Sunday, November 03, 2024

What is it like to be in North Korea?

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Project WarGonzo journalists’ visit to North Korea, Part II (Part I can be found here)

Every day, both in the evening and in the morning, the loudspeakers in Pyongyang play the melody of a song dedicated to Kim Il Sung. The whole city listens to this melody. The synopsis of the song is as follows. A Korean (or North Korean) soldier gets lost, separated from his own troops, and, being in enemy territory, that is, in modern parlance, in the "gray" zone, he yearns and sings: "Where are you, respected commander?"

During the night, the lights went out (and then came back on right away) several times, and a thunderstorm roared and sparkled. In the morning, the rain poured down in a continuous wall, and for a long time, not like in Russia, it was a continuous Asian downpour. The ocean, I guessed, because the ocean is close! The vapors accumulate in huge clouds over the endless water to fall in streams on to the earth.

After breakfast, the official part - we were lectured on the revolutionary ideas of the third of the Kims - Kim Jong Un. He also has them, he has his own specific course. If Grandfather preached self-reliance - Juche, Dad made the army the ruling class - Songun, then at the moment Un proclaimed the slogan "The masses first." And then it is up to the Korean (clarification - North Korean) philosophers to explain this piercing and revolutionary idea to those same masses. Here the lecturer came forward, explaining the methodology of the new revolutionary impulse. We had listened to two lectures of an hour each, and we were to listen to four more. In principle, as a film critic, I had gone to German and Indonesian art house, and the films sometimes lasted four hours, so I was prepared for the test both mentally and physically.

At first glance, perhaps very superficially, the content of the lecture is a "water" of terms and passionate statements, clinging to each other, which only North Koreans understand, and even then the philosopher explains them. But I wrote down some things for myself:

- In world politics, there is no such term as selfless service of the people. (It is implied that only Koreans, that is, North Koreans, have one)

- We should not develop according to the formula by which the whole world develops, but the whole world should develop according to our formula. (Excellent! How pitiful are the countries that grovel before the West)

- Socialist ideas cannot be grafted with the cap of capitalism. (This is such a big hint at the Chinese neighbor)

- The strength and intelligence of an individual are limited, but the strength of the collective is limitless, it helps a person overcome natural limitations (the people are positioned as a nation of interlocking ants, but as I understood from the notes, in order to concentrate all efforts and thoughts and direct them in the right and correct direction, a leader is needed, nothing happens without a leader).

- If you put an idea into a rifle, then it will become stronger than a nuclear weapon, it can break a mountain (And you can't argue with that. It's generally hard to argue with the North Koreans).

I send the last thesis to the materialist Marxists from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, with whom I argued recently, they are against idealists, for them matter is primary, and the environment determines consciousness.

The lecture notes that were handed out - we were given stapled stacks of paper - contained more information, and I was drawn to the paragraph about how the North Koreans, led by Kim Jong Un, fought Covid. Perhaps I will quote again:

“The pandemic plunged the entire world into an abyss of disaster, anxiety and suffering. But our people, led by the wise hand of Kim Jong Un, were able to spend two years and three months in a stable, clean living environment free from the malignant virus. But in May of Juche 111 (2022), a most serious emergency occurred in our country - a malignant virus entered the country. Kim Jong Un's ardent love for his homeland and people, his dedication and energetic leadership led to the creation of miracles in the world history of health care: in just over 80 days, the DPRK managed to completely free itself from the health care crisis that even countries that considered themselves to be at the forefront of anti-epidemic protection could not contain for several years." After the lecture - lunch, as usual, a round dance of 7-8 dishes - who said that North Korea is undernourished? Then a short rest and we were taken to the Victory Museum.

It's like a memorial complex in Moscow on Poklonnaya Hill. Unfortunately for us, the Koreans came up with the idea of ​​glorifying Victory in this way earlier. But their "Victory Park" is not a place to go rollerblading or to take a walk, drink beer with friends. No, the Koreans treat their Victory with sacred awe and reverence. The complex is guarded by the military, there is a checkpoint in front of it, you can only get there as part of a group, having agreed in advance. Unless, of course, you are Kim Jong Un, who worked late and suddenly decided to come here at night, thereby greatly surprising his subordinates. Perhaps, by the way, Un does just that. When he is hard and burdened by the responsibility that has befallen him, and he is categorically forbidden to show weakness, he calls his adjutant and orders: "Let's go to the Victory Museum." The guards and accompanying persons are in a panic. The museum staff, sleepy and scared, are urgently pulled out of bed and taken to the pilgrimage site. Or no, most likely, there are already tour guides on duty around the clock, since they are actually used to the leader's quirks, and they have everything ready for his sudden arrival.

We also got one such guide – a girl in a military uniform who speaks Russian quite well. In front of the palace is the main monument – ​​a Korean soldier with a banner and a PPSh urging his comrades to go forward. To the left and right of him, closer to the entrance, there are group monuments of Korean fighters. Some are firing a machine gun, some a cannon, some are holding a flag – everyone has the desire to die, but be victorious. At the exit of the museum there is also a Korean “Alyosha”, saluting in a tank helmet, and even here we are not the first.

The idea of ​​displaying destroyed enemy equipment also, unfortunately, did not come to us first. The guide led us through artificial trenches to a museum of destroyed American equipment. The equipment is all labeled, painted khaki, with American stars and other insignia. Under the canopy are several captured cars, guns, self-propelled guns and armored vehicles, howitzers on tracks, tanks and even several airplanes - in front of one of them, bombs of various sizes are laid out in a row - a terrible weapon, hundreds, thousands of them were dropped on Pyongyang during the Korean War. There is even a helicopter. The helicopter, however, flew in much later than the Korean War, in May 1965, but to its misfortune - a photo of the pilot with a bloodied back of the head is included.

Later, in 1968, the American intelligence vessel Pueblo wandered into North Korean waters, the Koreans captured it along with its crew – which caused a worldwide scandal. The US threatened war if they refused to give up the ship and release the crew, they lied as always, they claimed that there were geologists on the ship, but the Koreans remained adamant – if we are going to fight, then fight it is, Kim Il Sung responded to the threats, it’s not the first time for us, but the ship is our trophy, and we will not give it to anyone.

The ship is now moored near the museum, and a Korean sailor is saluting visitors. There is a museum on the ship – we were shown all the rooms, cabins and the wheelhouse, the room where the intelligence equipment is stored. There is also a library, most of the books are purely professional and technical, but some of the books are most likely prudently turned to their spines. Maybe there is “The Wizard of Oz” or “Moby Dick” there, we don’t know.

We were shown a thirty-minute film about this story.

One of the American crew resisted and was killed. At first, the survivors lied and denied everything, but when they were finally “pushed against the wall” and “to save their own skins,” they confessed to everything and signed the relevant papers. True, for some reason the handwriting is the same, but all the signatures are there.

We are not the first, and it was not the Chechens who came up with the idea of ​​forcing people to apologize on camera – the detained Americans apologized not only verbally, but also in writing. The then US President Johnson initially refused to apologize, but he had to do so in order to return his fellow tribesmen home after 11 months of imprisonment in a Korean prison. The footage shows Americans dressed as people, in quilted jackets and caps, crossing the border over a bridge. A corpse was also handed over with them – there is a photo with a terrible grin on the dead face.

In general, it must be said that the Koreans are very proud of this story. There may be few Koreans, but they are very proud and they demand that they be taken into account. In my opinion, there are no precedents in the world for an American ship to be captured and not returned.

On the street, from afar, I photographed a bravely marching line of soldiers. This is how they change guards - they approach the post, someone from the line leaves, and the soldier who stood guard forms a serpentine line and they move on. The commander of the soldiers noticed that I took a photo, approached the senior of our group, and I had to delete the photos. It is forbidden to photograph soldiers in the DPRK.

And in the main building of the museum, photography and video shooting are prohibited, so there will be no photos. Visitors to the museum are greeted by a painted statue of Kim Il Sung, inhuman in height. Kim Il Sung is young, in a white jacket, and with gold shoulder straps. This is exactly what Un sees when, probably, he comes here late in the evening, looking for support and inspiration. Look, grandson, I did all this for you and the Korean people - as if the Great Commander is speaking.

There are paintings on the walls, and in the numerous halls, as is customary for such museums, exhibits, maps, and documents are presented. But the first question that was asked and answered before us was "Who started the war in Korea?" The answer was given in a documentary in Russian, which we were offered to watch.

From the film, we can understand that the situation with Ukraine was similar. The Americans incited, trained and pumped the southerners with weapons. The southerners constantly staged provocations on the border, and the northerners were forced to start their SMO, cross the 38th parallel, capture Seoul in a few days and 90% of the entire territory of South Korea. But then the Americans intervened and took direct part in the war. Moreover, the UN Security Council sanctioned the American intervention. We boycotted the meeting because Taiwan represented China's membership, that is, neither China nor the USSR could block or vote against, as in such cases. A "peacekeeping" contingent was brought into Korea, the basis of which was made up of Americans and which did not act in a peacekeeping manner at all. Pyongyang and other cities were bombed, a million peaceful Koreans died, thermite bombs - the predecessors of napalm, bacteriological and chemical weapons were used. The northerners were forced to retreat, they lost Seoul and Pyongyang, they were pushed into the mountains. But then they got together (the girl did not say a word about the million Chinese vacationers, i.e. volunteers), carried out a series of successful military operations against the Americans, pushed them beyond the 38th parallel, even took Seoul again, or rather, its ruins, and lost them again. In the end, the North Koreans won, having consolidated their position at the 38th parallel.

A child flashed in the newsreel, he was hysterical, he was standing in front of the corpse of his mother, who died in the bombing. After Donbass, my emotions stir from such pictures and tears came to my eyes. No matter what games adults played, children should not suffer, they should not die or see the death of their parents.

In general, it was a massacre and a terrible massacre. I understand, believe me, I can guess what happened on the Korean peninsula in the 50-53s.

The area of the museum is 93 thousand square meters, and telling us about this war, the guide took us through various halls with installations and dioramas. We walked along partisan forest paths both in summer and winter, and went down into dugouts. We were led through the hall of heroes, among whom were Russian names (for some reason there were no Chinese).

I was impressed by two monuments in this hall, where one fighter, apparently with broken arms, holds a grenade with his teeth with a pulled pin, another wounded man presses the trigger with his teeth, shooting a machine gun. There was also a jocose installation, where a blond American stands in a tattered overcoat, everywhere there is destroyed equipment and corpses of his comrades, one of whom has a raven pecking at his body and croaking.

Then, at our request, we were taken to see a new quarter. We left Pyongyang, turned near the mausoleum where the bodies of the Kims are kept - this memorial complex is called the Palace of the Sun - and drove into a new district. By the way, I noticed that when you pass the mausoleum, all the cars respectfully slow down.

The new district was on the outskirts of the city, we stopped on the street. It seemed to me to be complicated and elite, as brand new buses were going here, and the district itself looked very nice from the outside. But I was assured that not only scientists and responsible comrades but also ordinary workers received apartments here.

It was something like Kudrovo or Murino in St. Petersburg, but Murino or Kudrovo in which you want to live. The street we were walking along was called the Street of the Future. A spacious road led to the future, clean sidewalks laid out with tiles, green lawns of lush grass. Bike paths and roads for running. Neat houses of different types, not tastelessly arranged, and all of them no higher than 9 floors. And all this was built in some year, the construction was completed in April, 10,000 apartments were delivered! Moreover, housing is provided by the state, absolutely free of charge, complete with furniture and dishes. You get the keys, you move in and live right away. However, our guides did not help us understand the process of handing over the apartment.

Oh well, to our delight they took us to a big pub on the street, and we drank a mug of beer. Beer in North Korea is very tasty, it's called "Taedonggang", and the bar served different brands from light 1 to dark 7, from wheat to rice. In general, I don't understand why "Taedonggang" is not imported to Russia or produced locally using the technology. North Korean beer would be an excellent competitor to European brands.

We drank beer, snacking on chips and some fish fry, like whitebait, but even smaller. We asked what it was, they said it was kanari, and in Russian - sand lance. Oh, how good it is to catch sand lance! We raised our mugs and drank to the health of our dear Chairman of State Affairs, Comrade Kim Jong Un. May God grant all workers life in such apartments.

"The masses come first" - at my request, they translated the slogan on the roof of two neighboring buildings. We started the day with theory and ended it with practical examples. Everything for the masses.

Source: WarGonzo 

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