One foreign reporter in North Korea for events to commemorate the 60th anniversary of North Korea’s self-proclaimed “victory” in the Korean War has revealed elements of Saturday’s military parade that would have otherwise gone unseen.
CNN correspondent Ivan Watson shared two images via Twitter showing North Korean soldiers fainting in the heat at the end of the military parade. Watson commented, “It was scorching hot for hours under the sun in Pyongyang…those guys goose-stepped for hours under the sun in full uniform.”
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In a move reminiscent of the April 15th, 2012 centennial anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth, Western media were invited to the celebrations and given permission to gather news at a number of locations.
However, while the authorities decided to allow foreign journalists to do some modest newsgathering during the trip, neither direct interviews nor press conferences took place, and Kim waved off questions from the foreign media.
In the words of Watson himself, “Fascinating, frustrating visit to Pyongyang. Sadly, didn’t have a single “real” conversation w/a North Korean due to immense gov’t paranoia.”
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