is that they are either isolated or surrounded by high walls to prevent anyone wandering off.
Propaganda is absolutely everywhere
True. Everywhere. Lapel badges, statues, newspapers, museums, TV. The thing that started to annoy me the most was the constant martial music. However, by the end of the trip, I had developed the ability to filter it out.
It's not cool to call North Korea "North Korea"
They prefer the DPRK although the people I met didn't take too much offence when I referred to the country as North Korea.
The same physical place can be fancy and shitty at the same time
This is absolutely correct. I'll quote directly from the Huffington Post on this point.
Simultaneous fancy shittiness happens when a poor country tries to act like things are going fantastically. So there will be a gorgeous museum with huge chandeliers and polished marble floors, but the water won't be running in the bathroom. Or a high-end restaurant with upscale decor that's also sweltering hot because the air conditioning isn't working.
We stayed in some nice hotels. However, in one hotel outside Pyongyang, lack of hot water was not an issue. We didn't have any water at all. In the Folk Hotel, my room was fine, but there was a fire in the next room.
North Koreans still talk about the Korean War constantly
True. It is mentioned at least every 10 minutes or so. As I said in a previous post, I believe the threat of another war is a useful tool to cow the population in obedience.
 |
| Ryugyong Hotel |
This unfinished hotel is a behemoth - massive and totally out of place amongst the other shabby Pyongyang buildings. In recent years it has been glazed, but is apparently still just a shell. In order to avoid blaming the North Korean government for the lack of funds to complete the hotel, on our tour, the Egyptians were blamed.
Kim Jong-Il used a MacBook Pro
Yes, this seems correct. We saw the carriage where the former leader died after suffering a heart attack, and sure enough, there was a MacBook on his desk. Because I used a MacBook Air, I seemed to score brownie points from some of our guides.
 |
| Funny |
I didn't realise what effect North Korea was having on me. Visiting the country for 1 week is probably as much as anyone could feel comfortable with. When we rejoined the real world in Beijing, I was surprised to find just how relieved I was.
A fascinating trip. I feel privileged to have been able to see North Korea with my own eyes and to understand the situation a bit better. I feel sorry for the people who continue to suffer out of sight of the rest of the world. I was also lucky to meet such a great crowd of travelling companions, people who I am sure will remain friends long into the future. And with this post, stories of my trip to North Korea, are at an end.
Many of the most interesting stories I have about the country cannot be posted online, so if you want to know more, you'll have to buy me a beer.
No comments:
Post a Comment