North Korea and an open account

Kim Jong Un will "settle account with the United States" I’ve read in the Rheinische Post, a German newspaper. Link: http://www.RP-online.de/Politik/ausland/Kim-will-Rechnung-mit-den-USA-begleichen-1.3290915 or look at USA today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/29/north-korea-rocket/2030319/  

It may be the case that Kim Jong Un just tries to put North Korea better in scene. Even his father didn’t see need to appear so belligerent.

The place looked harmless as I had visited it

I’ve just tried to access the page of Rodong Sinmun, but could only get the message that the page cannot be opened. Is some kind of censorship working? If it is on the North Korean side, then they don’t even trust their own propaganda. If South Korea or the US blocked the page, North Korea has already lost the battle on the internet.


Although right now experts appease, one shouldn’t underestimate the risks, which may arise from bunker mentality. Out of North Korea could develop a scenario, that Stanley Kubrick warned against in his satirical movie "Dr. Strangelove or how I learned to love the bomb" (1964).

There's quite a lot on North Korea after a visit in fall 2011 on this blog. Please use the search function.

Poverty and Starvation

Do you see poverty and starvation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea? Yes and no.
If you look at articles on the internet or the press you’ll find accounts of people, who wanted to find starving people, but didn’t succeed. This fact does not necessarily mean that there isn’t, but that conditions to find such things aren’t optimal. If you look at full faced “starving” children in these articles, you look at propaganda. If you read about the accusation of cannibalism, you read propaganda. I think, we better leave propaganda to the Stalinist state.
Poverty stricken people in rags, which you are accustomed to from the poor countries of Africa, you don’t see them in North Korea. Actually you see properly clad people, you even see dandified kids visiting the Zoo (I know, you might argue that one only sees the children of the well doing cadre class). You don’t see beggars. You don’t see people starving at the next street corner. What you can see, however, is a society that is much slimmer than in the West, the US, or China. So people generally eat less than the overfed societies. This and the fact that people have to rely on walking and climbing stairs instead of car, public transport, or elevators, might even lead to the conclusion that the people of North Korea are healthier. Might be, might be not – if the well doing are slim, there might be even large numbers of people close to starving. Thought having travelled a couple of hundred kilometres through North Korea in 16 days, I wasn’t able to see these people. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t, it only means that one should be critical about revelations of certain reporters, who think that they can discover starvation on a four day trip.
You might see poverty in buildings that are unrendered like most of the buildings in the city of Haeju. Or in the fact that people have to climb stairs because there isn’t a working elevation due to the lack of electricity – 20th floor might not be funny. You might see poverty in the lack of public transport. You see railway tracks but no train. You drive on highways with hardly any traffic. You see traffic wardens regulating an amount of traffic that doesn’t need regulating – though these women simply look good (OT). You can’t speak freely to people and the people you may talk with like guides or interpreters, however open they are with foreigners, avoid certain topics. No access to the internet, controlled cell phone network. North Korea’s situation is perhaps best described as moving in a traffic circle at the end of a dead end street.

No wheels, no gas

If you got no wheels, gas doesn’t matter much. Normally there are no private cars in North Korea. “No wheels” also applies to bicycles. You might remember the big neighbour, China, during the eighties, when you could see millions of people cycling through the cities; not so in North Korea. You see people walking.
And you might see wood gas trucks. Have a look at the Wikipedia article, if you unfamiliar with the technology; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas. I had seen these cars only on pictures about the time of World War 2, but you can see nowadays in use in North Korea.
You might have seen gas stations on pictures. Yes, there are several in Pyongyang, but what of the rest of the country? Often it’s no gas. On my trip from Pyongyang to Kaesong, we had to carry a jerry can to make it back to Pyongyang as we were doing a planned detour to Haeju, a place I’m happy to have seen.
Not having a place in global network mean relying on own resources, but that’s what the Juche ideology is all about. The point is, how long will the people of North Korea accept: no wheels, no gas?

Wedding

North Korea

China

A wedding is a big event, in the East as in the West. But North Korea still has to catch up. I might tell that there are small openings in the bulwark against happiness and feasting.
In China wedding photography plays a great role. I show two pictures, which I have taken in Guangzhou (广州) two years ago. This year in Shenyang (沈阳) I’ve seen equally equipped wedding photography booths in the main shopping area.
North Korea doesn’t have this, or should I say doesn’t have this yet. I’ve at least two freshly married couples, who enjoyed themselves together with friends and who also did some photography. I’ve seen another couple in front of the botanic garden, but couldn’t take a photogtraph. You might wonder that you see lots of uniforms. Don’t forget that in North Korea young grown ups spend their life in the army. And they have never heard Status Quo “You’re in the army, now”.

The King is dead! Long live the King!

With Kim Jong Il dead question and speculation rises who will follow him. Most promising candidate is Kim Jong Un, in the West perhaps known as Brilliant Comrade, but then called by the honorific title of the Young Dear General and is now the Great Successor. His elder halfbrother Kim Jong Nam had fallen out of favour.




Wikipedia on Kim Jong Il: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il


Wikipedia on Kim Jong Un: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un  


Wikipedia on Kim Jong Nam:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-nam


The Guardian on the death of Kim Jong Il: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/kim-jong-il-north-korean-leader-dies?newsfeed=true  


Other/older entries on North Korea on my blog: http://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/search?q=north+korea+  


Since I've published this entry, I already have to edit it:
Reuters Reuters Top News: Deceased North Korea leader Kim's son Jong-un is called "Great Successor" by state news agency.

Pyongyang - restaurant in Amsterdam, Netherlands – a report on ZDF (German TV)

North Korea is not a country, whose regime is known for humanity, but it wouldn’t do good to any cause to report incorrectly. Yesterday, the ZDF reported on the restaurant of Pyongyang in Amsterdam.
http://www.ZDF.de/ZDFmediathek/Beitrag/video/1616284/Amsterdam-Pjoengjang-tischt-auf?Flash=off [not available anymore]
http://pyongyangrestaurant.com/ 
Someone claimed that the relatives of the North Korean employees are held as hostages in prisons or concentration camps. This is astupid statement, to say the least. The people, who may leave North Korea, come from the environment of regime supporters. Why should their relatives being put in prison? The whole country is but a prison. The population can not even travel from one city to another without special permission. Connections such as buses or trains do not exist. Private cars do not exist. Even the privileged parts of the population can not move freely. And who is surveilling whom is also not clear. There is enough obvious surveillance of the population (like the smartly-dressed policewomen and the not less neatly dressed chaperons - see here on the blog), one can only speculate on surveillance of the secret service.
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/10/what-you-see-and-what-you-dont-see.html
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/12/stagnant-society.html
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/12/Womens-dress-code.html
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/11/no-wheels-no-gas.html
The regime in North Korea is evil enough, one mustn’t distort reality by exaggerations.

Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars No. 23 Soseki's "gingko leaves are falling"

 

At Wonsan harbour

The gingko trees shed their leaves

Being bored to death

A yellow lantern

The gingko tree is waiting

Leaves falling like hair

This frosty autumn

The gingko tree’s fallen leaves

Just count hundred eight

http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.de/2016/01/carpe-diem-sparkling-stars-23-sosekis.html

PS. Wonsan harbour is in North Korea. Hardly any ship calls at Wonsan, which is strange as this naval town is big enough with about 330,000 inhabitants, but North Korea is strange anyway.

Links:
Wonsan City, on refurbishing and other problems
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/08/wonsan-city-on-refurbishing-and-other.html
Detailed route and activities in North Korea
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/10/detailed-route-and-activities-in-north.html

Mystic North Korea

Some places in the world own a mysticism that keeps people going there to see it with their own eyes: as Timbuktu, Taj Mahal, Forbidden City, Bagan, Ankor Wat, Fireland, Tahiti, and so on. Most lists won’t mention North Korea, but it is mysterious, shrouded, someone called it the Hermit Kingdom, but it is the last stalinistic state. The many hearsays you come across makes you want to go there, have a look for yourself.


Visa isn’t really the problem, though we had to wait as we were trying to stay longer than the usual tourist, who comes for a short trip of about four days. We stayed 16 days. We flew in from Beijing and took the railway out.


You can’t go anywhere without your driver, your guide, and your interpreter. We had a German speaking interpreter, me friends were talking French, the guide tried a few word of English with my friends, but was quite fluent in Chinese, so he could communicate with me directly. The driver only knew Korean. We learned and used some Korean words on the trip.


The tour is prearranged. You tell, where you want to go, and then you see, where you are to go. Some things may be arranged on the spot, but not much.


The strangest discussion has been on raising snails. You have to appreciate snails. Most places the local guides would tell you a few lines, where the most important part was, when Kim Il Song, the Great Leader, or Kim Jong Il, the Dear Leader, visited place.


Mystic places could also be seen – the ragged mountains. And it was possible to hike, not alone and your guide eager to avoid any accident.

The mysticism will stay as long as there is no easy access. But all mysticism of North Korea is bought by the suffering of the greater part ot its population.

What you see and what you don’t see

Important is what you don’t see, a wise friend keeps telling me. Let’s have a closer look at some things or people that you don’t see.
You don’t see homeless people, drifters, or the rural population leaving the villages to roam around the bigger cities. You don’t see people in rags. How could there be drifters? You can’t simply leave the village as you would be seen immediately. Everything is under control. You could walk as far your feet will get you, but you could not hop on the bus as there is none to bring you to farther destinations. In the cities there aren’t only the police, but there are also these two or three ladies at every street corner watching.
You don’t see much intercity traffic though there are highways and railway tracks. No regular bus service, no train with merry old people, who had visited a sightseeing in the country and return home, which you see immediately after you cross the border to China. So people have to stay in the vicinity, where they live. There aren’t many good that are transported, so you have to live on the goods you produce regionally.
You don’t see old or disabled people. If you are disabled and live on the 16th floor and you don’t have a working elevator, then you don’t leave you home much often. If you don’t have a wheelchair, especially an electric one, when you can’t move your legs, how could you move around? Maybe some people are kept out of sight on purpose, but most will simply not appear because of lack of transport.
Your hardly see young men. Well some of them in other countries you would better like not see, like members of street gangs. But in North Korea it’s because of the long military service. That also means a drain of work force.
You don’t see starving people, even if you go on long trips throughout the country. You see the well to do cooperative farms. You don’t see shrivelled corn; you see nice dark yellow corn being dried. How is it that you don’t see attributes of famine? You travel in the long stretched of good arable land. You don’t see the not so easy land strips, where corn doesn’t ripen or rice can’t be grown. Even the Great Leader Kim Il Sung had to face the fact that arable land in Korea is limited and can’t be expanded. What you see is any bit of land that is arable will be put into use. Where other countries simply have grass in front of apartment houses, you see salad, turnips, or cabbage. What does it mean in terms of environment protection? Corn is draining the soil. Monocultures like vast corn fields will lead to erosion and loss of fertile land. You don’t see starving people, but you see how slim the average North Korean is. So, even if the pictures aren’t showing starving people, you might be inclined to accept that there are people in North Korea, who are starving.

Juche and more Ideology

Kim Il Sung has established the idea of juche. Juche has to do with self-reliance, but is more than this simple translation. It is also an offspring of Marxism and Leninism, and you may add Maoism. “The masses are the origins of all revolution and are masters of that revolution.” Kim Il Sung thinks, that the process to find the will of the people is evolutionary and that it is cyclical. A cynical would tell you now, that’s what the North Korean society is doing now, going in circles rather than going forward. Somehow in this process the true will of the people shall be found culminating in chajusong (true freedom, independence). Interestingsly the masses according to the juche ideology are to be organized by a great leader.
Another pivotal idea is: “the masses are the masters of their destiny and the masses are made-up fundamentally of the individual, the individual is the master of everything.” Unclear, how the individual mastership survives in the context of the cyclical process. But “it is inevitable that the idea of Juche will make itself manifest in the masses sooner or later.”
Songun may be translated as army-first, but is considered as “the realization that defense is the single most important role of state and ideology”. “The concept of Songun is to train all the masses as a people's army …” I think that North Korea has come to a high level of completing this task. All men between 16 and 26 serve in the army. Woman may join the army for 5 years.
Self-reliance makes North Korea a lonely country on the world map. The military is draining the national economy to the utmost. But the juche ideology sees it differently, of course.

Buddhist Temples

There are some Buddhist temples in North Korea. Somehow Kim Il Sung knew that he had to stop revolutionary forces to destroy the rest of their old heritage that fires and shells of the Korean War hadn’t consumed. Nowadays North Korea tries to rebuild its history and sometimes, e.g. the kings’ graves, with surreal effects. Not so with the Buddhist temples. The ones you can visit are in good shape and masterly restored. You will see “monks” in the temples, but I think only one was really a monk, the others were actors, who only knew how often the Great Leader Kim Il Sung had visited the temple. There is an easy question to make sure, who may be a real monk: “Are you really a monk?” The wrong answer is: “Yes, of course.” But the real monk will answer: “Maybe.”

The pictures show Songbul Temple at the foot of Chonsong Peak (built in 898) and Anhwa Temple near Kaesong.

North Korea Women’s Dress Code No. 2

My blogpost on the dress code of women in North Korea has attracted some attention during the past weeks; link: http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/12/womens-dress-code.html.

So I’be decided to post a sequel with more pictures.

These women are looking that everyone is decently dressed and heaves well on the streets.

Office lady on the way to a commemoration point

At a refreshment stand (water and beer)

Shortly before a dance

Still waiting for the event

After haveing visited the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery / Kim Jong-Suk

Quite a of women are in the army,

so they have to dress like this

These women most probably belong to the nomenklatura

Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Singapore

So the bad boys Trump and Kim have met in Singapore [1]. Any longer talks weren’t intended, Trump left Singapore prematurely as he did in Quebec. They shook hands in front of the national flags – a picture, which will go around the world.

The Rondong Sinmun quoted [2]: “Enjoying a nocturnal bird's-eye view of the city on the observation platform of the Marina Bay Sands building, he said Singapore is clean and beautiful …”. Yes, in this aspect Singapore and Pyongyang are alike. Very clean cities.

Five years ago I’ve written [3]: “Do you see Wonsan as a major port city during the next five years? I don't. Do you see Wonsan as a beach city attracting masses of tourists? I don't.”

You don’t have to be a visionary to see, that there’s a chance for Wonsan as well as North Korea to develop in the future.

Links:

[1] http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/liveblog-trump-kim-jong-un-summit.html

[2] http://www.rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2018-06-12-0001

[3] http://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2013/08/wonsan-city-on-refurbishing-and-other.html

Addendum:

A couple of picture, I’ve taken in North Korea in 2011.

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A Glimpse at North Korea: Diet and Dress

You see slim people as a rule and perhaps a few lightly overweight people of the nomenclatura, if you happen to catch a glimpse at them. People walk more and eat less calories. You don’t see starving people, but if the “happy” ones just have enough to survive, how about people in the lesser developed regions or in labour camps? You don’t see starving people, you don’t see labour camps, if someone shows you pictures with condemning subtitles, and it’s simply bad journalism, which should only be published in the tabloid press. Some people even try to convince you of cannibalism; I think that’s propaganda – as if the data you get on North Korea wouldn’t be sinister enough.


You don’t see people in rags, people are uniformly but well dressed. Everyone wears a Kim Il Song or Kim Jong Il button on the left breast. There are a few places where people may go to swim like some beaches, which are restricted. But you see swim wear, which excels the 1950ies US in conservatism and shyness.