North Korea, then and now

17th November 2022 North Korea, then and now – Tony Waltham

Tony and Jan first visited North Korea in 2001, and then again in 2018. Originally one peninsular country until 1910, when the Japanese invaded and made it a colony, which lasted until 1945 when it was divided, with the North supported by the Soviet Union (Russia), leaving the South to be supported by the USA, split across the peninsular on the 38^th parallel (and that changed only slightly after the war in 1953).

South Korea has become a most dynamic country, with the largest steel works and car manufacturing facilities in the World.  The people make things work, having a religious freedom, whereas the North has no religion. The North/South border has a DMZ 4 km wide, which can only be visited on group bus tours from either side. Inside North Korea visitors can only travel with a guide, interpreter, minders and a driver, and are unable to wander around unescorted.

The North Koreans don’t do enjoyment, there’s no street lighting as there’s nowhere to go. Plenty of ‘civic grandeur’, with 10-lanes-wide roads, but people have no cars or transport other than bicycles. There are magnificent statues and fountains.  But you must be a dead leader to get a giant statue at Mansudae in Pyongyang. The first leader, Kim Il Sung, ruled from 1948 until he died in 1994, so had the first statue, followed by his son, Kim Jong Il (1994 to 2011), and the people bow to the statues and to posters of them. Tony showed a picture of an immense building that contains just the two coffins of the former leaders.  Also, we were shown pictures of the little metal hand carts used to carry Government-issue rice, sugar and grain, mainly pulled by women as the majority of men are in the army. The national dress is very colourful, but ladies are told when to wear it and then appear on parade for official events.

Tony believes Korea will never be one country ever again. Nothing works outside the capital Pyongyang, frequent cuts to power and water; the only smoke they saw was the power station in Pyongyang; the Russian-built factories were notable for their lack of activity.

The current leader Kim Jong Un was educated in Switzerland, but unfortunately was not influenced by Western ideology, and now runs the country on Fear. Life for the people has improved only in small ways; though on their second visit, they were taken to a supermarket, but it sold only luxury extras for the privileged class, as basic food provided by the Government. Some people were seen to be eating ice lollies bought from little stalls, and the Russian-built Metro is magnificent with official newspapers on display. They did see some people dancing in a city park one Sunday, and there was a grand amusement park, but with no sign of activity. The nationally symbolic mountain of Paektu is a volcano with a lake in its caldera, it lies on the border with China, and a new resort is being built to bring Chinese tourists into North Korea.  Their tour was completed with a visit to the Arirang Games, a fantastic display by about 120,000 performers in what is now the biggest stadium in the World.

Allen gave Tony a vote of thanks expressing how, as usual, Tony had entertained us yet again with his great photographs (many of them illegal), humour and delivery, giving us a true flavour of the country and the people, all in sharp contrast to the programme on South Korea that is being presented by Alexander Armstrong currently on the TV. He was thanked for not singing, and was commended for all his daring actions, for which we were amazed that he hadn’t finished in a Gulag himself! The members and guests joined in warm applause.        AR