[imText1]“(In North Korea) Hunger is a reality”
Following the nuke experiment and amidst rising debate by the international community over North Korea, a U.S. CNN correspondent went to the Yalu River near the North Korea-China border.
On the 23rd, John Ray said on a CNN broadcast “North Korea is a closed country but in places it feels close enough to touch, certainly close enough to hear the voices of children playing and to see villagers bring their washing to the freezing Yalu River that marks the border with China.”
He revealed his impression on North Korea, “North Korean troops keeping a careful guard over an impoverished land. Hunger is a daily reality, basic necessities have become luxuries.”
He said “It’s hard to imagine looking at the ramshackle collection of cottages across the river that North Korea is now a nuclear state but it is and yet is a state that can’t even feed its people.”
▶View CNN broadcast
The broadcast records footages of children playing near the water, women out to do their washing, troops standing near the border and the daily lives of North Korean citizens who live near the border.
Ray explained “It is a state untold that thousands of people risk everything to escape a few miles into China” and “North Korea might threaten the world with nuclear weapons but it cannot guarantee the obedience of its own people.”
While filming the coverage he met a North Korean woman, Miss. Kim.
Kim crossed the Yalu River using a car tire as a raft to gather food to eat and has been tracking through the snow. Ray said “Miss Kim is just one of many who are so desperately prepared to take the ultimate gamble.”
According to the guide, Ray relayed that even the soldiers cross the frozen river to steal food from the Chinese. In this case, Kim said “We’ll face a firing squad if we are caught and are sent back.”
Kim even showed Ray a picture of her family she left behind. He said “We can’t actually show this photograph because it would identify them to the North Korean authorities and put them in great danger.”
