Originally posted by
[email protected] 22 2003, 10:57 PM
1. The elite living in fenced off areas.
2. "These quarters are North Korea's Forbidden City, a place where the governing elite of North Korea lived. The impressive high-rise apartment complexes were built for these privileged few, luxurious Mercedes awaited them in the mornings, their children attended the exemplary 1st Secondary school, as well as the attendant exemplary kindergarten and nursery. In this closed quarter there were special shops and other establishments needed to provide the cadres with a comfortable life. As a foreigner, I was not allowed inside this quarter, and ordinary Koreans were never let in"
3. Tourists only being able to speak to people who are "Specially trained" To deal with foreiegers.
4 .People are given a notice, That the must put up a revolutionary slogan on their house, Every so often. <-- God knows what happens if you refuse.
5. Cults of personality.
6. Tourists who photography certain things having their cameras smashed.
7. Tall buildings been built in groups of squares, So that the slums are not seen from the outside.
8. The elite having their own shops, With blacked out windows and no revolutionary slogans covering the outside walls.
These are some positive observations made by the author in the article.:
Diplomats appraised of constant and quite inexplicable re-building going on in Pyongyang. This the author soon saw for himself: opposite the Soviet embassy, there was a newly-constructed apartment block, completed just a few months earlier. Suddenly, builders appeared again on the site. They first demolished the upper floor of the structure and then built two or three more floors. Some time later, another house in the neighbourhood was first almost demolished and then rebuilt with one additional floor. Such strange cases were then typical in the centre of Pyongyang.
The stations were decorated with the pompous luxury reminiscent of the Moscow subway during Stalin's times, including marble, mosaics, stained-glass windows, frescoes, huge bronze chandeliers and other extravaganza.
I have seen a statement from a citizen of the DPRK where he described that the collective spirit in the DPRK was such that if he saw his daughter and another child drowning, and could only save one, he would not know which one to save as every child is seen as ones own in the DPRK:
even in the slums, kindergartens looked comparatively well-cared for and well-equipped. If a woman with a child entered a subway carriage, there would always be a small fuss: people would vacate their places for her, while the child would become the centre of attention being caressed and entertained
The author also details the ‘collectivist spirit’ that exists in opposition to the individualist stance of capitalism, of course the author is not endeared to this spirit that exists in the DPRK.
The DPRK has obviously made great achievements in the field of sexual equality:
Among the military, there were many women, comprising perhaps up to one fifth of the entire personnel
And some relative affluence and good living conditions:
By the mid-1980s, most families in Pyongyang had TV sets
Picnicking appeared to be one of the most popular pastimes. On their free days, usually on Sundays, large groups of people, numbering a dozen or even more, would go to the city parks or large suburban Taesôngsan park. There they would lay some makeshift tables or just place a cloth on the grass, eat, drank and have their fun.
It seems people were happy to sing about their leadership…
People often sang in public. In the evenings on weekends, one could often see groups squatting around a guitar player. In general, the guitar appeared to be the most popular musical instrument… there remained the customary reference to the Great Leader or Dear Ruler even in these songs. There was no such a thing as apolitical lyrics in North Korea.
In addition the author praises other aspects of the DPRK:
they managed to perform complicated operations, produce equipment and instruments sometimes virtually without any machines. The order and cleanliness in Pyongyang were exemplary. Streets and pavements were cleaned, the pavement edges were painted white
You assert that there is a great difference in living conditions in the DPRK. I agree, but this is a product of a harsh economic environment, however it is allieviated by socialism, if North Korea were capitalist there would be far larger gaps in living conditions. Here is an explanation of part of the economic situation in the DPRK, something I have wrote previously:
Kim Jong Il said: "After upholding a socialist system for about 30 years, we have to reach out to the West to help feed the people. It's a grim reality that we are behind the West." -Kim Jong Il critises scyophancy without a second thought and has been doing so for the last 30 years. That is, he never tries to deny the truth, because ultimately realising and analysing the truth of their situation is what will best help Koreans, or indeed any nation on Earth.
The DPRK as I will not explain cannot create a socialist paradise in the present circumstances; far from it they struggle to maintain development and the very existence of the nation. All of their policies are orientated to maintain the socialist system of the country and protect the Korean people. If this was not the case the country would no longer be DPRK. Most western liberal democracies can enjoy the luxury of not being under this threat. The WPK tries to maintain a good standard of living for its people, and in many instances does. However it has to make sacrifices to uphold the socialist society so in the long-term they may be free of imperialist and capitalist interventions and develop socialism further.
The DPRK economic situation the DPRK is under masses of pressure, economic and political, trying to force it to cave in, this has been the case for over 50 years. At times the pressure increases, as it did in the 60’s and now has again since 1993. Any capitalist country would have been obliterated under this pressure and collapsed irretrievably to imperialist poisoning. The DPRK has created a society that’s absolute focus is to maintain its independence and thus its socialist system. It has done this through creating an indomitable sense of single-hearted unity between workers, leader and party. In addition its army-orientated society and army-centred politics have created a nation as powerful to hold off U.S. imperialists aggression.
The reactivation of the nuclear program is reactivation of a program concerned with energy production and is a program the U.S. forced the country in 1994 to shut down. In the long-term energy production can rebuild the economy as to let all people enjoy good standards of living. Currently there is a lack of raw materials for energy production. Nuclear production is the only opportunity they currently have for energy production besides the many hydroelectric plants they have. Fossil fuel energy production is extremely difficult since there is a lack of access to fossil fuels because of the U.S. restrictions and its attempts to destroy the economy in the DPRK.
The DPRK has resolutely and successfully defended socialism however at great cost. Yet as of the arduous march of the 90’s and the forced march, which aimed to keep the economy alive by increasing production, they have kept socialism alive.
In rural areas particularly maintaining discipline and providing everyone with motivation and an occupation is essential in keeping society functioning. They have had to leave by the way-side equality to let the majority of the population subsist and those who are at the top level of the political structure live in conditions that allow them to keep a healthy enthusiasm behind the regime and its socialist principles. Perhaps the DPRK will never recover and keep on its path of decline, however this is not a failure of socialism but the victory of imperialism.
There are statements which pertain to the desperate economic situation in the DPRK in the article you provided, Death:
Already in 1985, there were some problems with lighting the city. The economic crisis had not begun to really bite, and cheap Soviet or Chinese raw materials still were flowing into Korea, but shortages of electricity were becoming common, so only some central streets were lit
petrol was imported and scarce
the constant shortage of petrol
The author says that Pyongyang affords a far better lifestyle for Korean citizens. However, he later reveals the truth that: ’ working adults -- 700 g, while the workers in more difficult trades (miners, metallurgists, and railway drivers among them) -- up to 900 g
He also mentions that these industries would be located outside of Pyongyang, this practice seems to treat people outside of Pyongyang very fairly.
The author doesn't sound like much of a socialist, in fact he seems to point fun at socialism:
'as usual, the "masses" were not far behind.'
My main criticism of this text is that it has vitually nothing on the working lives of people in the DPRK; rather an important part of a socialist society.
He seems to point absurdity and ignorance at Koreans saying: ’ One of them even asked, after he had tea for first time, whether he was supposed to eat the small tea leaves left in the bottom of his cup!’
Well as far as I know in some eastern varieties of tea the tea leaves are eaten as a rich source of iron.
You say that they built skyscrapers in to hide slums from visitors, I very much doubt it since there are so few visitors:
there were so few foreigners in Pyongyang… a foreigner walking a Pyongyang street was a very unusual sight indeed.
And, since it is so plainly obvious to the author that they are a simple mask it seems they didn’t do a particularly good job. I would suggest that developed housing estates co-exist with slum areas because the North Koreans cannot afford to house every member of society in an apartment block. Yet the author does specify that many ordinary North Koreans are lucky to live in these apartments.
You suggest that the DPRK monitors visitors and that this is sinister. However, it is a socialist country in an imperialist dominated world and the author says that the practice in the DPRK derives from its socialist counterparts at that time:
much of official Pyongyang paranoia once came from the Soviet Union and China
Obviously calling it paranoia is putting a rather negative spin on it.
The whole tone of this author’s view is exemplified in the last line:
amplifiers transmit the dulcet tones of endless military marches...
The author did not have much good to say about socialism in the USSR either.