Nine out of ten people who want to visit
North Korea say that their curiosity was stimulated by the country’s mysterious
and secluded nature. That was definitely the case for me as well. I wanted to
breathe some excitement and newness into my ordinary life. It was especially exciting
since the location of my trip was so secluded and secretive.
North Korea always felt extremely far away
from me. It seemed like the only way to experience this country was through
books or movies. On the other hand, North Korea is geographically close to
China. It shares a border and one can go there whenever they so desire. That’s
why I decided to go and check it out for myself.
I decided to take this trip alone. It’s a
bit safer and less cumbersome to travel without companions. But to be honest, I
was a bit nervous about the excursion. Merely uttering the word, “Joseon”
(North Korea) stirs up images of strange places and suspicious characters.
When I arrived at Pyongyang (Sunan)
Airport, I laid my eyes on real North Koreans for the first time. I was
overcome with emotion. I couldn’t peel my eyes away. The first person I saw was
a woman and she was beautiful. I thought about the expression that’s been on
the Korean peninsula for a while, “In the South the men are handsome; in the
North, the women are beautiful.” After seeing this woman, I was forced to agree
with the old adage.
Pyongyang. It suddenly began to rain and the
As we were driving about we just happened
to pass the Kwangbok Region Commerce Center, which is Pyongyang’s only shopping
center created by a joint investment by North Koreans and Chinese. It is said
that Kim Jong Il made his last public appearance here at the shopping center
before he died.
The first restaurant I visited was a
shabu-shabu place called ‘Joseon Shin Seollo.” After the meat is cooked and the
broth is made, you put in the noodles and the vegetables. We also got a Taedonggang Beer. Except for breakfast, beer came with every meal. The
flavor was a bit bland compared to Chinese beers, but the difference wasn’t
very noticeable.
The meat was too fatty, and thus difficult
to eat.
This is what Pyongyang’s metro looks like.
I’m told there are two lines with a total of 17 stations. I’m also told that
the average depth is 100 meters underground, making it the deepest subway
system in the world. This means that anyway hoping to catch a train has to take
an extremely long trip down the stairs. The staircase ceiling was low, which
gave me a claustrophobic feeling. The smell was also not so great.
With a voice full of pride, our guide told
us, “Kim Il Sung himself guided the people to find the tin to construct this
subway.” However, the truth is that the subway was made with help from the
Soviets. Additionally, the trains that
are in operation today were manufactured in Germany.
At this point, we were forced to stick with
our guide, who only let us ride the short distance from Yonggwang Station
to Bokhung Station. We were also forced to ride in a car all by ourselves,
ostracized from ordinary North Korean people. The guide informed us that out of
Pyongyang’s 2 million person population, about 400,000 ride the subway on a
daily basis.
The guide asked, “Which mode of
transportation is most common for North Koreans?” People responded by saying,
walking or riding a bike. The guide then said, “Because our people enjoy
exercising their body so much, most choose to ride a bike for destinations
within an hour. This also explains why North Korea has no fat people.” Of
course, with a lie this egregious, even our guide himself had to know that what
he was saying was plainly not true.
Two young girls chat with one another in
the plaza.
Inside the subway stations, there is no
decoration other than propaganda posters. It might be the only subway in the
world without advertisements. Since the authorities do not officially approve
or endorse the market economy, it was hard to find advertisements on the city
streets as well. Is this place, the only advertisement that I saw was one
advertising the “Peace Car” made in collaboration with South Korea.
People reading the newspaper inside the
subway. The dark clothes worn by the two men on the left is exactly the style
that is generally preferred by North Koreans. The guide remarked that this is
because the color was Kim Il Sung’s favorite, which is what inspired the people
to develop such a fondness for it. In this main thoroughfare of Pyongyang there
was one woman wearing a bright colored uniform, but she was the exception.
A propaganda poster located at the subway
entrance.
In most apartment buildings, there were
flower beds out on the verandas. The purpose is to make the city look a bit
brighter. The guide told us that some of the flowers are real and some are
fakes. The authorities give a break to working couples for example, and allow
them to use fakes.
This picture looks a lot like China from
many decades in the past.
