Day 8 - d) Pyongyang to Kaesong

Saturday September 11, 2010

In the afternoon we headed to Kaesong for an overnight trip. Kaesong is a city close to the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the buffer zone between the two Koreas. It is a city with historical significance, as it served as the capital of Koryo in ancient times. In modern times it was in the unique situation of switching hands from the South to the North as a consequence of the Korean War. Kaesong would serve as our base for visiting all the DMZ places of interest.

The bus ride from Pyongyang took several hours on the Reunification Highway. This is a six lane motorway but traffic was sparse - most of the other vehicles we saw were other tourist coaches:

Reunification Highway, not very busy.

For entertainment on the road Miss Jong and Mr Lee spoke about North Korean history and culture, including past reunification proposals and traditional marriage customs. Miss Jong also beautifully sang the folk song Arirang to the delight of group B. Other tour members then sang songs from their own countries, less beautifully.

As we headed closer to Kaesong and the DMZ the military checkpoints became more frequent. It was evident the military was much more sensitive in this area, as I personally experienced the next day (see Day 9!). We were instructed by our guides to have our cameras securely packed away as we passed each checkpoint, to ensure there would be no misunderstanding.

Arriving in Kaesong the scene was spectacular - the city is set in a bowl-shaped valley, surrounded by mountains and hills. The main boulevard is a huge dipper going right through the middle of the bowl, reminding me of the New Zealand city of Dunedin somewhat. There were many ordinary folk going about their business, and the older infrastructure again made us feel the same way as we did a week earlier when we first saw life outside of Pyongyang. Not very many cars, crumbling streets, decaying buildings, many bicycles, and even more pedestrians.

Day 8 - c) USS Pueblo

Saturday September 11, 2010

USS Pueblo is a Navy intelligence ship of the United States which was captured by North Korea in 1968, a cold war event now known as the Pueblo Incident.

Although caught on the eastern side of the country in 1999 it was towed to the western side (through international waters) to be brought into Pyongyang, where it now rests and acts as a tourist/educational site.

Bullet marks on the USS Pueblo.

The local military guide showed us the internal rooms of the ship and described how the United States navy was caught red handed spying by the heroic North Korean military.

The ship is still in commission as far as the US Navy is concerned. Check out the reaction from Miss Jong when asked if the Pueblo will ever be repatriated:

Day 8 - b) Pyongyang Metro (subway)

Saturday September 11, 2010

Almost every visit to Pyongyang includes a ride on the metro, and our tour was no exception. Stations are not named after geographical locations but have a revolutionary word assigned as their moniker. All foreign tourists are taken to the Revitalisation station and ride for just one stop, alighting at Glory station.

Pyongyang metro system electronic guide: Pressing one of the destination buttons (bottom) lights up a route on the map.

Like all other socialist countries the Pyongyang metro stations have been elaborately decorated with mosaics, murals, and fancy lighting. Although considering that foreigners are only allowed to see two specific stations one wonders what the other locations are like.

Glory metro station.

The subway is the deepest in the world - 110m underground, which provides for a very long escalator ride from street level. This is intentional so that the underground system can act a bomb shelter in an emergency.

There were plenty of locals using the trains while we visited. Curiously in a city where everything is meticulously ordered and cleaned the windows of the carriages had foreign graffiti scratched into it - the carriages were imported second hand from former Soviet nations.

The very long escalators at Glory station.

Day 8 - a) Mangyongdae Native House (birthplace of Kim Il Sung)

Saturday September 11, 2010

First on our agenda on a rare clear morning in Pyongyang was the Mangyongdae Native House, on the outskirts of the city. This is the reputed birthplace of Kim Il Sung, now set in serene parkland.

The native house exhibited old farm equipment and household wares of Kim Il Sung's childhood. The local guide's emphasis clearly was that Kim Il Sung was raised in a very poor farming background, with the entire extended family living in the one small house. We were also taught that from at four years old Kim Il Sung had mastered the written word and wrote his vision for an independent Korea.

After drinking from the well as relief from the hot sun we headed back to the city.

Group B at the Mangyongdae Native House.

Day 7 - e) Kaeson Fun Park

Friday September 10, 2010

Friday evening was to be spent at the Kaeson fun park in Pyongyang. This park hadn't been open for long, with the rides and facilities looking very modern and new.

"Kaeson Youth Park"

Before entry we were given a choice to stay with the group and enjoy some of the rides or break away from the group (and the guides!) to wander freely - within the boundaries of the park, of course. I and a couple of others chose the latter option to see if we could get some interaction going with the locals.

The park was filled with local visitors - many families but also large school/university groups and lots of military uniforms were seen in the crowd. It was apparent that the fun park is an absolute luxury affordable only for the Workers' Party elite, with many local patrons possessing digital cameras and camcorders.

We managed some interaction with locals wanting photos with the Caucasian tourists, although it was nothing close to the chaotic scenes at the Moran Hill Park the previous day.

One of the food outlets even accepted Euros so some of the others tasted North Korean ice cream and waffles. But the shop did not have any small change in Euros so the tourists were given some croquettes in lieu!

Peter and I attempted a brief chat with a group of students, who seemed keen to try their English once we spoke to them. Although we did embarrass ourselves by asking if they were a middle school group, but being told they were in fact first year university students!

Like Moran Hill park it was wonderful to see North Koreans having genuine fun, not participating in a staged and forced activity. However it was also painfully obvious that the crowd there was part of the privileged set, with the rest of the population never being able to enjoy such facilities.

Day 7 - d) Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum and War Victory Monuments

Friday September 10, 2010

After lunch we headed to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum. Fatherland Liberation War is what North Koreans call the Korean War. The South call it 6/25, named after the date (in a similar way Americans refer to 9/11) of the invasion by the northern military.

North Korea's propaganda stance is that the war was started by the United States under the guise of the United Nations, in order to colonise the entire peninsula. Therefore the Northern military was trying to "liberate" its southern brothers from its oppressors. To this day North Korea considers South Korea as effectively a colony of the United States.

The first part took visitors through each of the stages of the war, with rooms filled with battle exhibits as well as citizens and newspapers celebrating liberation of their region. Obviously the North Korean narrative differs greatly from what the outside world knows as facts, for example:

• The United States started the war by invading the North. (In fact Kim Il Sung invaded the south to begin the conflict after finally receiving the green light from Joseph Stalin, after three years of rejection.)
• The counter-attack by the North Korean army back to the 38th parallel after almost being repelled to China was due to the great military genius of Kim Il Sung. (In fact the Chinese army took over operations.)

After the historical displays we were taken to the basement levels where captured enemy hardware were on shown off as trophies (and evidence of US aggression). It included many United States airplanes, arms, military uniforms, and signed admissions of guilt.

Museum guide showing us some of the American arms captured during the war.

 The third dimension of the museum were "panorama" exhibits, which were models and recreations of battle scenes accompanied by lighting, sound effects, and commentary. The major one we were shown at the end of the tour was particularly impressive - it was a 360 degree circular display with the visitors on a rotating platform in the middle.

Museum guide at the 360 degree panorama, created by the best North Korean artists.

Many of the tour members seemed to be enamoured with the museum guide, who spoke fluent English. She was a genuine member of the military and had only been in this guide job for a couple of months. Michael even bought her a box of chocolates at the end of the tour.

After the museum we took a short drive to the outdoor War Victory Monuments site, where there were massive statues dedicated to the Fatherland Liberation War.

Me in front of one of the War Victory Monuments.

Day 7 - c) Tower Of Juche Idea, Korean barbecue lunch

Friday September 10, 2010

One of the most famous landmarks in Pyongyang is the Tower Of Juche Idea. This structure commemorates the North Korean political doctrine of Juche, which emphasises national self-sufficiency.

The observation level in the tower was closed for some reason so we had to make do looking around the base. At ground level was a wall of plaques celebrating Juche sent from socialist groups around the world. The weather was wet and windy so the photos we took were not optimal, but this should give you an idea how enormous the tower is - I'm the tiny figure to the left of the statue:

Tower Of Juche Idea, with me on the left.

Barbecue is the form of Korean cuisine most familiar to foreigners, and we experienced it Northern style for lunch at Mount Ryonggak. Originally a picnic was planned at the mountain but the inclement weather forced us to a restaurant.

In the South and overseas duck and lamb would never be served in Korean food. So I was surprised to see both brought out as prominent features of this charcoal barbecue. After Mr Lee described the meats I actually did a double take and asked him in Korean "Is this really lamb? Is that what you said?"

The lamb and duck can be attributed to the Chinese influence on North Korean cuisine. Also reflecting the Chinese influence the "fillers" were brought out after the meat was served: A choice between Korean curry rice or Raengmyeon (Naengmyeon in the south), the cold noodles originating from Pyongyang but now served all over the peninsula. Similar to the bibimbap on Wednesday night both were clearly fillers and were nowhere near as good as what you'd get overseas.

Korean barbecue, yum!

Day 7 - b) The Grand People's Study House

Friday September 10, 2010

The centrepiece of Kim Il Sung Square is a magnificent building which is the The Grand People's Study House. This institution is simlar to what Australians would call a State Library - a place of study where lectures and tutorials are held as well as offering the more conventional library services like self-serve fiction, non-fiction, and reference material.

It felt a little bit strange barging in on quiet (but full) reading rooms to take flash photography and gawk at local students. Of course all the rooms had portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il*, and the former was even credited with inventing the adjustable height study desks used in the reading rooms.

The computer rooms were seen briefly. North Koreans do not  have access to the Internet and the government only runs its own Intranet for the viewing of its citizens. Some of the tour members hopped onto the computers and tried to navigate to sites like Google to test it out. And the situation was thus verified, the browser was only there for the Intranet.

Computer room, and the North Korean Intranet.

The highlight of the visit was the English tutorial. When group A visited it was empty but my group B was fortunate enough to see the multimedia classroom packed with students upon our arrival. There was tutorial audio (British accent, of course) playing on the speakers which the students were mimicking.

As the lesson neared the end our guides encouraged us to have a chat with the locals so they could try out their English. As this was happening I couldn't help but think "Who would possibly be learning English in North Korea? Surely we're speaking to spies in training!".

The guides also asked if anyone wanted to go up to the front and speak to the entire class. I wanted to take up this offer but was reluctant because I didn't know whether I would be faced with awkward and potentially dangerous questions/situations... but our group extrovert Peter confidently took the chance. He represented us very well, introducing himself and endearing himself to the students by talking about his place of origin (Ottawa), wher he lives now (Beijing), how much he enjoyed visiting North Korea and how he'd like to return one day after learning how to speak some Korean.

Peter also opened the floor to questions, and one very confident student asked two questions in relatively articulate English. The first question was harmless enough:

However his second question took Peter (and the other foreigners) aback:

The question was obviously loaded and begged the answer "The best way is to go overseas and live amongst the people who speak that language". But of course North Koreans do not have such opportunities... and speaking to Peter afterwards he was acutely aware of this at the time and had to think of a diplomatic response instantly. I reckon he did well.

After seeing Peter handle the situation so ably I desperately wanted to have a go myself but unfortunately our time was up and we were pulled out of there. Just imagine all the questions had I revealed my background to the class! It is a regret that I didn't speak alongside Peter.

The music room was the next stop and the guide showed off how hip and happening North Korea is by playing The Beatles and telling us about the extensive range of western music they have on offer there.

Being such a grand building in a prime location the top floor balcony offered great vistas of Kim Il Sung Square and central Pyongyang. In the shop on the same floor we also spotted the souvenir "See you in Pyongyang" t-shirts that were in hot demand among the tour group - I'm pretty sure we bought out the entire stock. If you know me in real life ask me to wear it for you, ha ha ha ha! 

* - At the border a few days later one of the tour members was forced to delete a photo of the reading room by a camera inspector because Kim Jong Il's picture was not entirely within shot.

Day 7 - a) Mansudae Grand Monument and Revolution Museum

Friday September 10, 2010

Another showery day greeted us as we made our way to the Mansudae Grand Monument on Friday morning. Mansudae is the massive statue of Kim Il Sung that is an obligatory tourist stop in Pyongyang. Upon arrival the presence of military personnel was conspicuous, but we were explicitly told not to photograph them. I'm not 100% sure what they were all doing there, but it seemed like many worked there performing odd maintenance jobs - throwing out old flowers, sweeping footpaths, etc.

Flowers were laid and the group lined up to bow in front of the statue. After a short spiel from Miss Jong we took the obligatory touristy photos, including a group shot. However photography was only permitted as long as the statue of Kim Il Sung was not partially depicted. All photos must have the entire statue included!

Our group at the Mansudae Grand Monument (with the entire statue within shot).

Flanking the main statue were two enormous revolutionary monuments. The northern version had the slogan "Let's kick out the American imperialists and reunify the country!" with a large group of civilians and soldiers cast in bronze looking defiantly ahead (into battle?). Hannah pointed out to us that you could see one of the soldiers trampling on an United States army helmet and flag.

"Let's kick out the American imperialists and reunify our country!"

Our next stop was the Museum Of Korean Revolution, located within the Mansudae complex. Photography was prohibited within this museum and the content sent many of the tour members to sleep. But my boredom was rudely interrupted midway through by the local guide referring to Americans in the museum exhibits as "American bastards". Initially I thought I had misheard this so I started paying close attention and indeed the museum guide was using those words in Korean anytime she mentioned United States nationals - and Miss Jong was cleaning up the language in her translation. I took great delight in revealing this nugget to the tour group, especially our Yankee mates.