Inside North Korea - Day 3

Aug 22, 2011

The ondol (온돌) floor heating system was so hot last night that it woke me up in the middle of the night. I got up and went into the next room and ended up falling asleep on the floor in there. When I finally woke up I got ready and walked outside shortly before the rest of the group and I walked around the "hotel" complex and peered out onto the streets. There was a very small channel of water running through the complex. Because of the drought conditions this summer the water level was low enough for me to jump down into the ravine without having to walk in the water. I made my way to the boundary of the grounds where the water was flowing out through a metal grating that appeared like prison bars. In fact, both of our accommodations thus far have felt strangely confining. They clearly don't want any stray tourists making their way out into the local communities without any supervision. Through the metal bars I could see the people of Kaesung busily going to and fro on an early Monday morning. In particular, a few children caught my eye.

After breakfast we walked through town to a large statue of Kim Il Sung situated on the top of a hill central to the city. Kim Il Sung visited this particular hill once while inspecting the city and from the hill top he surveyed the city and declared that the traditional sector should be preserved and the remainder of the city should be modernized. (Of course, the traditional sector looked completely dilapidated and the modernized sector looked only less dilapidated.) 

The view looking out from the base of the statue.

 

Me sitting very far in front of the statue. The actual size of the enormous statue is distorted by the perspective of the photo.

As the group looked out over the city I squatted down nearby a little boy who was there keeping the site clean. He said "hi" to me in English, so I approached him. He was pretty tentative to speak with me, but I was persistent as I spoke to him in Korean. I asked him how old he was. He said he was ten, then he said twelve. I teased him for lying to me. He looked to me like he was no more than seven or eight years old. He then pointed to my camera and asked what it was. I told him the name of it in Korean (사진기) and he had a blank look on his face. So I decided to show him what it was. I took a picture of him and then showed him the picture.

He was rather amazed. So much so, that he called over to some other little boys nearby but they couldn't hear him. So, I took a picture of them, too, and showed it to him.

By this time he was pretty excited. I noticed that he had some crickets in his hand, so I asked him what they were and if he tried catching them often. He called them (잠자리) or dragonflies. Then I noticed that the group was leaving the spot so I told him that I had to leave. He asked me if I would be coming every day. Sadly, I had to tell him that I would not. It broke my heart. (I also spent some time teaching him English words like rock, tree, leaf, etc.) We left Kaesung on the bus at that point and headed toward the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone - 10 Km wide area that forms the border between North and South Korea). This was my second trip to the DMZ. I have now toured it once from each side. From the North it is relatively casual. They appear to view the DMZ as dangerous, but it was more like a border than a tense war zone as it is depicted in the South. (Both depictions may be each respective nation's own form of propaganda aimed at tourists, too.) We were guided around various buildings where the armistice was signed and other places as well as the Joint Security building where a 50 cm cement block outside separates the two Koreas, but on the inside one may roam freely between them.

The stone plaque outside the building where the armistice was signed. Message me for the entertaining translation.

The Joint Security Area

We had to walk around in lines, two by two, from building to building. One of our minders, Mr. Han (한주학) speaks to me in Korean because I told him at the airport when he met us that I wanted to practice. Throughout the tour of the DMZ he translated the description of each place as narrated by a KPA officer (Korean People's Army - the North Korean military). The KPA officer only narrated in Korean because it was "official business", though we later found out that his English was remarkably good. Before going to the building where the Armistice was signed we formed our lines and I was in the front. Mr. Han spoke to me in Korean in front of the KPA officer, Mr. Kim, who previously wasn't fully aware that I spoke or understood Korean, though he was suspicious because I had nodded a few times at what he was saying in a narration before it was translated into English. Occasionally the translation did not come through very accurately, especially when referencing the dirty American Imperialists. Mr. Han asked me if it was my first or second time visiting the DMZ. I told him it was my second; once from the South and now, once from the North. At this, Mr. Kim (the KPA officer) noted that my Korean was exceptional and then asked where I was from. I told him that I live in California. Our entire conversation was in Korean, so no one else in the group nearby understood what was transpiring. He noted that California was on the west coast, which I confirmed. He commented that California was probably the closest state of the U.S. to North Korea, which I also confirmed (we conveniently ignored Alaska and Hawaii.) He then told me that his country had developed missiles strong enough to go over the ocean and strike California. To this I was stunned. He spoke with a straight face and cooly. I couldn't respond with more than an acknowledging smile. He then asked if I was not frightened (무섭지 않습니까?) to which I replied after some hesitation that I had indeed heard talk of such missiles. After a moment he smiled and said that it could be frightening but that it was nothing. I believe he wanted a reaction from me, something to justify what he is constantly told, that foreign nations, especially the U.S., cower to the power and might of North Korea. I did not give him the satisfaction. The interesting thing is that he said these things as though they were the first thoughts that came to his mind after realizing where I was from. The remainder of that visit was relatively uneventful but I did manage to get a picture with him.

We had lunch back in Kaesung and then we drove back to Pyongyang. In Pyongyang we visited the National Library. Here, we visited several different rooms full of 90's era technology. We were guided by a female guide and an older gentleman. The older gentleman, come to find out, is a very high ranking official at the library. One member of the group asked to see a few art books (because he is interested in propaganda art). The older gentleman got a couple of books and began talking to the other guy from our group (who happens to speak some Korean). During the conversation I flipped through a book and was halted by a picture titled "저고리" or traditional Korean jacket. The painting was stunning and I later was fortunate to get a picture of it. I then joined their conversation which turned to language and I said that in order to understand a person you had to speak his language, that through language you can understand a person's way of thinking and their life. For example, the Juche ideology is only comprehensible to one who speaks 조선말 (North Korean dialect). To this he exclaimed that I was exactly right, the great Juche philosophy could only be understood by those who understand Korea & it's language. I made a friend in this man. When we left the library I said a special good-bye to him. He told me "또 오십시오" (Please, come back) to which I replied, I certainly will. On the road from Kaesung to Pyongyang we stopped twice. The first stop was at a "rest-stop" where they sell souvenirs to tourists. As I flipped through a book on North Korea-China relations a very old, haggard looking man began looking on with me. There were one or two other tour busses that had stopped and so I assumed he was a Chinese man from one of those busses. His wife came over and looked on as well and then asked the attendee how much the book cost. I was suprised to hear her ask in Korean and even more surprised to hear the response given in Korean currency and not Chinese currency. (Foreigners are not allowed to have any Korean currency.) The wife commented to her husband that the book was expensive. I couldn't believe what I was understanding them. I asked the old man in Korean what nationality he was and he said that he was North Korean and said it in a way that implied it was ludicrous to assume anything else. He then asked me my nationality. I told him. He burst into laughter. He couldn't believe what he was experiencing: a conversation in Korean with an American, of all people, the sworn enemy! He commented on my ability to speak his language and then his wife called him to hurry along. Interactions with people who are not trained to interact with you have been rare thus far, but quite pleasant when you can make it work. The second stop was at a monument just outside of Pyongyang of two women reaching across the highway.

Inside the base of the monument on one side was a souvenir shop that no one but me happened to notice. While the others were snapping photographs I went into this shop and spoke with the woman at the counter. She was very eager to have me come in and was surprised that I spoke her language. She eagerly began telling me all about the different things in her shop as though she hadn't seen a customer in years. She was probably in her late 30's and wore a beautiful traditional dress. There was a book on the table in front of a chair and she told me to look at it. I opened it expecting to see art or photography but instead I saw blank white pages with some writing. She said it was for visitors to record their thoughts about the tour or monument. So I wrote a note in it with my name, nationality, and desires that Korea would someday be reunified and included the date. There is truly so much that happens each day, so many impressions, feelings, and novel experiences that as I reflect on them at the end of the day it feels like it all happened over the course of a week and not one day. We left Pyongyang and headed to Nampo, a coastal city Southwest of Pyongyang. Here we have come to an old getaway of Kim Il Sung's. Perhaps one of the nicest hotels I have ever been in though, it is a page right out of history - mid 60's or 70's. It comes complete with a hot tub in the bathroom. As I sat soaking after dinner, thoughts of the day ran through my mind, but my thoughts repeatedly turned to my Emily. How I wish she were here with me, how I long to hold her. On the road here I saw a gorgeous sunset rivaled by none I have ever personally witnessed. We drove by some road construction also. Hundreds of men and boys were in the dirt road digging, casting rocks and dirt into our pathway and creating holes on either side of the road - blocking the way. Women were nearby, taking the stones and building a wall to line an intersecting road. One man was carrying rocks from one pile to another and he had his shirt off. He looked like a man of hard labor, tones and dark. He had clearly spent many years doing great physical labor.

Each hotel where we stay at is a compound, with guards (sometimes uniformed, sometimes not) and fences. However beautiful the grounds are, we are in a prison. We see and talk to, for the most part, only what they want us to. It takes ingenuity and some language skills to get by this and I am beginning to learn how to more and more each day. I am an ambassador to this country, I am constantly aware that potentially hundreds of people see me each day and make judgements about what they have heard about America. I can't affect every person that sees me, but I am trying. I smile as much as I can at people, I wave to little children and I speak to whoever I can. At the library we had a very brief moment to speak to some people attending an English language lecture. I told them about my family and the U.S. and asked them about themselves. Open dialogue has been so promising, so enlightening, so magical.