Of all the Koreas in the world, North Korea had greatest number bloody dictators per capita. North Korea is a country of 25 million people who live, by our standards, a very strange and deprived life.
We wanted to know what life was really like for these people, so we sat down and spoke with a North Korean escapee, an American journalist who spent a lot of time there researching Pyongyang, and the grandson of an Asian country's ambassador to the DPRK. They told us that...
This is blatant propaganda, and all people know about it.
North Korea is home to some of the funniest propaganda in the world, but when you live there and all those bombastic messages in support of Kim Jong Un follow you your whole life, it doesn't seem so funny anymore. For Mr. Lee (the refugee we spoke to), every morning as a child began the same way: a loudspeaker blaring about the accomplishments of the Kim family and their regime.
Sun is up? “Kim Jong Il invented the hamburger!”
Sunset? "Kim Jong Il is the greatest golfer in the world!"
Combine that with a radio that never turns off and you have an entire nation of captive listeners. AND next question, which immediately comes to the mind of a Westerner: “Do people there really believe that Kim Jong-un has magical powers?” No, not all of them. For example, Mr. Li grew up with a great-aunt who suffered a lot of abuse and humiliation from the government. When they turned on the loudspeaker, she said: “Oh, they are doing their own thing again, they like to spread their lies.” Mr. Lee's family had never been one to support the ruling party, so he realized as a teenager that he national government He lies a lot to his people. He knew that many of his compatriots believed in most propaganda. Although Michael Malice, an American journalist who spent some time in Pyongyang, has a slightly different opinion. He believes that most North Koreans know the propaganda is ridiculous, but they are too scared to say it out loud. “When you're in a public place, you better sound like a true believer. After all, when an actor is completely immersed in his role, he copes better with it.”
And this training begins very early. Overall, Mr. Lee says that about 30 percent of his education was completely useless because it only concerned the Kim family. When he was younger, he had full lessons on the lives of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. But as he got older, the teacher would only spend 10 minutes talking about Kim (who ruled at the time) and his achievements, and then tell many other stories about him during other lessons.
North Korean schools are considering world history like something minor, just like American schools relate to art lessons. He was told at school about the First and Second World Wars, about allied powers and fascists, but not about Italian Renaissance. He knew about things like Sputnik, but didn't know that an American was the first man on the moon (he was aware that someone had landed on the moon, but the teachers never specified whether it was Americans or Russians). And starting from middle school, he was also forced to participate in mass games and processions.
Have you ever wondered how these children can perform all the joint movements so precisely? This is because they begin preparing for them as early as at a young age(including on weekends), and North Korean teachers do not hesitate to resort to corporal punishment in case something happens.
And parents know that they are also obliged to contribute to the common cause. Another of our informants who had previously lived in North Korea for several years (namely, the ambassador’s grandson) told us this story:
“There are photographs of the Great Leader all over Pyongyang, lavishly decorated with flowers, and surrounded by regular groups of adoring citizens...they go to these little kiosks, buy flowers, and then arrange them around their 'shrine.' Later that day, other people come here with handcarts, collect all the flowers and return them to the stalls to resell them for more more of people".
“One day I saw a girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, who brought a rather large bouquet here (almost the same size as herself), but she put it near a photograph with one hand. Her parents started yelling at her... her dad hit her in the face. Is this a crime? Do not use two hands to place flowers near a place of worship. Then her parents bought her an even larger bouquet (this one was even larger than the girl herself), and she placed it in the right place with both hands.”
This is what happens when public punishment resembles a prison camp. Because, you see...
There is almost no resistance, and the punishment for any offense is very cruel
People in North Korea are taught from childhood to report on those who even remotely resemble a dissident. So forget about organizing a mass protest or sit-in here, because you have no right to raise any objections even in a private conversation. As Mr. Lee explained: “This is something you can never talk about in in public places, unless you can carefully tell your closest friend that you are not happy with the Kim regime, and even then only after one or two glasses of beer. Even with your wife you have to be careful.”
Before Mr. Lee fled his country, he saw several of his neighbors deported to camps. There is no ceremony here, and the soldiers simply take away entire families in front of everyone. People are forced to watch as neighbors who have just been doomed to deportation load their belongings into government vans.
Local residents know that this practice is used only in their country. But what can you do about it? If you want to imagine yourself as Braveheart taking a stand against an evil king, keep in mind that crimes such as “treason” and (as most often happen) “being like one who is about to commit treason” are punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty... both for the accused himself and for three generations of his family. You are not just condemned for some behavior or careless words, but even for a simple change in intonation during a conversation.
Our interlocutor from the [anonymous country] embassy recalled a time when a high-ranking North Korean officer took him aside and - in English - began to utter an opinion that was shockingly close to outright criticism of the regime:
"He said, 'What's happening here is a disgrace... but our leader is instructing us to the right way" He paused in the middle of his sentence, and I think that in the first part he sincerely told me his opinion, and in the second he said what he had to say... I saw his assistant look at him during the pause, and Now I'm a little worried about him. Because I never saw this guy again.”
People here only get a glimpse of the outside world.
The strangest thing about North Korea, besides all the other strange things we already know about it, is its position as an isolated country in the 21st century. At a time when Ukrainian protesters are lively commenting on their revolution on Twitter, and half of us have many online friends living on the other side of the planet, it is very strange to think about people existing in complete isolation, who are not aware of anything that is happening behind them. border of their country.
Although, in truth, some news does reach their ears. A North Korean, our diplomatic source, whom we met at Kim Il Sung University, told us about how they share their “smuggled” knowledge:
“One guy told me to read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” I was surprised: “Is this book allowed? - No!” - He secretly brought it here. And he asked me if people had already built any underwater settlements. I told him that there are underwater hotels in the world, and a very pleased smile appeared on his face. She looked like the one I see on my face younger brother At Christmas".
But in general, such provocative devices as Cell phones, DVD players and modern films are not always available to local residents. Possession of any of these items is punishable by death, which will be applied to you and anyone who happened to be standing nearby when you were detained. You might assume that North Korean citizens can get by without any of this. But if you think so, then you're grossly underestimating the human need to watch poorly dubbed bootleg episodes of the latest installment." Iron Man».
Mr. Lee told us that foreign films and gadgets are regularly smuggled into North Korea, but this is of course not publicized. Dealers look for likely buyers and approach them in the market. “They start with Chinese films, and then, if they see that you are not at all against such a product, they move on to American things.” In other words, Hollywood movies are like heroin on the North Korean black market (along with actual heroin, of course).
All this suggests that the Hermit Kingdom is actually much less isolated than you might assume based solely on the news about its life. Mr. Lee was able to talk to members of his family in South Korea, including his sister, who fled several years before him. North Koreans are quite aware that hunger is not an everyday factor in life in America, or even in South Korea. And instead of shooting everyone who understood this, the North Korean government should start changing its propaganda.
Michael Malis, Kim Jong Il's unofficial biographer and one of the few Americans who visited Pyongyang, explained: "Their propaganda used to say that 'we are not jealous of anyone.' Now, as the outside world has slowly begun to creep into their country, they have begun to claim that they support the ideas of North Korea, while South Korea is completely destroyed by America.”
After Mr. Lee's sister reached South Korea and confirmed that this "destruction" by America was more like a "friendship with benefits" between the countries, he began planning his escape from the DPRK.
Leaving the country is a long, terrifying flight
Any North Korean who decides to escape knows that his entire family could end up in a labor camp if the government catches him. Mr Lee (who used a fake name and only spoke to us via Skype with his face hidden in the shadows) had to work out a complex web of lies before he could leave the country. He said it was essentially the same as telling your parents you were "staying at a friend's house" while you went to a party. Only here, instead of continuing to live in peace, your entire family risks ending up in a forced labor camp, where all its members will have to work literally until death if anyone finds out about your trick.
Mr. Lee escaped two years ago. Fortunately, the illegal removal of refugees from the personal murderous Disney World created by the Kim family is not a random incident at all, it is an established international mechanism. Sister Lee saved him with the help of male smugglers and paid for all the services herself, because people who live in North Korea do not have the money to pay for something like that. And if you think all it takes is someone sneaking you across the border into South Korea, think again. Even if you have indicated specific place, you'll have to walk a very long way to get there unless you want to get shot several thousand times before you even see the border fence itself.
Mr. Lee was smuggled out of the country through a network of undercover agents on a long train journey consisting of walking, buses and cars from North Korea to China, then to Vietnam and then to South Korea. Each part of the trip was handled by a different intermediary who specializes in smuggling North Koreans along one specific route. Mr. Lee followed the instructions of each secret agent and had to trust that none of them would send him back straight into the hands of the “thought police.” At various points throughout his trip, he called home saying, “I'm safe in Beijing” or “I'm safe in Saigon.” After his sister heard these words from him, she transferred another portion of cash to the intermediaries’ account, and he could move on.
Obviously, the business of smuggling North Koreans is illegal in North Korea, although it is also illegal in each individual country. If you can get to South Korea, you'll be safe, but these brokerage networks are also illegal there, so you won't have any claim against them if they, say, sell you into slavery. As a South Korean sponsor, you risk paying them thousands and thousands of dollars for the privilege of having a loved one by your side who will not one day be betrayed or killed.
But nothing like this in this case Did not happen. Mr. Lee was brought to a part of the world where soap operas are held instead of mass games, where Internet cafes are held instead of labor camps, and where food competitions are regularly held instead of constant hunger.
For those who fled the DPRK, the outside world is a real shock
"It's like being in a completely different reality," Mr. Lee said. In North Korea they teach that capitalist countries are filled with people dying in the middle of the streets. Even if he was skeptical about it (he had seen a lot American cities on DVD, and during many of the car chases depicted in the movies, piles of starving hobos were not visible), but he still had the feeling that capitalism was a "bad doctrine." He was shocked to see that South Koreans, for the most part, lived as they pleased, and quickly adopted the new concept of work that he was, in fact, paid for his work.
Moreover, Mr. Li came here with quite negative attitude to South Korean women after decades of watching them portrayed as sex-crazed, clueless young ladies. He always believed that South Korean women wore makeup that made them look like "clowns or prostitutes" (basically, government propaganda convinced him that Seoul girls looked exactly like the rich people in The Hunger Games).
He was also surprised to learn about human rights. Particularly the very notion that people have rights and that they can claim them from their government. The North Korean government solved its "human rights" problem by simply choosing not to tell its people they existed. After all, you cannot demand something that you don’t even suspect exists.
Remember, Mr. Lee grew up in a country where people are taught from childhood that even simple curiosity about the lives of their leaders is immoral. That's why his arrival in South Korea also brought him a shocking realization of some facts about the Kim family. He did not believe all the crazy propaganda about the achievements of Kim Jong Il, but the real facts from the life of the glorious leader were very different from what he attributed to himself. “During the famine, government propaganda said that Kim Jong Il was suffering along with the people, eating only one bowl of rice a day.” The reality is that it is now impossible to say how much rice Kim ate during the famine, but we do know that he spent $600,000 a year to replenish his personal supply of brandy.
If this were a movie, then the evil dictator with with an iron fist would get what they deserved before the end credits. But in real life, the Kim family endlessly oppressed their starving little country for 65 damn years and got crazier every day they lived.
IN last time I also wrote about one of the eastern countries: . And about North Korea here on the website. Read more.
Human society is constantly experimenting with how it can arrange itself in such a way that most of its members would be as comfortable as possible.
From the outside, it probably looks like a rheumatic fat man trying to get comfortable on a flimsy couch sharp corners: no matter how the poor fellow turns, he will certainly pinch something or serve time.
Not to express deep respect to the image of the leader is to endanger not only yourself, but also your entire family.
Some particularly desperate experiments were costly. Take, for example, the 20th century. The entire planet was a gigantic testing ground where two systems clashed in rivalry. Society is against individuality, totalitarianism is against democracy, order is against chaos. As we know, chaos won, which is not surprising. You see, it takes a lot of effort to ruin chaos, while the most perfect order can be destroyed with one well-placed bowl of chili.
Order does not tolerate mistakes, but chaos... chaos feeds on them.
Love of freedom is a vile quality that interferes with ordered happiness
A demonstrative defeat took place on two experimental sites. Two countries were taken: one in Europe, the second in Asia. Germany and Korea were neatly divided in half and in both cases a market, elections, freedom of speech and individual rights were introduced in one half, while the other half was ordered to build an ideally fair and well-functioning social system, in which the individual has the only right - to serve the common good.
However, the German experiment went unsuccessfully from the very beginning. Even Hitler did not completely exterminate the cultural traditions of the freedom-loving Germans - where does Honecker belong? And it is difficult to create a socialist society right in the middle of the swamp of decaying capitalism. It is not surprising that the GDR, no matter how much effort and money was poured into it, did not demonstrate any brilliant success; it produced the most pathetic economy, and its inhabitants, instead of being filled with a competitive spirit, preferred to run to their Western relatives, masquerading at the border as the contents of their suitcases.
The Korean site promised great success. Still, the Asian mentality is historically more inclined towards subordination and total control, and even more so if we are talking about Koreans, who lived under Japanese protectorate for almost half a century and have long since forgotten all freedoms.
Juche forever
Kim Il Sung at the beginning of his reign.
After a series of rather bloody political upheavals, a former captain became the almost sole ruler of the DPRK Soviet army Kim Il Sung. He was once a partisan who fought against the Japanese occupation, then, like many Korean communists, he ended up in the USSR and in 1945 returned to his homeland to build a new order. Knowing the Stalinist regime well, he managed to recreate it in Korea, and the copy in many ways surpassed the original.
The entire population of the country was divided into 51 groups social background degree of loyalty to the new regime. Moreover, unlike the USSR, it was not even kept silent that the very fact of your birth in the “wrong” family can be a crime: exiles and camps here for more than half a century have officially sent not only criminals, but also all members of their families, including minors children. The main ideology of the state became the “Juche idea,” which, with some stretch, can be translated as “self-reliance.” The essence of ideology comes down to the following provisions.
North Korea is the most great country in the world. Very good. All other countries are bad. There are very bad ones, and there are inferior ones who are in slavery to the very bad ones. There are also countries that are not exactly bad, but also bad. For example, China and the USSR. They followed the path of communism, but distorted it, and this is wrong.
The characteristic features of a Caucasian are always signs of an enemy.
Only North Koreans live happily, all other peoples eke out a miserable existence. The most unhappy country in the world is South Korea. It has been taken over by the damned imperialist bastards, and all South Koreans are divided into two categories: jackals, vile minions of the regime, and oppressed pathetic beggars who are too cowardly to drive out the Americans.
The greatest man in the world - great leader Kim Il Sung*. He liberated the country and expelled the damned Japanese. He is a wise man on the ground. He is a living god. That is, he is already lifeless, but this does not matter, because he is forever alive. Everything you have was given to you by Kim Il Sung. The second great man is the son of the great leader Kim Il Sung, the beloved leader Kim Jong Il. The third is the current owner of the DPRK, the grandson of the great leader, the brilliant comrade Kim Jong-un. We express our love for Kim Il Sung through hard work. We love to work. We also love to learn the Juche idea.
- By the way, in Korea we would have been sent to a camp for this phrase. Because Koreans are taught from kindergarten that the name of the great leader Kim Il Sung must appear at the beginning of the sentence. Damn, this one would have been exiled too...
We North Koreans are great happy people. Hooray!
Magic levers
Kim Il Sung and his closest aides were, of course, crocodiles. But these crocodiles had good intentions. They were really trying to create an ideally happy society. And when is a person happy? From the point of view of order theory, a person is happy when he takes his place, knows exactly what to do, and is satisfied with the existing state of affairs. Unfortunately, the one who created people made many mistakes in his creation. For example, he instilled in us a craving for freedom, independence, adventurism, risk, as well as pride and the desire to express our thoughts out loud.
All these vile human qualities interfered with a state of complete, orderly happiness. But Kim Il Sung knew well what levers could be used to control a person. These levers - love, fear, ignorance and control - are fully involved in Korean ideology. That is, they are also involved a little in all other ideologies, but no one here can keep up with the Koreans.
Ignorance
Until the early 80s, televisions in the country were distributed only according to party lists.
Any unofficial information is completely illegal in the country. There is no access to any foreign newspapers or magazines. There is practically no literature as such, except for the officially approved works of modern North Korean writers, which, by and large, amount to praising the ideas of the Juche and the great leader.
Moreover, even North Korean newspapers cannot be stored here for too long: according to A.N. Lankov, one of the few specialists on the DPRK, it is almost impossible to obtain a fifteen-year-old newspaper even in a special storage facility. Still would! Party policy sometimes has to change, and there is no need for the average person to follow these fluctuations.
Koreans have radios, but each device must be sealed in the workshop so that it can only receive a few government radio channels. For keeping an unsealed receiver at home, you are immediately sent to a camp, along with your entire family.
There are televisions, but the cost of a device made in Taiwan or Russia, but with a Korean brand stuck on top of the manufacturer’s mark, is equal to approximately five years’ salary of an employee. So few people can watch TV, two state channels, especially considering that electricity is in residential buildings It only turns on for a few hours a day. However, there is nothing to watch there, unless, of course, you count hymns to the leader, children's parades in honor of the leader and monstrous cartoons about how you need to study well in order to fight well against the damned imperialists.
North Koreans, of course, do not travel abroad, except for a tiny layer of members of the party elite. Some specialists can use Internet access with special permits - several institutions have computers connected to the Internet. But to sit down at them, a scientist needs to have a bunch of passes, and any visit to any site is naturally registered and then carefully studied by the security service.
Luxury housing for the elite. There is even a sewer system and elevators work in the morning!
In the world official information A fabulous lie is happening. What they say in the news is not just a distortion of reality - it has nothing to do with it. Did you know that the average American ration does not exceed 300 grams of grains per day? At the same time, they do not have rations as such; they must earn their three hundred grams of corn in a factory, where the police beat them, so that the Americans work better.
Lankov gives a charming example from a North Korean third-grade textbook: “A South Korean boy, in order to save his dying sister from starvation, donated a liter of blood for American soldiers. With this money he bought rice cake for his sister. How many liters of blood must he donate so that half a cake will also go to him, his unemployed mother and his old grandmother?
The North Korean knows practically nothing about the world around him; he knows neither the past, nor the future, and even exact sciences in local schools and institutes they are taught with the distortions required official ideology. Such an information vacuum, of course, comes at a fantastic price. low level science and culture. But it's worth it.
Love
The North Korean has almost no understanding of the real world
Love brings happiness, and this, by the way, is very good if you make a person love what he needs. The North Korean loves his leader and his country, and they help him in every way possible. Every adult Korean is required to wear a pin with a portrait of Kim Il Sung on his lapel; in every house, institution, in every apartment there should be a portrait of the leader hanging. The portrait should be cleaned daily with a brush and wiped with a dry cloth. So, for this brush there is a special drawer, standing in a place of honor in the apartment. There should be nothing else on the wall on which the portrait hangs, no patterns or pictures - this is disrespectful. Until the seventies, damage to a portrait, even unintentional, was punishable by execution; in the eighties, this could have been done with exile.
The eleven-hour working day of a North Korean daily begins and ends with half-hour political information, which tells about how good it is to live in the DPRK and how great and beautiful the leaders of the greatest country in the world are. On Sunday, the only non-working day, colleagues are supposed to meet together to once again discuss the Juche idea.
The most important school subject is studying the biography of Kim Il Sung. In every kindergarten, for example, there is a carefully guarded model of the leader’s native village; preschool children are required to show without hesitation exactly under which tree “the great leader, at the age of five, thought about the fate of humanity,” and where “he trained his body through sports and hardening to fight against Japanese invaders." There is not a single song in the country that does not contain the name of the leader.
Control
All the youth in the country serve in the army. There are simply no young people on the streets.
Control over the state of minds of the citizens of the DPRK is carried out by the MTF and the MOB, or the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry public safety. Moreover, the MTF is in charge of ideology and deals only with serious political offenses of the residents, while ordinary control over the lives of Koreans is under the jurisdiction of the MTF. It is the MOB patrols that carry out raids on apartments for their political decency and collect denunciations from citizens against each other.
But, naturally, no ministries would be enough for vigil, so the country has created a system of “inminbans”. Any housing in the DPRK is included in one or another inminban - usually twenty, thirty, rarely forty families. Each inminban has a headman - a person responsible for everything that happens in the cell. Every week, the head of the Inminban is obliged to report to the representative of the Ministry of Public Security about what is happening in the area entrusted to him, whether there is anything suspicious, whether anyone has uttered sedition, or whether there is unregistered radio equipment. The head of the Inminban has the right to enter any apartment at any time of the day or night; not letting him in is a crime.
Every person who comes to a house or apartment for more than a few hours is required to register with the headman, especially if he intends to stay overnight. The apartment owners and the guest must provide the warden with a written explanation of the reason for the overnight stay. If, during a MOB raid, unaccounted-for guests are found in the house, not only the owners of the apartment, but also the headman will go to a special settlement. In particularly obvious cases of sedition, responsibility may fall on all members of the inminban at once - for failure to report. For example, for an unauthorized visit of a foreigner to a Korean’s home, several dozen families may end up in the camp at once if they saw him, but hid the information.
Traffic jams in a country where there is no private transport are, as we see, a rare phenomenon.
However, unaccounted guests are rare in Korea. The fact is that moving from city to city and from village to village is only possible here with special passes, which the elders of the inminbans receive at the Moscow Public Library. You can wait months for such permits. And to Pyongyang, for example, no one can go to Pyongyang just like that: people from other regions are allowed into the capital only for official reasons.
Fear
The DPRK is ready to fight the imperialist vermin with machine guns, calculators and volumes of Juche.
According to human rights organizations, approximately 15 percent of all North Koreans live in camps and special settlements.
There are regimes of varying severity, but usually these are simply areas surrounded by energized barbed wire where prisoners live in dugouts and shacks. IN strict regimes women, men and children are kept separately; in ordinary ones, families are not prohibited from living together. Prisoners cultivate the land or work in factories. The working day here lasts 18 hours, that's all free time reserved for sleep.
Most strong problem There is famine in the camp. A defector to South Korea, Kang Cheol Hwan, who managed to escape from the camp and get out of the country, testifies that the standard diet for an adult camp resident was 290 grams of millet or corn per day. Prisoners eat rats, mice and frogs - this is a rare delicacy, a rat corpse is here great value. The mortality rate reaches approximately 30 percent in the first five years, the reason for this is hunger, exhaustion and beatings.
Also a popular measure for political offenders (as well as for criminal ones) is the death penalty. It is automatically applied when it comes to such serious violations as disrespectful words addressed to the great leader. Death executions are carried out publicly, by shooting. High school and student excursions are brought to them so that young people get a correct idea of what is good and what is bad.
That's how they lived
Portraits of precious leaders hang even in the subway, in every car.
The life of a North Korean who has not yet been convicted, however, cannot be called a raspberry. As a child, he spends almost all his free time in kindergarten and school, since his parents have no time to sit with him: they are always at work. At seventeen, he is drafted into the army, where he serves for ten years (for women, the service life is reduced to eight). Only after the army can he go to college and get married (marriage is prohibited for men under 27 and women under 25).
He lives in a tiny apartment, 18 meters total area There is very comfortable housing for a family here. If he is not a resident of Pyongyang, then with a 99 percent probability he has neither water supply nor sewerage in his house; even in cities there are water pumps and wooden toilets in front of apartment buildings.
He eats meat and sweets four times a year, on national holidays, when residents are given coupons for these types of food. Usually he feeds on rice, corn and millet, which he receives on ration cards at the rate of 500–600 grams per adult in “well-fed” years. Once a year he is allowed to receive ration cards for 80 kilograms of cabbage in order to pickle it. A small free market has opened up here in recent years, but the cost of a skinny chicken is equal to a month's salary of an employee. Party officials, however, eat quite decently: they receive food from special distributors and differ from the very lean rest of the population by being pleasantly plump.
Almost all women have their hair cut short and permed, since the great leader once said that this particular hairstyle suits Korean women very well. Now wearing a different hairstyle is like signing your own disloyalty. Long hair Men's haircuts are strictly prohibited; haircuts longer than five centimeters can lead to arrest.
Experiment results
The ceremonial children from a privileged Pyongyang kindergarten, allowed to be shown to foreigners.
Deplorable. Poverty, a practically non-functioning economy, population decline - all these signs of failed social experience got out of control during Kim Il Sung's lifetime. In the nineties, real famine came to the country, caused by drought and the cessation of food supplies from the collapsed USSR.
Pyongyang tried to hush up the true scale of the disaster, but, according to experts who studied satellite imagery, approximately two million people died of hunger during these years, that is, every tenth Korean died. Despite the fact that the DPRK was a rogue state, guilty of nuclear blackmail, the world community began to supply humanitarian aid there, which it is still doing.
Love for the leader helps not to go crazy - this is state option"Stockholm syndrome"
In 1994, Kim Il Sung died, and since then the regime began to creak especially loudly. Nevertheless, nothing has changed fundamentally, except for some liberalization of the market. There are signs that suggest that the North Korean party elite is ready to give up the country in exchange for guarantees of personal integrity and Swiss bank accounts.
But now South Korea no longer expresses immediate readiness for unification and forgiveness: after all, take on board 20 million people who are not adapted to modern life, is a risky business. Engineers who have never seen a computer; peasants who are excellent at cooking grass, but are unfamiliar with the basics of modern agriculture; civil servants, by heart knowledgeable formulas Juche, but not having the slightest idea of what a toilet looks like... Sociologists are predicting social upheavals, stockbrokers are predicting St. Vitus's dance on the stock exchanges, ordinary South Koreans are reasonably afraid of a sharp decline in living standards.
Even in a store for foreigners, where Koreans are not allowed to enter, the range of goods is not very diverse.
So the DPRK still exists - a crumbling monument to a great social experiment, which once again showed that freedom, despite all its untidiness, is perhaps the only path that humanity can follow.
A country in half: historical background
Kim Il Sung
In 1945, Soviet and American troops occupied Korea, thus freeing it from Japanese occupation. The country was divided along the 38th parallel: the north went to the USSR, the south to the USA. Some time was spent trying to negotiate the unification of the country back, but since the partners were different views on everything, then, naturally, no consensus was reached and in 1948 the formation of two Koreas was officially announced. It cannot be said that the parties gave up like this, without effort. In 1950, the Korean War began, somewhat reminiscent of the Third World War. From the north, the USSR, China and the hastily formed North Korean army fought, the honor of the southerners was defended by the USA, Great Britain and the Philippines, and among other things, UN peacekeeping forces were still traveling back and forth across Korea, throwing a spanner in the works of both. In general, it was quite stormy.
In 1953 the war ended. True, no agreements were signed; formally, both Koreas continued to remain in a state of war. North Koreans call this war the “Patriotic Liberation War,” while South Koreans call it the “June 25 Incident.” Quite a characteristic difference in terms.
In the end, the division at the 38th parallel remained in effect. Around the border, the parties formed the so-called “demilitarized zone” - an area that is still crammed with unrecovered mines and the remains of military equipment: the war is not officially over. During the war, approximately a million Chinese, two million South and North Koreans, 54,000 Americans, 5,000 British, and 315 soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army died.
After the war, the United States brought order to South Korea: they took control of the government, banned the execution of communists without trial, built military bases and poured money into the economy, so that South Korea quickly turned into one of the richest and most successful Asian states. Much more interesting things have begun in North Korea.
http://www.maximonline.ru/
Photo: Reuters; Hulton Getty/Fotobank.com; Eyedea; AFP/East News; AP; Corbis/RPG.
Back in 2015, the world community was shocked by the sincerity of the French journalist Marcel Cartier, who decided to independently go to the DPRK, which is now increasingly called simply North Korea. His goal was to find out if everything there is as bad as Western (and not only) means describe mass media. As it turns out, not every existing myth corresponds to reality. This article may somewhat change your myths about a closed state, and its advantages, disadvantages and all that.
Cartier admits that many things struck him to the core and left no stone unturned from the stereotypes that had previously existed in his mind. Here are just a few, but the brightest, of them.
Americans are not hated at all, but are joyfully welcomed as guests
The Koreans have the highest level there is class consciousness. They never hide their contempt for imperialism, which in the United States is part of the regime system, but if you tell a citizen of the DPRK that you come from America, then your conversation will not be about hating each other, but about sports, differences in politics , culture and much, much more. That is, secular. For example, in the People's Palace of Study in Pyongyang (where, for a second, there are more than 30 million books), the most common work musical art is not a local performer at all, but a collection of hits from the immortal Beatles. But don’t despair, because with approximately the same frequency, North Koreans ask for CDs with Linkin Park records for themselves. This especially applies to progressive youth, for whom there is a place here. Doesn't look much like iron curtain, is not it? And if you add that they are actively interested in the American basketball league, then it becomes completely strange. And this interest is not limited to the most famous names of this sport.
Cartier passed customs and border control twice as fast as in the European Union
Many of the Westerners who were brave enough to finally travel from Beijing to Pyongyang were concerned that the immigration process would be painstaking, lengthy and, as they say, “biased.” Imagine their surprise when the treasured stamps appeared in their passports within a few minutes. Only a few passengers' luggage was selectively inspected, but without fanaticism. The travel company strongly recommended that the journalist not take with him images of the American flag or posters, books, films and other things that could tell about the events of the Korean War. Cartier didn’t take it, but he was very surprised and later noted that even if he had all this in abundance, he would not have experienced any problems, because the customs officers were not very interested in such trifles.
Pyongyang is an extremely beautiful, cultural and clean city
Cartier speaks of the capital of North Korea as one of the best cities he has ever seen. Pyongyang amazed him with its grooming and comfort, even for a tourist who did not know a word of Korean. Considering the fact that in Korean War(here, by the way, it is called the Patriotic War of Liberation) US troops subjected the city to massive carpet bombing, and by 1953 only two buildings remained intact. What happened to the city during this time is worthy of the deepest respect. A lot of statues and majestic official buildings, large park areas for people to relax, residential buildings that never stop growing up like mushrooms. It was previously said that Pyongyang is pitch black at night, but this is not true. Yes, there is no mass of advertising glowing at night, which is inherent in Western cities, but the coverage of important aspects of the capital of the DPRK works constantly and this is even more pleasing, because falling asleep at night is much easier than, for example, in Paris, which is always noisy and burning with all the lights, where the author of the article is from.
A hairstyle “like Kim Jong-un’s” is not required and there are practically no people who wear it
During his entire stay in North Korea, the French journalist managed to notice only one man who tried to imitate the leader of the DPRK. The hairstyle, Cartier notes, did not suit him at all, and at first the reporter thought that the rumors were indeed true, but later he became convinced that this was another fabrication on the part of the BBC, Time and other publications, which, with the help of the South Korean media, disseminated this information. Cartier was also convinced that it was also a lie that North Koreans were limited in their choice of hairstyles. Yes, local hair salons do have portraits of models hanging on the walls, but this is not done as the only choice, but rather intended to make life easier for a client who cannot decide. Also in some beauty salon in New York. Only the price is five times lower.
Residents of the DPRK constantly joke and smile
Here you can ask a reasonable question: is this happening, most likely, for show? The journalist claims that he would be sincerely surprised if he learned that all the laughter that the Koreans shared with him turned out to be fake. If we reason in this way, we can assume that in some incomprehensible way in North Korea they can guess which cars residents of other countries are sitting in, in order to laugh at this very moment. Koreans have a lot of very witty jokes, on a variety of topics, including Americans on the demarcation line. The French journalist is confident that the most successful is the following: “An American soldier passes a cigarette to a soldier from the DPRK across the demarcation line. The Korean soldier takes it, and then the American asks if he hates Americans, then why does he smoke American cigarettes, to which the Korean soldier replies: “So I don’t smoke it, I burn it.”
The monolithic nature of ideology is not the monolithic nature of the people of the DPRK
You should immediately understand what is individualism and what is individuality and what is the big gap between these two concepts. In fact, Cartier notes, his observations made it possible to understand that people in Pyongyang can communicate on a variety of topics and support ideas that, it would seem, could only occur to a native of the “open West.” People here have a lot of interests, and everything is used: sports, culture, music, cinema and much, much more. They are free to choose what they like and what they don't.
People are dressed like brand new, all over the country
Even in rural areas, where the French journalist managed to visit, the Koreans are dressed very decently. There was not a single place he visited where people looked unkempt or wore clothes that resembled cast-offs. Another myth is the fact that all men and women dress the same. Everything is not as typical Europeans and Americans have been taught to think. Men often wear brighter clothes than today's teenagers, but there is still room for business attire. The tie is an international symbol. He also found a place in North Korea. Women do not deny themselves dresses of bright colors; some choose traditional Korean clothes, while others even choose sports-cut clothes. At the same time, no one violates the norms of decency, but people look completely different.
English is a compulsory school subject from 1st grade
Knowledge among young people in English impressive. Even shocking. Cartier says that 90% of those whom he approached on the street communicated with him fluently in English, without experiencing any visible discomfort. As it turns out, it’s all about the quality of education. Previously, foreign languages were taught here from the first grade, but due to the fact that completely foreign English was not so easy for children, the discipline was transferred to the 3rd grade. In addition, the study of Chinese and German languages, but here it’s up to the parents of a junior school student to choose.
Korean residents love tourists very much and want to develop this area
One of the aspects of the economy, as it seemed to Cartier, that the DPRK government will develop, first of all, will most likely be tourism. The new airport building located in Pyongyang is under construction and will soon expand impressively. Koreans would really like to open their country to outside world, but they are confident that this must be done somewhat differently than the Chinese did at one time People's Republic. They don't want North Korea to become another pillar of Western culture and way of life, so their fears are largely understandable.
Cartier also mentioned Air Koryo in a separate text. All reference books give it only one star, but he said that he is ready to bet with anyone that the rating is artificially low, because in terms of the level of service and comfort, this is one of the best agencies whose services he has ever used. Firstly, they have new fleet, which consists of Russian aircraft flying between Beijing and Pyongyang. In addition, there is entertainment during the flight, you can even buy a hamburger, and with it, you can choose from coffee, beer, juice or sparkling water. This kind of service deserves at least three stars. But, unfortunately, it is not the passengers themselves who choose.
Beer is officially recognized as a non-alcoholic drink in North Korea.
In almost every area of the country you can now find a local brewery that provides people with their beverage needs locally. There is a huge variety of varieties that are very popular throughout the country. Most meals in local catering establishments are served, by default, with a small amount of beer. For example, if on a tourist visit you look at the Kim Il Sung Stadium, then you can see how a friendly match between football teams DPRK locals drink beer with plastic cups. Most a shining example Any football game in Russia can happen - the stadiums in both the Russian Federation and Korea are full, but the crowd in the latter is not aggressive, which helps you enjoy the game and not fear for your own safety.
Most of the stories I publish in the West about the DPRK are blatant lies and slander.
Approximately 100–120 US citizens were in Pyongyang at the same time with the French journalist. This was largely due to the fact that amateur runners were allowed to participate in the Pyongyang Marathon for the first time. One couple said that this was their second visit to the DPRK. It’s interesting that they were in North Korea literally a year ago, but they liked the country so much that they wanted to return. They noted that last time they were afraid to go. They became especially scared after the story about how Kim Jong-un allegedly gave the order to shoot his friend because she refused to star in a porn film. Other rumors are that Kim Jong-un executed his own uncle with the help of a pack of hungry dogs (the dogs in various interpretations changed to a mortar, a machine gun, hanging and much more). Educational camps and prisons do exist, but this does not negate the fact that the Western press is throwing quite a lot of effort into a campaign to demonize the DPRK and distort objective reality, which, naturally, does not reflect well on the people of North Korea.
Nikolay Ofitserov
While Kim Jong-un threatens his atomic weapons and launches of ballistic missiles in front of the world, while some talk about the advantages of living in North Korea, and some domestic bloggers, after a visit to this most closed country, bring and publish only “glossy photo reports” made under the close attention of local service employees state security, other bloggers, violating local laws, take pictures of real and real life in the DPRK.
Recently, photographs of socialist Korea from a Polish blogger and photographer appeared online. Michal Huniewicz currently living in England.
It shows North Korea as it really is. It must be said that the photographer could have been sent to a local prison if state security officers at the border had found these photographs in his luggage.
The military is present everywhere
On one side is China, on the other is North Korea. The difference is obvious.
The difference is especially obvious at night.
The first illegal photograph taken in North Korea from a train carriage
You won’t believe it, but these people are waiting at the station when they clean the toilets so that they can take the waste for fertilizer to their gardens.
A photo from a train in one of the DPRK villages
North Koreans are only allowed to travel within the country
North Korean soldiers patrolling
Poor but proud people.
Arrival in Pyongyang. The blogger claims that it was staged because there were no other trains and grounds elegantly dressed people There was no option to leave anywhere either.
In Pyongyang we have already met local guides who did not leave the blogger’s side.
Just street photography and local flavor
Urbanism of Pyongyang
View of the cityscape and the Ryugyong Hotel itself
Hotel elevators do not have a 5th floor button. You can only get there by stairs. And the blogger tried to get there and saw that the entire floor was occupied by the state service. security. Supposed. that there is equipment installed there to monitor guests
All service staff in restaurants and hotels he is wary and fearful of foreigners.
Kim Il Sung Square. One of the places where guides insistently ask you to take a photo.
To live in the capital of the DPRK, you must have a special permit and a special badge, which is issued to official residents of the capital. But, the author notes that in China such badges can be bought on the market.
Such a photograph would not have been missed by the border guards initially, because... guides strongly encourage you to take full-length photographs of the two statues. In the photo are local residents of Pyongyang who come with flowers and bows.
A real grocery store only for residents of the DPRK. The author writes that he only had 20 minutes to take this photo. Then his curator-tour guide took him out of this store.
Souvenir products
It’s a Muscovite’s dream to be away from traffic jams. In the DPRK, a car is an unaffordable luxury.
Workers carry out work practically in formation
Sociological murals on the streets of Pyongyang
Source m1key.me |
We are not trying to outdo the propaganda directed against South Korea by their northern neighbors. Only the personal feelings of a person living in the Land of Morning Freshness.
1. Increased attention
If you are of European appearance, then they stare at you endlessly, each time looking away or looking away, pretending that they are just looking somewhere in your direction. Well, this is the fate of blond people, but I wish others to fully enjoy the beauty of Korea.
2. Closedness of people
Concepts true friendship in Korea and countries former USSR very different. In our country, for example, not everyone is called a friend, but only those who have proven through time and actions that they are worthy of your trust. Koreans call almost every acquaintance a friend, even if they don’t have a particularly close relationship.
However, this does not mean that Koreans are so friendly and open people. They are simply trying to maintain the status quo of a universally philanthropic attitude towards each other (I don’t bother you, and you don’t bother me). Often, Koreans make friends for selfish reasons, such as learning English, appearing in a favorable light in front of friends by being friends with a foreigner, or simply because of money.
Therefore, I would like to advise you not to rely entirely on the word given by a Korean, especially if this is your business partner or employee, because there is a high probability that once you trust, you can find yourself in an uncomfortable position, and that Korean will pretend that it is all your fault. Unfortunately, true strong relationships are very rare in Korea.
3.Collectivism
If in the Western world, first of all, people value individuality and a creative approach to everything, then in Korea it’s the other way around: what is most valued is the ability to not stand out and be like everyone else. At school, for example, even in highly competitive conditions, many students do not realize their potential simply because they do not want to stand out or seem like upstarts or “smart guys.” There is also a strong tradition of forming your own narrow circle, in which everyone follows the same rules and fashion.
Another example can often be seen on the streets: if it starts to rain a little, then Koreans take out or quickly run to buy umbrellas, even if the rain is not heavy. However, if you are walking in the rain and just decide to enjoy the autumn weather, then passing Koreans will look askance at you, because you clearly stand out.
On top of that, it's very difficult to make friends with Koreans unless you belong to the same group as them, be it a class or a club. Very often, Koreans avoid expressing their opinions publicly or openly in person; instead, in order not to stand out, they will most likely agree with everything with a smile, and subsequently, not in front of unnecessary witnesses, will express their indignation or anger.
4. Inability to speak directly
Very rarely will a Korean ask you for something directly, but mostly he will beat around the bush, trying to apologize a thousand times, and asking: “I’m sorry, but is it okay if I bother you with my request?” etc. And only after a series of long explanations and apologies will the Korean hint at what he actually wanted to ask for.
And here lies the biggest difficulty for foreigners, especially for those who are not familiar with the culture of the East: foreigners simply do not understand what they want from them, and waste their time on meaningless explanations. As a result, a conflict may occur, or one of the parties (Korean) may feel insulted, because how dare this foreigner not understand if I’m crucifying myself in front of him for half an hour.
However, the same applies to foreigners: if possible, when talking, or if you need help from a Korean, be very modest and naive, as if you have no other choice but to bother your Korean friend. In this case, by being humble and polite, both parties can reach a mutual agreement. And finally, the most important thing is to learn to read hints, a Korean will never tell you directly “yes” or “no”, his answer will almost always be somewhere in the middle.
5.Age matters
Perhaps the very first thing you will be asked in Korea is your age. Even in an era of colossal progress and high technology Korea maintains the Confucian way of society. This means that everything interpersonal relationships clearly structured according to the concepts of ethics and seniority. Even with a minimal age difference, people address each other differently, using different styles politeness. This may seem very respectful and polite, but in my experience, most of it is nothing more than blind adherence to tradition.
6.Ethics and manners
In theory, this is a topic for a separate article, so I will try to be brief. Even with all their feigned politeness, Koreans very rarely know how to behave at the table, especially the older generation. My friends and I often noticed how Koreans (most often old people) slurp loudly, talk with their mouths full, and make all sorts of other obscene sounds. Unfortunately, I don’t understand why such behavior is not directly condemned by anyone, and is allowed.
Another example of bad manners is that Koreans do not know the boundaries of personal space. For them, the norm is to stand and chew gum, slurping loudly in the elevator, or to come close to you on public transport. The most interesting thing is that, according to Korean stereotype, this behavior is more characteristic of the Chinese, for which Koreans laugh at them and look down on the Chinese.
7.Education system
If you are planning family life in Korea, then most likely you will all have to get acquainted with the Korean education system. I don’t think that everyone will like it, because, in my opinion, education, devoid of any creativity and based on constant cramming, simply has no future and is not able to compete with other countries. Moreover, during the period final exams The whole country is thrown into hysteria as parents visit temples and churches, praying for high scores for their children, and schoolchildren, unconscious, try to memorize what they missed.
At this time, schoolchildren experience enormous stress and pressure from parents, school and society, because they are firmly convinced that if they do not pass the exam, highest mark, then 12 years of study, parents’ money and hours of self-study were wasted.
Therefore, I advise you to think hard about whether you are going to doom your child to the 12 circles of academic hell? I think no.
8.Food
If you are a fan of Korean cuisine, then numerous eateries scattered throughout the city streets are at your service. However, if you are committed to your national cuisine and want to cook for yourself, then several problems arise. Firstly, the price of products is much higher than in Kazakhstan. Secondly, such familiar products as kefir, sour cream or cottage cheese are simply not here. Thirdly, the quality of the bread is disgusting.
Koreans simply don't make good bread, and if there are bakeries that make good, tasty bread, the price for one loaf can exceed $4, which to me personally seems like complete madness.
9. Lack of variety in the kitchen
If you are a strict Muslim, Buddhist or vegetarian, then Korea is absolutely not a country where you will feel comfortable. Korean cuisine is replete with pork and many other types of meat, so if you, due to your religion, cannot eat one or another type of meat, then nutrition can become one of the problems.
The lack of Muslim restaurants and eateries makes life quite difficult for many students, as it takes time to find good meat and cook it, or to find a restaurant that does not serve pork, disguising it as beef.
The same goes for vegetarians: in most cities, with the exception of Seoul and Busan, it is very difficult to find a good vegetarian restaurant, so you will most likely have to cook your own food.
10.Borsch!!!
I, being a student of Russian nationality, abandoned by fate to a foreign land, unbearably miss my mother’s soups, and in particular borscht.
Once I had an idea to cook borscht (all according to my mother’s recipe), and then the problems began.
In Korea there are almost no beets, without which you can’t cook good borscht. So, to taste a plate of borscht (even of the lowest quality), you will have to pay three times more money than for a regular lunch at a diner.
I tried to list the main problems of life in Korea, which, in my humble opinion, can become an obstacle to comfortable life or traveling around Korea.