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.

.

Wonsan City, on refurbishing and other problems

I've just read the following article of the Rodong Sinmun: http://www.rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2013-08-03-0019&chAction=T The article is on floricultural, a new species of rose, the ardent love of the working people of Wonsan City, a new species of grass, a skate park, Songdowon and other pleasure grounds, as if these were the problems of Wonsan. 
As there are damages by floodings, the military drills are shortened: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/north-korea-cuts-army-drills-short-for-flood-relief-report.aspx?pageID=238&nid=51977&NewsCatID=356. 
I have recently published an article on other activity concerning Wonsan, which is in German: http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/07/erganzung-zum-spon-artikel.html.
Wonsan is a large city, which could be the gateway to the pacific. Yet North Korea's political isolation makes Wonsan a slumbering town. 

You hardly see the working masses

A lonely ship at the quay

The grand promenade, lined with Gingko trees, yet hardly any traffic

You can visit, where Kim Song Il once stayed

The train, in which Kim Song Il went to Pyongyang, is exhibited

The youth is drilled in modern facilities - don't get me wrong they are the lucky ones

Great Landscape, a must for touristic development

The beach should be "refurbished", too

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.
The problem is a political one.

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.

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

Statues of old Old Comrades or Leaders

It has been in Kiev that I thought about the statues of the old communist leaders. What should be done with these statues? First let’s have a look at some of them, which are still standing noch only in Russia, Ukraine, but also in China and North Korea.

Statue of Lenin in Kiev - rather unobstrusive

Statue of Lenin in Arkhangelsk - overlooking the central place

Statue of Mao Zedong in Dandong - quite impressive

Statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar - even more impressive impressive

Statue of Kim Il Sung - like most of them

What should be done with these statues? Well, it's up to people living there to decide, some as soon as they may have the right to do so. I would leave them as they are as these statues have a place in history.

Related links for this travel:
New Logic or No Interest in Business http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/02/new-logic-or-no-interest-in-business.html  

The Burnt Muffin http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/11/the-burnt-muffin.html

Love locks from the Black to the White Sea http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/11/love-locks-from-black-to-white-sea.html

Antoniyevo-Siysky Monastery (Антониево-Сийский монастырь) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/antoniyevo-siysky-monastery.html  

On changing Moldovan Lei in Odessa
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/on-changing-moldovan-lei-in-odessa.html  

The Very Basic Guide to Russian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-russian.html  

Crime and Punishment (St. Petersburg) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/crime-and-punishment.html

Hram Ilias – the hidden silence near the Red Place in Moscow http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/hram-ilias-hidden-silence-near-red.html

Kishinev – the prologue of this year’s travels (2012) http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/kishinev-prologue-of-this-years-travels.html

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.

Pyongyang - Restaurant in Amsterdam - ZDF Bericht

Nord Korea ist kein Land, dessen Regime man Humanität unterstellen würde, aber man täte gut daran, nicht fehlerhaft zu berichten. Gestern berichtete das ZDF über das Restaurant Pyongyang (Pjöngjang) in Amsterdam. 
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1616284/Amsterdam-Pjoengjang-tischt-auf?flash=off [Link existiert leider nicht mehr]
 http://pyongyangrestaurant.com/ 
Jemand stellte die Behauptung auf, dass die Angehörigen der nordkoranischen Bedienung in der Heimat in Gefängnissen oder Konzentrationslagern als Geiseln gehalten werden. Das ist gelinde gesagt Blödsinn. Wer aus Nord Korea ausreisen darf, der stammt aus dem Umfeld der Regime Unterstützer. Wieso dessen Angehörige ins Gefängnis stecken? Das ganze Land ist doch ein Gefängnis. Die Bevölkerung kommt doch noch nicht einmal von einer Stadt zur anderen ohne besondere Genehmigung. Verbindungen wie Busse oder Bahnen existieren nicht. Private Autos existieren nicht. Selbst priviligierte Bevölkerungsteile können sich nicht frei bewegen. Und wer wen überwacht ist auch nicht klar. Es gibt genügend offensichtliche Bewachung der Bevölkerung (wie die adrett gekleideten Polizistinnen und die nicht minder adrett gekleideten Anstandsdamen – siehe hier im Blog), über die geheime Überwachung kann man nur spekulieren.

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
Das Regime in Nord Korea ist übel genug, man muss die Realität nicht durch Übertreibungen verzerren.

A Glimpse at North Korea: Pyongyang Maternity Hospital

The first impression leaves you with a strange feeling, you see women in striped pyjamas. We had a tour around the hospital and were joined by the director of the hospital, which shows that the Hospital isn’t visited often but often enough. Photography was allowed, which shows that they are quite proud of this hospital, which will excel all others in North Korea. All births of the Pyongyang region take place in this hospital and all women with a risk pregnancy are transferred there, too. The hospital also looks at non obstetric gynaecology patients, but we didn’t see them. We’ve seen the equipment, which sometimes new but most of the times outdated.


Prior to delivery women enter the hospital and then contacts are only by phone and TV. This might keep the infection rate down, but it’s also a way of showing off a totalitarian state. Dressed in a striped pyjama you don’t jay-walk into the neighbourhood of the hospital.

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.

A Glimpse at North Korea: Pyongyang Zoo

I’m not a real friend of zoos, but after having seen the Revolutionary Martyr’s cemetery with a St. Mary like worshipping of Kim Il Song’s wife Kim Jong Suk our next stop has been the Central Zoo, also at the foot of Mt. Taesong. It keeps quite a lot of species and some are marked as present by either Kim Il Song or Kim Jong Il. As I’ve already said, I’m not particularly interested in caged animals, but looking at the crowds was quite interesting. Smiling faces; smiles even on the faces of sober clad cader. And a good number of prep school children, all dressed up like going to see the President himself.


No wonder, our itinerary has let us to the zoo, happy people in a happy country. It’s always a bad idea, thinking that people are stupid. Does seeing a few chosen people to enjoy themselves destroy a picture that glimpses at the reality already had painted?

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.

A stagnant society

The tourist will be shown all the achievements; the state likes you to see not realizing that all the repetitions only show stagnation. The revolutionary opera isn’t playing any more, because everybody has seen the plays of Kim Il Song ad nauseam. Lots of free seats at the Arirang performance, maybe even more performers than spectators; seats filled with military personel. You see the buildings in movie town and imagine how movie after movie of the same topic is produced. You see the war museum (Victorious War Museum!) and while being dragged along every rifle and tank you wonder why people still live mentally in post-war Korea, especially if they think of themselves as the victorious side. Work on the fields is manual work.


Where could be a motivation to change, when developments out of the strict line of the party are ostracized?


You can’t just pay a visit to the next city. You need a special permit. And don’t forget there is hardly any public transport. You don’t see relatives. You don’t meet secretely with people, who’d want to overturn this state like yourself.


And then you see some fragile plants growing: people use cell phones, small endeavours like selling cigarettes. The cell phone net is only for priveledged people, but even they like to have South Korean or Chinese SIM cards to be able to communicate with the outside world. But I think the small vendours are the indicator for changes that are about to come to a stagnant society. It takes only a snow ball to start an avalanche.