Adventures with Julia

September 17, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

We have just boarded Air China for the short flight from Seoul to Beijing.   The long leg from San Francisco to Seoul on United was a smooth, all daylight flight with surprisingly good food and seats.   Mark watched movies and snoozed, while I read a book called “This is Paradise!” written by a young man who was born in North Korea in 1986 and tells the story of his life there, his escape into China with his parents  in 1998 and his eventual arrival in South Korea in 2002 via Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.  It is a sad, even sickening tale that is all the more disturbing when I realize these events have been happening while I have enjoyed the good life we have in the USA.  Worse, these events are still happening and we are about to be in the midst of it very soon, but not likely to see much, if any, of the reality of the tale.  I would think it almost too fantastical to believe except that I have now read two other books with almost identical tales; “The Aquariums of Pyongyang” and, the best and most thoroughly documented, “Nothing to Envy”, which I recommend and encourage you all to read.  If enough people in the west knew about the atrocities that the Kim Dynasty has and continues to perpetrate on its people and spoke out about it perhaps the Regime would collapse.  Since the famine began in 1993, hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have fled to China and most remain there illegally while trying to work and meld into Chinese society and avoid being arrested by the Chinese police and sent back to North Korea, where they know they will be put into penal gulags or executed.  Some of the North Koreans who have escaped and made it to South Korea , approximately 10,000,  are doing their best to spread the word and hoping Korea will be reunited within the next 10 years “or so”.

It is a long story and I am getting ahead of myself.   After weeks of wondering if we would be approved to enter North Korea, finally, early this morning at the El Rancho Motel, we learned by email from our travel agent, Winnie,  that our visas to North Korea were approved.   Although we have been excited for months about this adventure we are embarking upon, we were also nervous about the prospect of being in the Hermit Country and getting permission to enter it.    What would we do if we got to Beijing and could not go to N.K.?  Thankfully, that is no longer an issue.  Now I just need to concern myself with my own behavior while there.  Hmmm.

It is finally dark and we are about to land in Beijing after having a non-descript Korean, or was it Chinese, meal?  Next stop, the Raffles Hotel and a good night’s sleep.   Tomorrow we have a full day of sightseeing in the capital city…things we have not seen before.

September 18, 2010

Our bags came off the carrousel early and we had no trouble passing through immigrations.  The crush hit when we went to get a taxi.  There were four lines, each four abreast and about 300 feet long.  It took us an hour to get to the head of the line.  Then our taxi driver could not understand where we wanted to go in spite of the Chinese directions we had for him.  Finally Mark remembered the city map he had kept from our last visit to Raffles Hotel and showed that to the driver.  He recognized the symbol and we were on our way.   An hour more and we were finally at Raffles and the room we had hoped for.  Dropped into be.

This morning at 9am we met our Beijing guide, Emily, after a leisurely breakfast.  Outdoors we encountered a cool, overcast and rainy day.  This was preferable over the heat and humidity we experienced here in July so no complaints on our part.  Our first stop was the 15^th century Ming Dynasty building complex called the Temple of Heaven.   It includes a series of round buildings representing heaven and square walls representing earth.  It appears the Chinese believed the earth was square for many centuries. This complex, along with many other touristy places in the city, were all beautifully re-painted prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics.  The circular roofs have deep blue tiles and the walls have many dragon and phoenix motifs that represent the emperor and empress from the Ming and Qing period.  The large, peaceful garden is full of cypress trees that are marked to indicate their age.   There were several over 500 years old and still hanging on.   It was a pretty place and worth lingering, but for the rain and the huge crowds of Chinese tourists.   From there we drove to a vast outdoor shopping area called the “Dirt Market”.   Hundreds of vendors were packed side by side in clusters peddling similar products such as jade, bronzes, furniture, porcelain…most anything except food.  The place was packed with people, again mostly Chinese.   We found the whole scene overwhelming and Mark and I both had trouble focusing on such an excess of stuff.  Our eyes did get caught by a small, black and white photo store and we spent time looking at the many photos, talking with the photographer, and buying 3 small images we will add to our photo gallery.   From there we went to lunch at a dumpling restaurant, Emily’s favorite, and proceeded to stuff ourselves on the tasty hand-made-to-order morsels we watched being made.   Our next stop was the Lao She Tea House for a mixed performance of opera singing, magic, comedy and bowl juggling.  The best act was the bowl juggling so you can imagine what a bust that was.  At least the tea was hot and tasty.  Next!  When we got outdoors, the rain had stopped and the sun was out; time to go for a stroll down the nearby street called Chien Men.  It is a fully rebuilt pedestrian shopping street with all the store facades replicating the original look of the street.  It too was done in time for the Olympics, was attractive and photogenic and packed with Chinese shoppers…mostly lookers as I did not see many people carrying bags.   Emily and the driver dropped us at the hotel at 5pm.  We still had some energy so we went for a walk down Wangfujing, the local neighborhood pedestrian street, until we came to the cross street with the famous Night Market where vendors are lined up to sell a very odd assortment of deep fried “foods” neither Mark or I would eat…including worms, scorpions, snakes, crickets.  We watched some young Americans trying the scorpion and not finishing it.  Even the sugar coated fruit sticks did not appeal.   Although the street did not appear dirty, we questioned the sanitary aspect, and the smell of the whole area was unsavory and repelling.  It was, however, a good place to take photos, which, thankfully, will not expose viewers to the aroma.

Again, the crowds on the shopping streets and in the malls are overwhelming.  Where do they all come from? Where do they live?  Emily lives 50 minutes away by subway in a 900 square foot apartment she owns with her husband and baby daughter.   She commutes into the City every day and says she has to wait in line a long time just to get on the train.  She says many people live even further away and also make the commute.   I asked her if the crowds bother her and she said she cannot imagine being alone and would never want to be by herself.   Lucky for her.  She and her husband purchased their 90 square meter apartment for 600,000 yuan.  She figures they will pay off the mortgage within 20 years.  She has no plan to move as the apartment is just fine for her small family.  (Translation: about 1000 square feet for $100,000)

Now Mark is sound asleep and I better join him soon.  It is nice staying in a familiar place.  Our room is just two doors down from the room we enjoyed in July.  I had thought to stay in a different location, but Mark wanted the tried and true.  It was a good choice.

September 21, 2010

Yesterday was crammed with sightseeing as the Museum we were to see today turns out to be closed on Mondays.  So we were out at 8:15am drove to the Hou Hai Lake district to visit a hutong, an old residential neighborhood.  There we took a rickshaw ride through the meandering narrow alleyways with high walls and random doorways.  We stopped at one and Emily went inside.  There was a nice courtyard surrounded by small rooms used for sleeping, cooking, eating and visiting.  Four people lived in the one we saw.  The water source is a well in the courtyard, but there is no plumbing so the family must use the public facilities nearby and go to a bath house when they want to clean up.  Each house had an air conditioner and heaters and the alleyways were swept clean. Now that the people are becoming more affluent and the government wants a pleasing front, life is looking up even if the hutong dwellers do not have indoor toilets and bathtubs.  According to Emily it is cheap to rent a room in hutong as families are much smaller now and there are many extra rooms.  However it is very expensive to buy one as they are near downtown and have cache.   It was fun watching Chinese tourists ride in the rickshaws.  Emily said it is a novelty for them as rickshaw travel used o be only for rich people and officials.

From Hou Hai we went a short distance to the Lama Temple to see the 55 foot tall Maitreya, or Future, Buddha made from á single block of sandalwood.  It was in a very nice looking, gold colored Buddha.  As an active Temple, there were many people praying and burning incense.

From there we headed diagonally SW across the city to get to the Beijing Capital Museum.   We managed to spend about 1 ½ hours visiting a wonderful collection of Chinese porcelain laid out chronologically from the Song Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty and a well presented Chinese historical and cultural relics exhibition.  I could have stayed longer for sure.  Mark, of course, covered more floors and was finished long before I was.  Emily waited with him.  We did not get into the Chinese art wing at all.  The museum was built in 2006, is interesting to see in and of itself.  The place is spacious and the exhibits well-laid out.

Back in the van we drove NW to the Summer Palace in time for our lunch date at the new Aman Resort’s restaurant.  The food was very good and the prices were over the top.  Guess we should have expected as much.  The Summer Palace was lovely, though not as wonderful as I remembered it from 1981 when I first visited with my parents.  Even the Marble Boat did not look as splendid.  Still, we had a pleasant walk around the place along with the thousands of other people doing the same.

After all that activity and a traffic jam on the way to the hotel, we were still home by 5:40pm.  That was when we learned that the hotel staff could not make our computer send messages over Outlook Express and that is where all your addresses are listed.  So, after much frustration, I let go of being able to send messages.  Maybe it will be possible in South Korea.  Meanwhile, I will keep writing.   We changed and walked a short distance to a Mongolian Hot Pot restaurant, thinking we would have a good and interesting meal.  Boy was that a mistake.  The place was noisy and not very pleasant, we were seated next to the air-conditioning machine; the food was very uninteresting and tasted of peanut oil and mild chili.  We were not in a good mood before we went and were really unhappy when we left.  So the best course of action was to get into bed and read until we fell asleep.  Fortunately, we had had a good day.

Today was much more leisurely….well, sort of.  We left the hotel at 8am to and walked briskly for 20 minutes to the Crowne Plaza Hotel where we met up with our North Korean guide, Walter Keats, and the group we will be with for the next week.  We had a 2 hour discussion about what to expect in NK and what to do and not do. What I learned from it was, if I want to take pictures do not hang out near the guides and if I want to chat with the guides and learn about them, don’t take many photos.  That means I will be in a constant dilemma as we will have almost no opportunity to talk with other North Koreans.  There are only about 50 English speaking guides so Walter has gotten to know many of them.  They are nice people who know how to avoid answering questions they cannot or do not know how to answer.  They are watching each other as well as watching us and could compromise themselves and three generations of their families if they make a wrong move.  The concentration camp is just one mistaken move or thoughtless remark away.  What a horrible way to have to live.

Walter also showed us a number of images of the sights we will see and the hotels and rooms we will be staying in.  It was nice to get a flavor for what to expect.  He is quite sarcastic about the current regime and made us laugh in a funny sad way.  He referred to Kim Il Sung as “God”, Kim Jung Il as “Jesus” and the high ranking officials as “apostles”.  The regime has a serious problem about what to do when Jesus dies.  Apparently, when Kim Jung Il went to China a few weeks ago, ostensibly to introduce and receive approval of his illegitimate son as the next leader, the Chinese did not give any public endorsement and there have been no published photos of the son, Kim Jung Un.  Also, the big meeting that was to happen in North Korea this last week, again ostensibly to introduce the son as the future leader, was postponed.  Walter hopes the Dear Leader will move up to heaven soon so something better can happen for the people.  He encourages more people to visit NK so the North Koreans who do see us will begin to realize that people from other countries are well fed, have plenty of clothes, are free to travel and do not live in fear.  Even if we cannot speak to them, they can observe and ponder the possibilities.

Now that we have visas, we are invited guests of North Korea and have little to fear unless we do something stupid, like insult the Dear Leader in public.  I pray that I mind my manners.  We each received personalized luggage tags and a map of North Korea.

From there we walked back to the hotel along the pedestrian street and made a quick stop into the largest mall in Asia.  A little goes a long way with us.  We had only two activities on the agenda for the day:  the 2008 Olympic venue and an art gallery area called Factory798.  We took a taxi to the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube.  I found both venues awe inspiring even though I had seen them on TV.  The Bird’s Nest is especially interesting to see and experience firsthand.  When I walked inside and down into the stands, I could feel the excitement of the games even though the place was empty.  I took several photos and hope they give a feel for the place and the space.   From there we walked a couple of blocks to the Water Cube.  It is also an interesting building to experience, but not as awesome.  Inside, the place has been converted into a public swimming facility including multiple water slides, pools and hot tubs and an ocean wave environment complete with a beach.

By this time we were hungry so we went into a McDonald’s that was next to the Water Cube hoping for a fishwich, but the place was packed and the only choices were Big Mac or Chicken sandwich  meals.  No thanks, not that hungry.  We grabbed another taxi (by the way taxi rides are pretty cheap in Beijing) and headed for Factory 798.  Without a frame of reference we were somewhat disoriented at the “Factory”.   Art galleries and workshops are scattered all over the old factory buildings with no organized way to discern which places to visit, so we wandered around awhile, stumbled into a few odd galleries, found a place to get a pizza and a glass of freshly squeezed carrot juice and decided to call it a day.  Good timing too, as it was just starting to rain.  Another taxi ride to the hotel and we were back in our room by 3:30 with a little time to relax before dinner.

Dinner was at a new restaurant called Capital M.  As it was next to Tien An Men Square and not raining, we walked by way of the square and watched a huge flower pattern being laid out and filled in with potted plants for a festival coming up this next weekend.    We were the first to arrive at Capital M, so we ordered a drink and waited.  A 63 year old woman, Barbara, sat next to me and we chatted about her career as a University professor and her passion for travel in Asia.  She likes to teach English as a second language at schools in Asian countries and is fluent in Korean and Japanese with a bit of Chinese.  It turns out this is her second trip to NK and she will be visiting different places than we will.   Our leader, Walter, has also been traveling to Asian since 1976, got into the travel business in the late 70’s and first went to North Korea in 1996.  He organized tours for 200 people in 2006, but all the trips were cancelled due to major floods in NK that summer.  After that he planned more slowly and only this season with 50 people committed is he back up to 200 total North Korean visitors from the US.  Lucky us.

We were going to walk back to the hotel, but it was raining again so we accepted a ride in the group van.  Now I am falling asleep at the computer so I quit.  Tomorrow morning we fly to Pyongyang.  Unfortunately, I cannot send this message to the whole group of you, so I will try to send it to a few of you by webmail and ask you kindly to send it on to others as you know want to receive it.

Good night, Julia

September 22, 2010

At last we are in North Korea.  It took all day yesterday to get here.  Left our hotel at 8:30, met the group and departed the Crowne Plaza at 9:15, arrived at the airport at 10, took until 11:30 to get checked in, boarded the Air Koryo (NK airline) plane at 1pm, lifted off at 1:30, landed at Pyongyang at 4pm, spent another hour and a half getting our bags checked into the country (only our cell phone was impounded); drove 30 minutes to the center of town and the Potonggang Hotel, got to our room at 6:30pm.  Took a quick look at the room and rejoined the group for a bus ride to dinner at the National Restaurant where we had a traditional BBQ dinner and watched an all women band perform.  Finally got back to the room at 9pm and dove into bed.

The best part of the day was the airplane ride.  The stewardesses were lovely and impeccably dressed in red uniforms.  The plane itself was spotless.  Mark and I did our usual sitting arrangement where he has the isle and I have the window.  A North Korean woman sat between us and said something to me in English so we struck up a conversation.  Turned out she spoke fluent American English, which she learned in University and from her many travels abroad.  She is an Official in the International Department of the Central Committee of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union and travels to places like Uganda, Ethiopia and South Africa representing NK at Women’s conferences.  Her name is Song Jung Sil, which means “achieve heavy fruit”.  We had a very interesting conversation about life in NK and the gradual improvements and developments that are being made.  She categorically denied the existence of “concentration camps” and refused to talk about the prospects of life after Kim Jung Il.  Mark took a photo of us in the rain on the airport ramp.  Then she disappeared into the crowd.

We were met by our local guide, Mrs. Ri Mong Nan, a driver, a professional videographer, and two minders, both named Mr Oh. We call them Oh senior and Oh junior.  On the way into town, Mrs. Ri talked generally about the country and the things we saw as we drove along including a large mosaic of the last image of Kim Il Sung.  This image is also the one, in the shape of a round pin, which everyone wears over their heart. In addition to the rain and mist, the bus windows were fogged so viewing was minimal.  I did notice there were only a few cars on the road and a good number of people were walking and bicycling.  Everyone looked quite normal.  Mrs. Ri told us the population is 20,000,000 and growing.  The city, which was leveled during the Korean War by Americans, has been rebuilt and has many tall buildings including the 44 story hotel, Potonggang, in the center the city where we will be staying.  There was almost no traffic and we moved quickly into the city center.

As it was late, we went directly to dinner at the Nationalities Restaurant, which was garishly decorated in thousands of plastic flowers, and had our first of many Korean meals.  This one included beef and squid grilled on a BBQ on our table.  I liked that part.  A number of other side dishes were also served including kimchee, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, rice and soup.  It was way too much food, but we all tried to be polite and eat some of each dish.  The only dish missing was dessert.  Our group turns out not to be much into alcohol.  While half the group drank soft drinks, the rest of us drank beer, which tastes good to me and is not very strong.  After dinner, we were entertained by a group of female musicians.  One of them played an interesting string instrument called a “gayagum”.  The music was pleasant except for the amplifier reverberation.  It seems to be a popular Asian effect.  Mark and I would both rather hear the pure sound.  Meanwhile, Walter commented that the reason women are doing most of the service jobs, including playing in bands, is because all the young men are serving in the military.

Our room was a corner suite on the 19^th floor with large windows that opened so we could get cross ventilation.  Shortly after we got into the room we heard music coming from a loud speaker.  An hour later we hear it again and again at 5am and at 6am.  It turns out every city has political songs and propaganda speeches played over loudspeakers several times each morning and evening.   Thankfully, it does not go on all night.

At breakfast our first morning, we met a man from Colorado, David Snell, who is here planning the construction of 50 houses in a nearby area.  His organization is called The Fuller Center for Housing and is based in Atlanta.   Fuller was also the founder of Habitat For Humanity.  David believes both North Koreans and Americans have “mutually flawed perceptions” about each other.  His objective is to change the false impressions one person at a time by bringing more Americans here to experience North Korea for themselves and to help the local people build houses.  He believes the North Koreans are terrified of Americans, based on their experience of the war (which has, in fact, not ended) and the propaganda they have been force fed since the mid 50’s.  We Americans, on the other hand, suspect that NK is one big concentration camp with an egomaniac dictator.

September 23, 2010

After breakfast yesterday, we headed out on a large bus for our first full day in Pyongyang.   First stop was the Mangyongdae Native House, the supposed birthplace of Kim Il Sung.  It is a thatched, three structured, country home in mint condition that, supposedly, contains farm equipment made by Kim’s grandfather, kitchen equipment used by his grandmother and photos of various family members, most of whom died during the “anti-Japanese war”.  While there we heard loud singing coming from squads of marching cadets.  As they approached the birthplace they became quiet and marched in perfect unison.  There were several hundred boys from 6 to 16 all in spotless uniforms.  They are students at the nearby Revolutionary School.   We managed to get a few of them to smile at us as they passed by.  The birthplace is in a large, well-kept park filed with lawns, trees, hedges and walkways leading up a gentle slope to a vista point where we could see much of the city and get ourselves oriented.  A large river, the Taedong, divides the City into West Pyongyang, the central district, and East Pyongyang.   As we walked back to the bus, we could see a group of people who were held back until we had passed.  An effort, I guessed, to keep us separated from local folk.

Back on the bus, we headed for the Pyongyang Metro to take a ride on the underground.  It costs 5 wan to ride it anywhere regardless of the distance.  Once in the station, we got on a very fast moving escalator and descended 100 meters in dim light to the platform, which was a splendid space filled with huge mosaics on the walls and outlandish chandeliers hanging from the ceilings.  The underground was built so deep to provide shelter in case the US Imperialists should bomb the country.

We rode for only one stop traveling at 55km/hour and stepped out into an equally fantastically decorated station, done in a slightly different motif.  Huge numbers of people ride the underground and the place was packed while we were there.  The escalator up was just as fast and dimly lit.  Back on top we found ourselves across the street from our hotel.  So we took the time for a potty break and re-boarded the bus for the nearby Mansudae Fountain Park so we could see the many fountains and sculptures amid statues of the Great Leader and view the National Library and the Grand Theater facades.  No chance of going inside.  Then onward to the Kim Il Sung Monument, where the statue of Kim is 22.9 meters high.  The largest statue of Mao, meanwhile, comes up only to this statue’s knees.  I could only compare it to Ramses II at Abu Simbal and suspect Ramses may be shorter.  This statue was built in bronze for Kim Il Sung’s 70^th birthday in1982, along with a number of other monuments throughout the country.   We were told that we must ceremoniously deliver flowers to the foot of the statue and bow before it.  Earl, an elderly man in our group who also served in the army during the Korean War, agreed to do the flowers.  The rest of us lined up in a row while he laid the flowers.  When he joined our line, we were all to bow.  A couple of people did, but Mark and I stood erect and still.  What a charade!  Then we walked around the other huge sculptures, all beautifully executed by unnamed Korean craftsmen.  One double sided sculpture was of many people representing the anti-Japanese Revolution that lasted until 1945.  The other double sided sculpture was divided into two themes; the social revolution and the Revolutionary War, which we call the Korean War.  In this last sculpture a small but noticeable part includes an upside down GI helmet and a US flag being trampled underfoot.

Next stop, lunch on the Pyongyang Boat  #1.  Tourists used to motor up and down the Taedong River while having lunch, but the boat is so derelict that it is now kept tied to the shore.  Beats me why we had lunch on it, except that we were captives.  For the first time we were finally seeing local people in significant numbers.  It was a National Holiday for honoring ancestors and everyone was out in family groups enjoying the nice weather and having picnic lunches wherever they could.  We were not allowed to take photos of people and when I continued to do it anyway, Mrs Ri and I had a serious confrontation.  To save her face, I deleted one photo, but I continued to take pictures surreptitiously, in spite of many orders not to by all three minders traveling with us.  Consequently, I have a number of photos with heads cut off or other parts missing.  I recognize the guides are only following orders from above, but it makes no reasonable sense to me.  We finally left the boat and walked along the river, trying to hide photo taking of people, yet smiling and trying to be friendly whenever possible.  Walter started going up to young people and saying hello in Korean and extending his hand.  Once I saw him get smiles, giggles and handshakes back, I decided to try it.  It worked fine and I was able to get a few photos from willing people.  Ano Hasimnika is the Korean all-purpose greeting.  It is pronounced Anyo Ha Sim Ni Ka.  We stopped at the Taedong Gate and the YongYang Pavilion.  As Pyongyang had been leveled during the war, these were replicas of ancient building.  Only a huge bronze bell survived the bombings.

From there we drove to the Foreign Language Bookstore where we purchased postcards and a North Korean flag for our collection.  We had been afraid that would not be possible so if we don’t do any more shopping we are satisfied.

Another short drive and we were at the base of Moran Hill, where we took a “long” stroll up and around the hill and saw the Moran Theater where symphonies are performed, more North Korean monuments and a Russian Monument to Friendship between Russia and North Korea. Views from the top of the hill were very nice, including a clear shot of the Kim Il Sung statue where we left flowers.  We found many more groups of families sharing picnics on grass outcrops and at vista points.

Then we drove to the Tower of Juche Idea, which was also built in 1982 for the Great Leader’s 70^th birthday.  This tower is directly opposite the statue of Kim about a half mile away.  It immediately reminded us of  the Washington Monument, only it is larger and slightly different.  It is 170 meters tall including a 20 meter high gold flame at the top. “Juche” refers to the concept of Self-Reliance, wherein Kim suggests the people should not rely on other countries for support.  It implies that individuals should be self-reliant too, but, in fact, they are totally dependent on the regime for survival.  We were not allowed to get off the bus at this site as it is being readied for the 65 Anniversary celebration of the Workers Party on October 10.  Apparently there will be fireworks happening from the tower. This will not be the last tourist stop we will miss because of the coming celebration.  In this case, we did not need to get off the bus to see the monument as it was visible from many places.  We were also not allowed to see the Monument to Party Founding for the same reason.  This one was unfortunate as there were thousands of people at the monument rehearsing for the event.  We were absolutely not allowed to even drive near the place.  What a bummer.

Our last stop of the day was the North Korean version of the Arch of Triumph.  Another 70^th birthday present, it is, of course, larger (60 x 50 meters) than the one it copies in Paris and is dedicated to Kim Il Sung’s departure from Korea in 1925 and his “triumphal return” from Manchuria after “defeating” the Japanese in 1945—never mind that the Japanese were defeated by the bombing of their country and left Korea when the Americans and Russians sent the POW’s back to Japan.  He had been a leader of the anti-Japanese resistance in Manchuria, but was not the primary cause of the departure of the Japanese.   Although we made a lot of stops during the day we did not leave the central district of Pyongyang.

After cleaning up we drove to a restaurant called Chongryu Hot Pot.  Mark and I are wondering how it will compare with our miserable hot pot dinner in Beijing.  I am pleased to report that it was considerably better, however, we do not plan to have hot pot again for a long time.  Happily we were back at the hotel early enough to relax before going to bed.

September 25, 2010

Ano Hasimnika!

At 8:30am on the morning of the 23^rd we were all dressed in our best clothes, the men even had on ties, and heading for the Kumsusan Memorial Palace to see Kim Il Sung laying in state.  What a trip!  The palace was President Kim’s office while he was alive.  It was and is surrounded by a large moat and is a huge marble edifice.  After he died, a year was spent modifying the place into his memorial.  From the outside the noticeable changes include the replacement of all windows with marble walls and the installation of long hallways with moving ramps to process the huge crowds that come to pay their respects.  Inside it is hard to tell what has been changed and no one would tell us if they knew.  The place is solid marble with huge rooms and 2-3 story ceilings everywhere.  We were required to meet in a waiting room for our turn, then line up 4 abreast to march into the entrance corridors where we were searched and had to leave behind purses, wallets, cameras and anything with metal.  Then we went quietly, single file on the moving ramps for at least 2 football lengths until we entered the palace proper.  It is hard to explain the experience.  The place was stupendous in size, but there was nothing on the walls or the floors.  There was no furniture.  There was only grey/white marble everywhere including the ceilings.  We walked silently in single file through 2 or 3 such spaces and finally passed through an air conditioned chamber and into the space where the glass covered body of Kim Il Sung lay in state.  We walked single file to a line at the foot of his coffin, at which point we were to bow when Mrs. Ri bowed.  We did not.  Then we walked around the coffin stopping at each side and supposedly bowing again.  I thought Kim looked pretty good for being dead since 1994.  Of course it has taken a Herculean effort to keep him that way.  After a full circuit, we followed Mrs Ri out of the room and through three successive rooms that display all the medals and honors him received from dignitaries all over the socialist and communist world along with many large photographs; his personal railroad car and his last Mercedes.  From there we retraced our steps out of the building, retrieved our possessions and exited.  We were finally allowed to take photos of the exterior of the facility as long as we did not photograph any military guards.  We were all rather dumb struck at first.  Later on I asked everyone in the group what one word or phrase they would use to describe their impression of the Memorial Palace.  The responses I got included:  ostentatious, gaudy, garish, totalitarian extravagance, egotistical, forced-ritual, theatrical and, my favorite, staged. The whole country is like a movie set where the participants have long forgotten there was any other way of being outside the movie which never ends.

It seemed like no coincidence that our next stop was the Film Studio founded in 1948 by Kim Il Sung and later turned over to his son Kim Jung Il to manage.  It was a one square kilometer facility with a grand entrance and the perfunctory larger than life bronze statues and mosaic filled wall scenes of Kim Il Sung.  Once passed the entry, we were driven to the movie sets and saw three:  a 1920’s Korean village set; a 1940’s Japanese town set and a “western set” of non-descript vintage that contained 3 houses that were each a hodgepodge of styles built on a hillside full of trees along a suburban-like street.  All the sets looked tired and old.  According to our local guide, 1500 films have been made at the studio including 15 this year so far.  The place looked deserted to us.  All the films have a propaganda aspect to them.  Many have been about the anti-Japanese Revolution and the Korean War.  Even love stories have a political bent or teach a “Kimilsungian” moral.  With little else to watch on TV, people see these movies over and over.  On the TV in our hotel room we are able to get BBC, China TV news and sports channels, a couple of Russian channels and a few North Korean Channels.  However, tourists are restricted to the 18^th and 19 floors, so perhaps the other floors do not get the channels we receive.

Our next and required stop was the US Pueblo, which is currently moored on the Teagong River bank.  It was a small electronic surveillance boat masquerading as an oceanographic research vessel that strayed into North Korean waters in January 1968 and was captured by the North Koreans after a brief fight.  One of the 83 men on board was killed and the rest captured and held for 11 months before the US finally issued a written apology to get the men released.  It was an ugly scene with the men being treated very harshly until they each wrote written confessions.  As 1968 was a bad year for the US in Viet Nam, not much attention was put on rescuing the men.  The affair was a major thorn in Johnson’s side.  The men finally left through the DMZ crossing, but the Pueblo remained along with a lot of secret documents and equipment that had not been scuttled in time.  After walking all around the boat, we were subjected to a film about the whole issue from the North Korean point of view.  The rhetoric was very skewed and hard to swallow.  Why did we all sit there so politely?  Walter, having seen this film several times, was in the back of the boat discussing the inappropriateness of it with the boat guide.  He had fun needling her, but did not get anywhere.  I was glad to get off and move on.

From there we drove to a local hill called Mt. Ryongak, dragon fly in English, where an outdoor picnic was laid out for us in a lovely park-like setting.  It was the best Korean meal so far.

After that pleasant experience we visited the War Museum, which left a bad taste in my mouth.  We got to see and hear the North Korean version of the Korean War.  The building was built in the old Soviet style with cavernous spaces and long corridors.  After walking a good distance we made it up to the third floor where we sat in seats that moved around a huge diorama one of the war battles showing the North Koreans winning the battle.  Even though I did not like the story, I have to admit the diorama was skillfully and attractively built.  Several of the guys commented on how the North Koreans could do impressive work and keep it revolving, but they could not keep the water and plumbing working in the bathroom.  We saw many old war planes including Yaks and several hulks of crashed American planes.  In another room we saw old tanks, jeeps and other equipment.  When the local guide started telling us how we started the war and all the bad things the US did, I decided to stop listening.   It did not take long for us to be done with that museum.

Our next visit was to one of two School Children’s Palace’s in Pyongyang, where 5000 of the best students, aged 7 – 17, from all over Pyongyang come for extra-curricular activities from 3-5pm after regular school.  The facility is very modern and large and contains many class rooms and an indoor Olympic swimming pool.  We were met by a 13 year old student who was very poised and explained what we were to see and escorted us around the building along with several other tourist groups and their student guides.  We visited several classes including: accordion, dancing, calligraphy, embroidery, diving, swimming and guyagum (a harp-like instrument that is rectangular, has 2 legs that hold one end up from the floor while the other end rests in the players lap as the strings are plucked).  After the tour we were ushered into a performance hall and watch an hour performance given by the best of the best students.  It was quite impressive.  Apparently the school is open for tourist visits a couple of days each week.  Several folks in our group thought it was too exploitive of the children and that it was more work than pleasure.  I don’t know.  It seems to me that if you must live in such a repressive society, it would be better to be as distracted as possible with pleasant activities.  It is always nice to excel at something and feel pride in your effort and achievements.  I suspect these kids know they are the lucky ones and have a chance at a better life than the children who do not make it into the program.

It was not 6pm so we had to rush to get some dinner and be at the Arirang Performance by 7:15.  We ate a quick, uninteresting meal in a private dining room next to a department store and took advantage of the proximity to have a quick look around the store.  There was a wide variety of products, but only a couple of any one thing—everything from batteries to clothing to basketballs and motorcycles.  Shortly we were off to what I believe is the largest stadium in the world at 150,000 seats.  Thankfully we had reserved VIP seats, which means we paid $210 each for center seats with no obstructions and a table in front of us to make photographing the show easier.  That is the most we have ever paid for a performance, especially one that lasted only 90 minutes.  The purpose of the show is for political propaganda for the North Korean people, who are bussed to the show from all over the country and see it free of charge.  There were probably no more than 200 foreigners in the audience paying from $50 to $300.  The show is performed three times a week from August through October and is sold out every time.  The show was nothing short of spectacular and worth every penny we have paid to get to North Korea to see it.  I would love to see it again.  So what’s the big deal?

There were over 100,000 people in the show including 20,000 secondary school students in the seats opposite us flipping cards to change images at least 150 times in perfect unison.  On the stadium floor were the other 80,000 dancing, marching, swaying, doing gymnastics in changing costumes with flowing fabrics to look like moving rivers in one scene or fluttering banners in another or a huge snow storm complete with lightning and thunder or struggling battle scenes or summer flowers.  With so many people massed together in perfect timing the effect is breathtaking.  In one scene there were thousands of small children, some dressed in different animal costumes, others dressed as dolls, dancing in patterns and formations all in perfect timing to the music.  Another scene had hundreds of young people doing hula hoop maneuvers in unison with a few doing special tricks with several hoops each. At one point we were blown away by the incredible aerial maneuvers hundreds of feet above the floor that started in total darkness except for the pyrotechnic lighting on the aerialists.  At first it seemed that there was no safety net as we had not seen one, but when one of the aerialists flew from his wire, the lights came up and we saw an incredibly huge net.  Many of the aerialists had pyrotechnics or special lighting as part of their act and that added to the spectacle.  Meanwhile the card flips continued enhance whatever was happening on the floor.  Often they included Korean characters that we were told spelled out propaganda slogans and praise for the Great Leader, but they didn’t bother us as we could not understand what they meant.  One whole scene was devoted to friendship with the Chinese—panda bears, Chinese dragons and other colorful costumes and elements that were clearly meant to promote good relations with the Chinese, whose assistance and aid are essential to the survival of North Korea. Political as it was, it was great entertainment.  It ended all too soon for me.

October 2, 2010

I have not written since September 23^rd, but I did take notes and will do my best to reconstruct our adventures.

On September 24^th, with memories of the Arirang Mass Performance in the May Day stadium still fresh in our minds, we headed south to the DMZ.  The road was paved, but rough, the traffic was non-existent.  We visited an old University that had been converted into the Koryo Museum.  Kaesong, the capital of the Koryo (from which came the current name Korea) Kingdom from 918 to 1392, was the political, economic, Buddhist and learning center of the kingdom.   It remained an influential business and trade city (population 800,000) during the Ri dynasty until WWII, especially for the cultivation and trade of the medicinal cash crop, ginseng.  Today ginseng is still the main commodity. Although it was part of a “no bomb” zone that exempted it from carpet-bombing, it did not escape the effects of the Korean ground war.  Today the population is only 335,000 and the city has a battered, rusty, dusty tired appearance.  There are still some interesting tombs and artifacts to visit, but our interest was further south.

The DMZ is located in what had been the village of Panmunjom, which was wiped off the map during the war.  Today the area is still called Panmunjom and is now known as the venue for the Korean War Armistice Talks, wherein, according to the NK guide, the US imperialists caved in to the Korean people and “gave up” in 1953.  He actually stated in Korean that “the US aggressors are intent on taking over the world”.   The Chinese guide and then our guide translated his words into Chinese and English as if the information was common knowledge.  I couldn’t believe Mrs. Ri could say those words to us with a straight face, but she did.  North Korean history has been written to inform the people that Kim Il Sung and the Korean People’s Army won the war against the “US imperialist murdering dogs”.  Everywhere we went in NK, the people are still reminded of that “fact” in propaganda big and small on every rock and sign post.

Our little group was mixed in with crowds of Chinese tourists and we were given rather short shrift, I thought.  We did get to see the room where the armistice was signed and the room where two years of off and on negotiations took place before all parties were sick of the killing and decided to stop the fighting.  We also visited the Joint Securities Area at the 72-hr Bridge crossing where NK and SK military personnel stand at attention facing one another.  Rather eerie to watch.  This is the place where armistice talks still continue periodically.  (According to the news there were talks here just last Thursday shortly after our visit.)  The crowd on the NK side included a lot of Chinese and was very boisterous, which seemed to make the people on the SK side nervous.  It looked very sedate on that side.  Walter told us our visit to the SK side will be very formal and stiff by comparison to the north where the people are so proud that they defeated us.  The facilities on the north side are very dated, rusty and tired including old telescopes, while the SK facilities we could see look polished and new, if not state-of-the-art.

The DMZ is actually a 141 kilometer long, 4 kilometer wide buffer that is not exactly on the 38^th parallel but weaves back and forth.  Since no people have gone into the zone for 57 years, the area is overgrown with trees and grasses and hosts a number of wild animals, including several that have become endangered elsewhere.  Apparently there are plans to turn this buffer zone into a “peace park”.  That seems to be one of the only benefits from the war and its aftermath.   A couple of villages, one on each side of the center line, or MDZ, exist within the zone and some farmers are allowed to raise rice and corn in designated areas, where mines have been cleared.

All we could think about was the incredible waste of lives, money, time and the terrible division of a people into two seemingly irreconcilable cultures.   We purchased some post cards of militaristic propaganda and had our guide translate them for us.  One said “Let’s kindle the flame of struggle over anti-war and defending peace”.  Another said “Let us consolidate single hearted unity based on the idea of Army First.”  Yet another said “US Imperialists—Don’t run amok with us”.  When the older Mr. Oh translated this one, he laughed, then looked at me and asked if it bothered me.  I told him it did not, because it was such BS that I could not take it seriously.  (yes, I said B…S…).  He was startled and shut up.

On the return drive, we stopped at a Folk Custom restaurant in Kaesong for lunch on the floor, folk style.  We each received 11 tiny brass dishes of different foods served on a trey.  It was attractive, but not very tasty.  Even so, we ate most of it especially the rice and soup.  Every meal is served with metal chopsticks and a large spoon.  Mark and I liked using the chopsticks, but many in the group did not.  Another thing we have noticed is that there are not many varieties of vegetables.  We are always served cabbage in one or more styles of kimchee, grated carrots, sliced cucumbers, marinated pine needle mushrooms that are a bit earthy, but good, pickles, rice and chicken or beef broth soup.  Sometimes we were served potatoes boiled in some meat stew, bean sprouts and sliced tomatoes.  Very occasionally we received wood ear fungus in a salad, which was quite tasty, or a salad of chopped apples and watermelon served in a mayonnaise dressing.  It tasted just ok, but, as I was missing fruit, I ate quite a bit of it.

Then we visited a pair of ancient tombs (1374) from the Koryo Dynasty.  They were the burial mounds of King Kongman, the 31^st Koryo king and a skilled painter and draughtsman, and his wife.  The inside was not accessible, but there were several interesting carved military and civil figures, plus a tiger around his tomb and sheep around hers to represent their ancestry.  It was rather pleasing and made me think they must have been a happy, loving couple.

As we reentered Pyongyang from the south we crossed under the Monument to Reunification, a 30 meter high granite sculpture of two women from both Koreas leaning together over the highway.  In the center they hold an image of the two Koreas rejoined.

The sculpture is very striking and photogenic.

We drop off one of our members, Greg Smith, who left early, and continued northwest out of the city along a 10-lane, rough asphalt road with our bus being the only traffic.  It was really a strange sight—miles of open highway with no vehicles.  Occasionally we saw people bicycling along or sweeping the sides of the road with hand brooms.  The only explanation our guides would give was that it was built by the Young Vanguard in 2001 to show their loyalty to the regime.  The period known as the “Arduous March” during 1996 – 1999 was a time of severe drought and starvation.  The road building effort was hoped to improve prosperity.  The road did create jobs for a time and was intended to handle expected future traffic.   However, the traffic did not materialize.  The Russians withdrew support after the USSR collapsed, so industries closed down when fuel and electricity ran out and people lost their jobs.   Cars that are available are way beyond the purchasing capacity of the average person.  In the city and especially around our hotel, we noticed a number of Mercedes Benz’s, Volvos, Toyotas, Chinese Crowns and a couple of Buick La Crosses, Mark thought were interesting to see.  As far as we could tell they all belong to government officials, elite Workers Party members and military cadres.  Mrs. Ri told us it costs about 9000 Euro to buy a Peace car made by Fiat in the local factory we passed along the roadside.  She admitted that people really want to have a car, but cannot afford one and, with the small amount of money the average person makes, few people will ever be able to own a car.

After half an hour at the high speed of 50-60 klicks due to the significant number of pot holes, we turned onto a narrow dirt road and drove through the town of Nampo without stopping.  Nampo looked exactly like the sort of place we all wanted to visit and meet the people, but it was clearly not on our itinerary.  After several kilometers more we arrived at a place called Ryonggang Hot Springs Resort for a “spa” experience.  The setting was lovely with wooded hills all around and very few people—just the way our hosts wanted it.  We were assigned a room in a 4 unit villa.  The “spa” part was a large mosaic tile bathtub in our suite, which we were to fill with hot mineral water from a special tap.  We were told to wait until well after dinner to do it as that was when the tap would be turned on for two hours.  The experience amounted to a soak in a hot bath and 15 minutes was enough for us.  We passed on the morning opportunity.  Meanwhile, loudspeakers, not far from our resort but out of sight, blared the usual military marches and propaganda speeches all evening until well after we went to bed and started up again early in the morning.  It was louder and more strident than the songs we hear in Pyongyang and much more penetrating than the Muslim call to prayer, which is only 5 times a day.

September 25, 2010

Cold egg omelets and crepes, soggy, partially toasted bread, butter, jam, coffee and tea were on the table waiting for us when we showed up to eat.  I could barely get it down.  Meanwhile, you can only imagine how hard it is for me to get plain hot water every morning.  I have had trouble everywhere we eat, but I am a diehard and keep trying.  Sooner or later hot water arrives along with looks that clearly indicate that the server thinks I am really weird, but that is not new as I get the same looks at home when I ask for hot water at restaurants. There is no such thing in NK as citrus fruit so I don’t bother asking for lemon.  Our salvation has been the large bag of roasted almonds and a smaller bag of dark chocolate squares I brought from home for us to munch on when we passed on the food or wanted to change the taste in our mouths.  I also brought a baggy full of my favorite caffeine free teas.  When we have a hotel room with a water heater, I can have a spot.  Mark brought a bottle of scotch and he is enjoying a nip when the never-never land we are in gets to be too much.

Yesterday we spent at least 6 ½ hours on the bus.  Today we retrace our steps back through Nampo and this time Mr. Oh tells us in no uncertain terms that we are to take no photos for the next 50K.   We were all disappointed and feeling rebellious, but Walter reminded us that our guides would be the ones to suffer if it gets reported that we did not follow the rules, which they are required to enforce.  We have learned that it is everyone’s responsibility to report rule breakers to the authorities.  The consequences can be a simple reprimand or the loss of a job or even being sent to a labor camp.  No one can trust anyone else and everyone lives in fear of being ratted on for something.  It is a really sick way to have to live and our guides all look tense and uncomfortable.

Along the way we made a stop at a place called Pi Island that overlooks the Sea Barage, which includes a large dyke, 3 locks and a fish ladder that separate the West Sea from the Taedong River.   The dyke keeps the salt water out of the river and the accompanying dam allows the river water to spill over when there are heavy rains.  From the statue and signs,  the Sea Barage was clearly another creation of Kim Il Sung.  It took 5 years to complete during 1981 – 1986.  The resulting Taedong Lake has improved agricultural capacity in the whole area and reduced flooding.  I thought this was one of the Great Leader’s better ideas.

After we passed Nampo we stopped at a co-operative farm.  This one is, naturally, a model farm and we are expected.  The first thing we have to do is climb a long and broad flight of steps to the once again larger-than-life bronze statue of Kim Il Sung surrounded, this time, by a farm manager, an assistant manager, a farmer, a tractor driver and an irrigation specialist.  After the usual “not bowing” when told to do so, we learned that the co-operative was started by Kim Il Sung in 1948 with a small farm and gradually, over the years it grew to 1000 hectares and 1000 workers.  This farm uses hybrid seed and is fairly mechanized with 50 tractors, 15 seeders and 20 planting machines, none of which we saw.  We were invited to visit a farmers house and it was quite spotless and comfortable.  It even had a washing machine, a TV, a stereo system, and out back a small personal garden, a pig and a dog.  We met the farmer’s wife, who was dressed up for the occasion and smiled broadly for photos.  What a charade!

Near the farm was the only golf course in NK.  Two of our group, Klint and Stacy had asked for and been given permission to play a round so the group decided to have lunch in the club house and watch them tee off.    Sadly, there was no western food and especially no Club Sandwich.

While they golfed, we went to visit one of only two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in NK.  It was a grouping of three mounded Tombs from 550-590AD.  We had hoped to visit the interior of one of the tombs, but were told it would cost us each $50 and we could not take photos inside.  Walter, never having been there either, negotiated a deal for himself to go and get one photo for the $50.  The rest of us cooled our heals while he had the adventure.  For once our guards, I mean guides,  were totally split up.  Senior Mr. Oh stayed with Klint and Stacy, young Mr. Oh went with Walter and we were finally alone with Mrs. Ri.  She really relaxed and opened up with us.  That was the first nice conversation we had had with her and it led to more relaxed visits now that we knew the secret—do not try to have a serious conversation with one guide when another is around.  Walter, meanwhile, got only one semi blurry photo as the tomb itself was behind glass.  This little adventure turned out to be a bit of a bust, but we were all relaxed and willing to go with the flow.

Back at the golf club, Klint, Stacy and Mr. Oh were ready.  They commented that the greens needed help, but that the required caddy, a cute young lady, really knew the course well.  They had a good time and will be among the very few people who can boast that they played golf in North Korea.  While there, Mark could not resist buying a few Pyongyang golf items to show off at home.

While driving back to Pyongyang we passed through many nearly ready to harvest rice fields and listened to Mrs. Ri answer our questions about a variety of subjects. With both Mr.’s Oh on the bus, we know we were in for the party line, but that was OK.  The government owns all the land and collects its farm produce, except for what tiny plots are around each country house and every other meager spot where food will grow, such as along the roadside.    Rice, corn, cooking oil and some staples are still distributed to each person according to their age and station in life.  Workers receive a good share, while farmers and miners and hard laborers receive more.  Men get more than women.  Housewives and elderly people receive less and children receive varying amounts depending on their age.   Everyone belongs to a neighborhood group and must be registered there from birth.  That is where one goes to receive ration coupons, to apply for an apartment, a marriage document, permission to travel anywhere outside the immediate area and just about anything you can name.  When times are tough, each person’s share is reduced and eventually people begin to suffer from malnourishment and other problems, such as during the late 90’s when 10s of thousands starved to death.

Beyond the staples, a person must buy vegetables, fruit, soap, clothes, bicycles and other products from the small salaries they receive.  Most people and all students wear uniforms at work or school and those are distributed by the work place or school.  Mrs. Ri does not wear a uniform and must buy all her clothes from her salary, an amount I did not learn.  I could not even get her to give us an average salary for workers.

There are neighborhood clinics where everyone has free service for all medical issues including eye and dental and all prescriptions.  A person’s medical history is on file from birth and one must start at the clinic for every health problem.  There are many specialty hospitals in the city and the clinic will refer you to the one they believe is appropriate.  If you need medicines that are not available the hospital will tell you to seek the medicine outside the country if you can and pay for it on your own.  Once you get the needed drugs, the local hospital will administer the medicine free of charge.  How scary that must be for people who have no money and serious medical needs.

For two people to get married all that is required is for someone, even a family member, to give a small speech that Mary Smith and Sam Jones have decided to share life together.  There is no ceremony and no certificate.  The expensive part is the party that the families of the couple must put on and the difficulty is in paying for all the extra rice, liquor and other foods that are beyond the co0mbined rations.  Somehow they manage for such a special occasion.  It is not hard to get divorced, but the social stigma keeps many people together “for the sake of the children”.   The government wants people to have lots of children so abortion is not acceptable and neither is sex before marriage, which usually occurs around 25-27 for girls and 27-29 for boys. There is almost no prostitution, at least not according to the party line.

She told us there are no taxes.  I believe it.  The government takes everything and doles out what it wants to the people so what is there to tax?  After all, it is socialist society.  She is rightly proud that everyone receives an education.  The literacy rate is almost 99%.  However, most people do not have the skills to work in any modern society.  The people who have escaped are living examples of this problem.  Most have a hard time finding work they can do beyond menial labor or driving a vehicle, which, interestingly, requires six months of schooling in North Korea to learn and pass all the rules so one can be a driver for a government official.  Thus, more training is required for a car license than a truck or bus license.  (This last bit I read in the book “North of the DMZ”, which gives a lot of background about the details of everyday life in NK.)

When we asked about what she does when she is not guiding crazy Americans around, she told us she works 8 hours a day on a co-op farm during the planting and harvesting season.  Her company is assigned a farm by the government and the company workers go to the farm when needed.  She did not act like she minded the work, even though she finds it very hard for the first 4 days until her muscles adjust to the labor.  When there is no work at the company or on the farm, she stays home, which, she admitted is about 6 months of the year. What a life.  At least she does not seem to harbor any negative feelings about her life.  In some ways she is very lucky to have had a well-connected grandfather, live in a large apartment (136 meters) with her family and mother around her, an interesting, if stressful, job, and a husband she loves, who is a member of the Workers Party and back in school for retraining in a new field she did not mention.   She seems to choose not to let anything we say about the way the rest of the world functions to sink beneath the skin.  She could be obtuse or in denial or maybe in survival mode.  She could also be so totally brainwashed that there is no way to shake her world.

Back at the hotel, we joined Earl in the lounge for a much needed drink, then visited over dinner with Fred and Elena Kyle, a couple in the group with whom we really hit it off.  Fred was at least as cynical as Mark and Elena and I laughed at their relentlessly sarcastic remarks. We all needed to keep our sense of humor more than ever.

hat a long couple of days.  Walter and our guides are determined to keep us so busy we won’t have time to wander off and get them into trouble.

More later, Love Julia

September 26, 2010

Of our 8 nights in North Korea, we spent five at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang.  Mark and I were assigned a corner suite on the 19^th floor.  After the third night we went to the hot springs resort near Nampo for one night then returned for another at the Koryo.  We got the same room back and found it much as we left it, except the beds were made and there were fresh towels.  Even the old soap was in the same place.  We were gone again the 6^th night and, sure enough, got that room back for the last 2 nights.  We actually started feeling at home in the space.  I can report at least one fun experience we had every day in the Koryo.  The elevator door would open and on the floor would be a different woven wool carpet than the day before.  We arrived on a Tuesday evening and did not pay much attention to the floor, but the next morning when we saw a carpet that read WELCOME WEDNESDAY, we were tickled, and made a bet that there would be a different carpet for each day of the week.  Mark decided to photograph the carpet and see how many days of the week we could capture.  He and Fred had fun teasing each other about it and I think Mark had the last laugh as Fred was not there to get Tuesday when it came around the second time.  Because of our comings and goings we were at the hotel every day at one hour or another.

From our window we could see a children’s playground behind the tall apartment building directly across from us and were told each apartment building had such a playground on the back side.  I asked if I could go see it and was told no.  If I did, someone in the neighborhood notice and report that a foreigner was there.  Nothing would happen to me, but our guides, who are watching over us would get into trouble.  I am not sure what would happen to them, but they would have to report the infraction at the self-criticism meeting on Saturday and be held accountable.  If they could not explain the situation satisfactorily to the group at the meeting, they could receive a reprimand and have the matter put on their record, possibly lose their jobs or worse.  Also, Americans could be disallowed from coming again.   So in the end, I did not go there.  Too many people’s lives can be affected.  This same scenario happened many times during the week, and gradually we all began to toe the line—getting a little fearfully twisted ourselves maybe? I did make a date with Mrs. Ri to go walking by ourselves one morning.  When she did not show, I walked out of the hotel by myself.  When no one stopped me I kept walking and got about as far as the train station and a small square two blocks away.  There were several unfriendly stares, but no one approached me. Most people were busy about their own business.  Eventually, I psyched myself out and went back to the hotel.  What a trip!

Mrs. Ri was in the lobby when I returned and we went walking together long passed the spot where I had turned around.  We had a nice visit and I finally learned her first name, Mong Nan, although it is not usual for people to address each other by personal names.  I should say Mrs. Ri or Ri Mong Nan.  She shared some of her life with me.  She lives with her husband of 11 years, her two children, 7 and 10, and her mother.  He mother chose her husband for her and she did not know him before the wedding.  She feels lucky and happy that they liked each other.  She is an only child, so when her father died a few years ago her mother came to live with her family.  They have a large apartment by North Korean standards; 136 square meters including 3 rooms, a bath and a kitchen.  Her husband is in the Workers Party and is undergoing retraining for a change in career.  Her father was a renowned musician in NK and eventually became the head of a major music school and was favored by the government.  Her children are studying music and she has a piano in her apartment.   Even so, the building provides only cold water 12 hours a day, so a few families on her floor went together to buy a hot water heater.  She is very lucky as life goes in her country—living in a large apartment in Pyongyang, having a happy marriage and family and a good job.  We have been told that many, if not most, men drink a lot and are abusive toward their wives.  We observed many restaurants with liquor available that helped confirm that report.  We also observed that most men chain smoke, while women do not.  Apparently it is against the law for women who are not elderly to smoke.

Ri told me she went to Malaysia for a month a few years ago to study tour guiding.  She also spent 3 days in Beijing going and coming.  At first she was impressed with the richness of Malaysia, but after a couple of weeks she began to see beggars and dirty, hungry people on the streets and did not like the disparity of rich and poor so she could not wait to get back home where everyone is more equal.  Either there is no poverty in NK or it is outside the sphere of her exposure.  She admitted she had never been far from Pyongyang.  She was obviously very trusted to be allowed to leave the country and even more trustworthy to return believing her country was the better place to be.  I did not try to change her mind.  After all, capitalism is not perfect.  It is just infinitely better than socialistic communism under a ruthless egotistical dictator.

The city has many streets lines with willow trees.  The old name for the capital was Yugyong, which means willow capital.  Signal lights were once installed to show modernization, but they were soon removed as electricity was costly, there were very few cars anyway and everyone preferred the very cute uniformed female traffic guards.

Every morning we say groups of students marching in time, singing and waving bunches of plastic flowers behind one student carrying a sign.  There was always at least one adult with them.  Sometimes the groups would pass each other on the side walk.  From our hotel or the bus we saw dozens of these groups.  Mrs. Ri told me the students all gather together by class and march to the school they attend.

Several scheduled visits, including a circus performance, were dropped from the itinerary “for reconstruction” or preparations for the coming 65 year Anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Workers Party.  As there was therefore extra time in the schedule we were asked what we wanted to do with it—visit the zoo, the botanical gardens, things that none of us cared about.  Finally we agreed on a visit to a church, preferably when a service was happening.  As the 26^th was Sunday, we headed off to church for a 10am service.  The church was rebuilt in 2006 with funds from from North and South Koreans.   It was a very modern stone building with the latest sound and lighting technology.  The minister met us at the entrance and told us it was a protestant church of no particular denomination and that there were 300 congregants.  He said he also knew the Catholic priest who was in charge of the Catholic Church not far away.  Once inside we found he church full of people waiting for the service to begin.  There was a 30+ member choir that was lovely to hear.  A screen came down behind the altar and the congregation could see the choir up close, the readers and the minister as well.  We sat in the back and were handed small receiver sets so we could hear the proceedings in English.  We were all impressed with that.  I noticed that no one wore Kim pins in the church.  One man sitting in the back had a piece of paper stuck over his pin so it was out of sight.  The whole congregation prayed fervently for reunification.  I wanted to stay longer, but the group was ready to move on after 20 minutes, so we left.

We headed north out of town on a 4 lane road that had many walkers and bicyclists, but no other cars.  Our destination was up the Manpok Valley to Mt. Myohyang.  We hiked up a very pretty trail along a river with many boulders and trees along the way.  Mark and I both commented that it looked a bit like the Yuba River drainage.  Part way up the hill was a level place by a waterfall where a picnic was laid out for us on blankets.  We were treated to a do-it-yourself BBQ, on braziers placed on the ground in front of us.  We cooked thin slices of beef, duck and squid with all the usual accompaniments of kimchee and the other vegetable dishes I have mentioned.  As most of the group members are older than Mark and I, sitting on the ground, then leaning over to cook and eat was too uncomfortable.  This was one of several times when the staff and guides did not have any clue about customer service.  After the lunch struggle some of us hiked further up the trail passing several water falls.  The trail became so narrow and steep that deep steps had been carved into the rock faces and steel railings and stout ropes were fitted into the hillside to assist with passage.  I went as far as a hanging, swinging bridge and then returned as I did not want to continue alone.  It was a terrific hike, but on every cliff face were chiseled the words Kim Il Song is our great leader or other such platitude.  Each character was several feet wide and tall and 2-3 feet deep.  I understand that these slogans are on most cliff faces in all the mountains in the country.   What a shame.  The mountains in North Korea are really beautiful.  Someday, when the Kim Dynasty is long gone, it will be nearly impossible to remove the propaganda.   The self-indulgence is revolting to witness.   The only blessing for us was that we could not read it.

We arrived in late afternoon at our third hotel, the Chongchon, to experience in a village called Hyangsan.  We hoped we would see rural people and maybe interact with some.  The hotel was the oldest and most run down of the three we experienced.  We had hot water only an hour in the evening and again in the morning and dim electric bulbs.  The food was exceptionally boring and tasteless, so we ate little.  Mark and I were blessed with a suite again, which was helpful as the bedroom had no room for our things.  We thought everyone in the group got suites at all the hotels, but learned later that not everyone did.  The bed was very hard, but not lumpy, so I slept very well. Mark did not, unfortunately.

On the morning of September 27, we were allowed out of the building to go for a walk.  It was raining pretty hard, but we all went anyway.  The street led directly out of our hotel to a town square a couple of blocks away.  We saw few people, in part due to the rain.  Once we got to the square we were not allowed to go any further.  All the guides said “they would not like seeing us anywhere else and would report any such incident”.   We all asked who “they” were and were told “they” were the local people, not the government.  So we turned around and walked back to the hotel.  That was the end of our visit to a village.

From there we drove passed a children’s summer camp, which Ri remembered fondly as she had attended it when in grammar school, enroute to the International Friendship Exhibition.  There were two new, large and grand structures built in the ancient Korean style.  Each building was set immediately adjacent to a mountain.  The larger one contained all the gifts Kim Il Sung has received since the 40’s as well as gifts received since his death.   The second building was for all Kim Jung Il’s gifts.  The buildings were cavernous with huge halls that went deep into the mountain with display rooms entered from the corridors.  We were told there were 70,000 square meters of display space for Kim Il Sung’s gifts, which included 225,000 items from 184 countries.  First we were shown into a large room with what must have been the best gifts on display along with another twice life size bronze of Kim Il Sung.  It was really interesting to see what and by whom gifts were given.  Above the glass cases containing gifts were large photos showing Kim receiving gifts from the various dignitaries.  We were instructed to walk slowly by each gift, but not allowed to linger very long.  So although I was amazed by the names of some of the donors I can remember only that most of gifts were quite lavish and came from socialist and communist countries.  Some of Kim’s friends were Gaddafi, Mugabe, Chaucescu and Castro- a sterling crowd.   He was friendly with Mao and Stalin as well.  There was a silver bowl from Madelyn Albright when she was Secretary of State and a beautifully sculpted white dove of peace from Billy Graham.  I could have stayed in that room a lot longer, but we were moved out into a corridor and asked which country’s gifts we wanted to see since we could not possibly see everything.  We were all puzzled for a minute until we realized that there must be a room for each country in addition to the room we just visited.  We were rather global in our requests—US, Europe and Africa.  We were led a long distance to a door that opened onto rooms full of gifts from Europe.  Each country was indicated by a sign at the top of the case or cases that contained gifts from heads of state, communist groups, dignitaries and individual donors from that country.  Nearly every country was represented.  Then down another long corridor we went to a door that opened onto several rooms filled with cases from many countries in Africa.  We recognized many of the countries and the distinctive gifts as coming from places we have visited—even land locked, impoverished Burkina Faso had its own case.  Finally, down another long corridor we entered a room that contained gifts from North America.  There were several cases from South American countries, Mexico and Cuba.  At the end of those rooms was one relatively small case containing gifts from the US, mostly from communist party groups and a few individuals.  Our country, thankfully, has given very little.  There was a small crystal ash tray from Carter that I thought was very appropriate.  Then, even though we had not asked to see any gifts from China or the USSR, we were taken to rooms that contained several old cars including a bullet proof 1940’s Geez that weighed 9 tons from the USSR and two train coaches from China including one that was bullet proof.  Those were impressive.

We wondered what our country has done with all the gifts it must have received since it was founded.  Certainly there must be at least as many as displayed here.  Probably some are in the Presidential Libraries, but that can be only a few.  Do we have a warehouse like the one in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the gifts are boxed up and put into storage, never to be seen again.  I almost hope so as this exhibit was the most ostentatious display of egotism I have ever seen.  The second building contains some 59,000 gifts from 134 countries that Kim Jung Il has received.  In it we remember seeing a basketball signed by Michael Jackson and given by Madelyn Albright after she left office and something from Clinton.  There were rooms full of gold leaf furniture from a South Korean furniture manufacturer, several cars including a Geez and a bullet proof Mercedes and many more modern conveniences.  Kim Jung Il has used none of it as he has said it is all given to the people of North Korea and not to him.  Thousands of North Koreans get bussed here every day to visit their treasures, which, unfortunately, do not benefit them in any way.  Walter suggested eBay would be a great way to liquidate the stuff and provide cash for food and services for the people.  We were then ushered to an outdoor terrace with a spectacular mountain view with a waterfall and stream coming down the mountain toward us.  The rain had stopped and the sun was breaking through the clouds.  Typical Russian, but not gilt, upholstered chairs were arranged to take advantage of the view and we were invited to sit, enjoy the scenery and have drinks.  Quite civilized.  However, we did not see local citizens on the terrace, only foreigners.   As we left, Mark called the whole place “farcical”.

After that very North Korean experience, we happily visited a nearby, small Buddhist Temple called Pohyon.  It dates from the 11^th century and currently houses 20 monks.  We saw two of them and they, like the Christians in the church, do not wear Kim pins on their chest.  The story about this Temple is that a monk named Sosan decided in 1592 that Korea had to be defended from the attacking Japanese so he raised an army of 5000 monks and went to Pyongyang to defend the city walls and gates, while the underpowered Korean troops fought the battle.  The Koreans were successful and the monk was made a national hero.  The quiet, peaceful temple grounds were a pleasant change from the theatrical fictions that are perpetrated and spoon fed to the entire population as truth.  How much longer will the Kim regime be able to keep the people hidden from the rest of the world and when will the people stop allowing the fiction to continue?

We faced another meal at the hotel in Hyangsan and then headed back to Pyongyang.  Everywhere we have been by the way, North Koreans use metal chopsticks rather than wood ones.  The metal is reusable and saves trees.  We thought they were also easier to eat with.  Along the way we noticed flags placed here and there in the rice fields and asked why they were there.  Mrs.Ri told us the flags were put out every day to indicate where the farmers were to work that day.  Apparently the farmers cannot be permitted to think for themselves.  I noticed wildflowers growing profusely along the sides of the road and was grateful for some beauty that was not filled with propaganda even if it was the government that must have had them planted. Mark and others noticed a few trucks along the way that had smoke billowing out of boilers sitting in the truck bed.  Walter explained that these were hybrid vehicles.  There is not enough gasoline so the trucks, all old, are outfitted with a drum-like barrel that burns coal or wood that is converted into a gas that is filtered and fed into a modified combustion chamber.  The smoke is the byproduct of a chemical reaction when the gas is ignited.  Apparently this type of system was popular in the USSR, China, Japan and Korea during WWII.  All the countries gave up the inefficient system after the war, but North Koreans, dependant on the USSR and China for fuel as they has none of their own, have been forced to continue using the hybrid system, which requires carrying a load of coal or wood and an extra person to keep the fire burning.  Not only is the payload reduced, the trucks travel quite slowly and can barely make it up the mountainous terrain of the North Korea countryside.  We were witnessing a real step back in time.  After we heard the story we all kept our eyes peeled for more of these trucks and tried hard to photograph them from the moving bus.  Needless to say, the guides were not happy as it was a no-no to photograph them.  We tried to be casual, quick and clandestine.  Mark got a pretty good shot of one, considering the constraints.  We were all such naughty children we couldn’t help giggling.  We did not see any of these trucks in the city.  They certainly would not make a pretty sight.

As we rentered the city, we could see the tallest building from a long distance.  It is interesting to mention as it is one of Kim Il Sung’s ego maneuvers to best the South Koreans that backfired.  He had heard that Seoul had a 63 story hotel so he decided to build a 105 story hotel that would be 40 meters taller.  It was designed and partially built by French.  Construction began in 1987, but was halted in 1990 when the French withdrew as Kim had no more money or support from the collapsed USSR, which stopped all foreign aid.   So the shell of the building, in the shape of a pyramid, has stood empty ever since (23 years and counting).  Recently an Egyptian company has begun work on the property and nearly completed the exterior façade.  Many people still question the viability of the building, referred to by everyone as the pyramid, as it is designed to have 3700 rooms.  Even now there are more available rooms in town than there are tourists.  Under current conditions, North Koreans will not be able to afford to stay there.  We all wonder how the Egyptians can succeed even if they are permitted to keep all the income.  Even unfinished, the building is impressive and enhances the city skyline significantly.

Finally, we were allowed a meal at a private Italian Restaurant for our farewell dinner.  We could not wait.  Turned out the only item on the menu was pizza, so we had 2 or 3 of every variety the place made and wash it down with beer.  The crust was very good. Afterwards Walter managed to buy some pastries and brought them in for dessert.  What a meal.  We ate everything like we were starving and laughed like silly fools.   The photographer who had been videoing our every move, showed us a clip of the DVD and, of course, everyone wanted to have a copy—only $65.  He just has to wrap it up and send it.

Back at the Koryo Hotel we took group photos and said our good byes.  The only ones left now are Mark, me and Walter.  Two other people who have been on a different itinerary, as it was their second trip to NK, were to join us at the end of the next day.

Then up we went to our home room, where the beds were a bit softer but lumpy.  Here Mark slept fine and I did not. Oh well.

September 28, 2010 was a big day for North Koreans as it was the first day of a conference of the Representatives of the Workers Party in over 30 years.  The last one was when Kim Il Sung announced the coming out of his heir, Kim Jung Il.  Everyone was anticipating the announcement of Kim Jung Un as the next heir.  Many of the Representatives from around the country were staying at the Koryo so we saw busloads of them coming and going in their cheap black suits and plain black brief cases.  They were all very somber in appearance and never smiled.

It was a beautiful day with perfect weather.  When Walter returned from the airport, the three of us and the three guides and driver climbed back on our big blue bus and went to visit a war history site.  This one was really interesting as it was the actual bunker where Kim Il Sung and his top officers worked and held meetings during the Korean War.  It is also the site where he personally signed the Armistice documents.

His wood paneled office and attached sleeping room, at 36 meters underground, is in the lowest part of the bunker.  There are tunnels going in several directions, 40 other offices, a small hospital and a meeting room that will hold 200 people.  Some 270 war decisions were made in this room as well as movies and other entertainments shown.   Walter told us there had been a spy named Buck in Kim’s elite group that did not get found out until the end of the War.  As a result, the UNC (United Nations Commission) knew where the bunker was and bombed it repeatedly to no avail unfortunately.

Then we paid a brief visit to the Friendship Tower that commemorates the alliance between the DPRK and China.  There are three mosaic murals describing the preparations for war and joining up with the Chinese, the fight against the Oppressors, especially the US, and rebuilding the country with Chinese help.  The names of 380 Chinese soldiers who die helping the North Koreans are listed here.   Again we are shown as the bad guy that needs to be stopped from taking over the world, especially the North Korean world.  Why do the guides keep showing us these anti-America images?

Finally we are shown an art gallery and a couple of small shops where we bought some ginseng tea and a CD of Korean music.  We were never allowed into the big department stores.    After lunch at the hotel, we were taken to the Grand People’s Study House.   We had passed by it for days and were glad to finally get into it.  It is a huge library that was opened at a cost of 100 million on May 1, 1982, in another May Day celebration of Kim’s 70^th birthday.  The building has a capacity for 30 million books and is currently at 90% including 1500 works written by Kim himself.  There are 600 rooms containing 6000 seats for study purposes.  Many of the rooms have study desks that are adjustable for any height or angle to make the person using the desk most comfortable.  These desks were designed by none other than Kim Il Sung himself.  There are study halls, lecture halls, an internet computer room, language labs and lending desks, where one can check out books for up to 30 days free of charge.  The place was very busy when we were there and the guide told us there more than 10,000 people who use the facility every day.  In the winter the numbers are even higher.   At last we reached the top floor where there is an outdoor viewing terrace that overlooks the grand square where all military parades and special events take place.  We have not been allowed near the square since we have been here as there are so many preparations going on for the 65^th Anniversary of the Workers Party coming up on October 10.  From this vantage point we look over the square and the Taedong River directly at the Juche Tower.  We can see the fireworks display set up in several places in the river, many more on the far river bank and around the tower.  Below us are thousands of people rehearsing performances for the event.  It is like practice sessions must be for the Arirang Performance we saw.  I would love to be on that spot for the Anniversary program.  It is bound to be an all-out spectacle that only a few will see live as there will be very little room for anyone except performers and the military.

We had to walk down several flights of stairs to get out of the Study House.  We have walked countless step in this country as there are very few elevators that operate, if there are elevators at all.  Some have been turned off due to insufficient lack of electricity and others are simply broken or non-existent.  Thankfully the Koryo has a functioning elevator 24 hours a day.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to live here if you are disabled.  There is no accommodation for wheelchairs that I have seen, but I’ve seen no physically disabled people.  I have read that people with disabilities are kept at home or sent to the country.

We still had places to visit so off we went to the Three Revolutions Exhibition in reference to ideological, technical and cultural revolutions.  We were walked through a large building with rows of mining equipment and models of every kind of mine that exists in North Korea. The north is rich in mineral resources and could be a serious exporter of such products if it ever joins the rest of the world.  I couldn’t stay interested. Then we had to visit the science building and watch a very lame planetary story of the night sky while sitting in swivel office chairs and staring at the dark ceiling with very dim stars. Enough already.  We were not forced to see more as we still had to get across town to visit the Embroidery Center that was staying open just for us.  The work was lovely and the people work hard at their craft, but we did not care anymore.  Off to the Diplomatic Club we went to meet the other folks joining our little group and have the cold noodle dish I have been told is so famous in Pyongyang, but have not been served.  It was pretty good; like a spicy cold noodle soup with mushrooms in it.  That and a lot of beer put us in a better mood.  Our guides can tell us nothing about what went on during the conference so we were glad to watch the BBC news back in our room.  Apparently, Kim Jung Un was promoted to a 4-star general along with his uncle, the husband of Kim Jun Il’s sister, who also has a major position in the government.

The next morning, September 29, we learn on the TV that Kim Jung Un has also been appointed to two major posts in the government; Deputy Chairman of the Workers Party, and Vice-Chairman of the Military Defense Commission.   Both posts are directly under Kim Jung Il and mean that the son is the heir apparent.  If the transfer of power is successful, it will be the only three generation dynasty in the communist world.  Surprisingly no one in the hotel or on the street seems aware, or, if they are, there is no reaction to the news.  Even our guides are quiet about it.

Finally, after a long, full and partially unsatisfying week, we are off to the airport.  While on the way I summarized, with his approval, Walter’s repeated commentary of the last week:  The US government policy is to exercise “strategic patience” with Kim Jung Il’s government.  Basically the US is indifferent to North Korea and is waiting for the country to implode.  He believes the US should try to negotiate a peace treaty between the DPRK, the ROK and the US to end the war.  Without a war that requires constant preparation, there would be no need for the million person military that the DPRK maintains at huge cost to the NK people.  If there was peace and normalcy, we could engage the North easier and maybe begin to have some positive influence.  Otherwise, if and when the North does fall, China will be right there ready to step in and take over.  He believes China will not be amenable to a merger of the two Koreas into a capitalist, pro-western society next door.  If China should, in some fashion or other, move into North Korea upon or in anticipation of the collapse of the dynasty, the north will remain communist and the country will remain divided.   In other words, write to the US politicians begging them to get their heads out of the sand, pay attention and push for treaty negotiations.   His words make sense to me.  What do you think?

At the airport, Ri Mong Nan and I took a long time saying good bye.  We will probably never see each other again and may never be able to communicate even though we exchanged addresses.  We waved until we were out of sight and shortly we were up and away but still experiencing NK on a dirty, smelly North Korean plane, Air Koryo, for the 1 hour 15 minute flight to Shenyang in Manchuria, China.   We were told that Air Koryo is an agency of the Korean Peoples’ Army and the pilots are all air force military personnel on active duty. I did not feel like I had left the Hermit Kingdom until we were on the ground and in the terminal, like Dorothy landing back in Kansas.

Our charming Shenyang guide, Magie, helped us into a small van that whisked us into heavy traffic in a very large and bustling city full of high rises and 8+ million people, where everyone was walking rapidly and purposefully.  The contrast put me into culture shock or a time warp that lasted about half an hour.  Then she turned to us with a real, natural smile and said “Welcome back to the real world”.   I can only imagine what it must be like for defectors when they first cross the Yalu River into China.  The contrast is extreme.

We drove around the Manchurian city munching on, yup, McDonald burgers and listening to Magie talk about ancient Chinese history, the period of Japanese colonialism from  the late 1800’s to 1945 and the rapid growth of businesses in the last several years since economic capitalism took hold in a big way everywhere in China.  We visited the 3^rd floor of the modern Liaoning Provincial Museum to learn about the early Chinese-Korean kingdoms and interactions between the two cultures.  We stopped at a large city round about to look at a statue of Mao, specifically to compare the differences and similarities from the statue of Kim in Pyongyang.  Both statues are made of bronze and flanked by people in support of their causes; the posture of each statue is almost identical with the welcoming outstretched right hand; the overcoats also quite similar.  The big difference is that the statue of Kim, at 22.9 meters high,  appears to be 3-4 times larger than that of Mao, at 10 meters.  The number of bronze supporters with Kim is much greater and at least double in size to that of Mao’s supporters.  Both monuments are extremely well designed and executed, but, in the communist fashion, unidentified.   They are so realistic, angry and determined in their expressions that we studied both these and the ones in Pyongyang for quite awhile.

Do you suppose Kim’s ego and personality cult were 4 times larger than Mao’s.  On the world stage that may not be so, but the Kim dynasty is still with us and his story is not finished.  Certainly his statuary and mountain face carvings will outlast whatever Mao left behind.  In many places in Pyongyang, in every city, in every village there are tall stone sculptures carved with big characters that say the same thing over and over; “THE PRESIDENT KIM IL SUNG IS ALWAYS WITH US”.

With those thoughts in my head, we raced to the train station to catch the express to Dandong on the south-western edge of north-eastern China immediately across the Amnok River from Sinuiju, North Korea and very near the Gulf of West Korea (let me know if you find it on a map).  It was late afternoon when the train pulled out of the station so we did not have much daylight to see the countryside.  However, what I saw looked a lot like the rice lands of both Koreas.  With 4 hours to relax, I cuddled up with North of the DMV and the time flew by.  I thought about writing and decided to unwind instead.  Mark spent his time in the corridor playing with the kids on our coach and chatting with the guys.

Enough for now.  I hope you are finding our tale interesting.   There is much I would find hard to believe if I had not experienced it.

More to come, Julia

September 30, 2010

In China, the sun rises first in the city of Dandong, which means Red East.  It is also the eastern terminus of the Great Wall.  Everyone enjoyed a wonderful sleep and delicious breakfast in our luxuriously soothing first class hotel, the Dandong Crowne Plaza, where Mark and I had a room looking over the Amnok (Chinese name) or Yalu (NK name) River and into the darkness that is North Korea.   Our first excursion was a small boat ride on a tributary of the Yalu the  River that divides China from the western half of North Korea. (The eastern half is divided by theTuman River.) As the river is undivided, our boat can go close to the NK shore so long as we do not touch it.  We were within a couple of feet in a few places, but the bank sloped steeply for about 10 feet affording poor visibility.  There was little to attract the eye as there were only a few gun-toting guards and bent old people looking back at us.  We say a couple of pillbox size guard shacks and a small cluster of single story detached houses and virtually nothing else.  I was so intent on looking that way that it was not until the boat turned and I looked in the direction of Dandong that my breath went out of me as I suddenly felt the awe this city of 3.5 million inhabitants sitting on the edge of the north bank of the river must elicit from the North Korean guards and old people.   What must they think about what they see and surely hear?  Unlike the people in most of the country who have no experience of the outside world, these people cannot deny its existence.

This river is too wide and deep for people to swim across without being noticed and our boat driver told us it is against the law for boatmen to help anyone trying to swim across.  No wonder the majority of defectors use the eastern end of the Tumen River, which divides the eastern half of North Korea from China, where hundreds of thousands cross shallow water on foot.  They risk being shot if spotted or being caught by the Chinese and deported back, where they face being put into a labor camp for life.   I have read that sometimes the guards are lax, lazy or indifferent and look the other way.  Often the defectors find safe houses owned by Chinese North Koreans and get moved further into the interior and away from the border.  Still, they are illegal aliens and must stay on guard to keep from being caught without papers.  Many gradually matriculate into Chinese culture.  Some work until they earn enough and risk going back and forth to North Korea to take money and food to their families.  A small number make it to South Korea, where they are given citizenship, a place to stay while they are taught how to survive in the 13^th largest economy in the world, about $20,000 to get them started and then they are discharged into society to sink or swim.  If they have family in the South, they gravitate there and are helped along.  Without family, many of them have a really hard time adjusting, even after years of being in the South.

Anyway, the North Korea side of the river was off limits to photography.  Felt a bit like we were back in the country.  We were told the village was for the wives of military officials, who liked to come here on R&R.  Was not the least bit appealing to me, but I am not a North Korean military officer’s wife.  The landscape was flat, nearly denuded of trees and suffering from the debris of recent flooding.

Back on the Chinese shore, we drove easterly along gentle rolling terrain with many peach and chestnut orchards.  After half an hour we came to the Great Wall terminus and climbed it for a look at….more of the same.  The wall and towers are very similar to the part of the wall you see near Beijing, but the scenery is not as dramatic or colorful.  I remembered traveling with my parents in 1981 to Dunhuang, near the Taklimakan Desert and the western end of the Great Wall, and sensed the great distance between the two ends.  This part of the wall was built by the Ming Dynasty during the early 1500’s and finished in 1549 to repel the Mongol horsemen.  It did not work.  Thankfully there were no photo restrictions here and lots of happy, chattering Chinese.

Then we drove further east another 30 kilometers to see a grammar school attended by Mao’s eldest son.  The school has been rebuilt by the son’s wife in his memory.  There is a large room dedicated to him and filled with photos and information about his life.  The story is interesting in a couple of ways.  It is about how Mao came to die without an heir and, for us, about how his life contrasted with Kim Il Sung’s life in that Kim has been able to start a dynasty.  His grandson, Kim Jung Un, was already 11 or 12 when he died in 1994.

Mao had three sons by his first wife.  The eldest was born in 1922.  While Mao was off creating a communist movement and fighting the Kuomintang as well as the Japanese, she was put into prison by the Japanese and died there.  The sons were left on the streets as orphans.  They were finally picked up by Mao supporters, but the youngest one died of dysentery at the age of 5.  The other two were sent to Russia to get them away from the fighting and to study.  Cho En Lai and his wife visited them in Russia (we saw the photo).  Something was noticeably wrong with the second son, so he was left in Russia.  There is no further info about him.  The eldest son, who was quite handsome, returned to China when he finished high school and finally spent time with his father.  He was given a variety of jobs to learn skills. He married a pretty girl that Mao chose for him, but had not yet had any children by 1950.  When Mao decided to enter the Korean War in October 1950, he immediately volunteered to go to the front.  He died in Korea in November leaving Mao without an heir.

Kim Il Sung’s family history is more bizarre as he kept it shrouded in mystery. What I have learned came from biographies on the web.  His first wife was captured and killed by the Japanese in 1940.  His second wife, Kim Chong Suk, is recognized as a heroine by the people.  She had three sons and a daughter.  The first died early in a swimming accident and the last died in childbirth along with Kim’s wife in 1949.  He is known to have had a third wife and four more children, but the North Koreans deny any suggestion of the existence of the first or third wives and additional children.  Kim Jung Il was born February 16, 1942 in a Siberian army camp, but that location is inauspicious so the whole country has come to believe that he was born in a log cabin on the slopes of the highest mountain in the country, Mt Paektu. To amplify the messianic nature of the myth the people also say that a double rainbow, a bright star in the sky and a swallow descending from heaven heralding his birth.   How’s that for a religious message in an atheistic country?  Turns out Kim Il Sung was raised a Christian from his birth in 1912 through his teens.

His daughter, Jang Song-thaek is close with her brother, Kim Jung Il and has a high position in the government.   We have learned that Kim Jung Il had three sons, possibly each with a different mother. There is never any mention of a wife.  The two oldest sons are, it is believed, not in the country.  It is unclear what happened to them and why.  The prize goes to the third son.  None of our guides acknowledged ever having heard that Kim Jung Il had three sons and that Kim Jung Un is the youngest.  They acted shocked when we told them and, of course, disbelieving.    We did not go further to suggest that the youngest son may be illegitimate.   That seemed a bit too much.  Are they really so uninformed or unable to consider the notion that they have been lied to or are they afraid to admit knowing things they are not supposed to know in the presence of their comrades?  Your guess is as good as mine.  For more NK history, check out the web.

Lunch was at a place near the river and a broken bridge that only goes half way since the war.  The food was interesting and varied including a couple of dishes containing cooked chestnuts.  We were served with wooden chopsticks.  Later I bought a couple of late season peaches along the roadside.  They were ok, but too late in the season to be great.  Mark asked about the price of fuel in the area and calculated 92 octane to be $3.25 a gallon.

Back in Dandong we climbed the 293 meter Dandong Tower to see the view and peer across the river at the treeless, brown and desolate NK.  Not much to see.  Onward to the War Memorial Museum, the largest in China dedicated to the Korean War.  There was much to see and learn about the conflict from the Chinese perspective, which, with a few twists of perception and analysis, is much closer to the US version of the war.  Saw lots of battle drawings, photographs, posters, war machinery, guns, tanks, planes.  What most interested me was difference in the various stories.  MacArthur, for example, was sure the bad guy from a lot of angles.  I felt like buying some books and deciphering the war for myself.  Maybe, with a drink over dinner, I will get over that notion.  Can’t you just see me becoming a Korean War expert?

Finally we got to a shop where Mark could buy Kim Il Sung pins and I could buy the traditional Korean dress, called a hanbok—luckily there was one in…. purple.  Now we are set.

We had one final meal in a North Korean restaurant, complete with very pretty singing waitresses from NK, who are here with permission.  They live above the restaurant and send their earnings home.  They have minders like we had and only go out in groups with an escort. I understood that they do 2 year stints and then return home.  The restaurant owner must do very well.  The place was packed.  Afterwards Mark and I walked along a Japanese bridge completed in 1943 and partially bombed during the war.  It has been made into a historical tourist attraction with photos and stories about the history of the bridge, carpeting along the old rail bed, piped music all the way and colorful lights shining from the city buildings.  From North Korea where there is limited electricity and very few lights, the sight of Dandong lit up like Disneyland must inspire more than awe—maybe envy, maybe anger, surely sadness and wonder.  I thought Dandong over did the colored, blinking lighting on every building, but it certainly made a statement.

One more lovely night in the Crowne Plaza and we were out in the morning for another boat ride on a larger boat that held lots of tourists.  This time we went up and down the main part of the Yalu.  We did not get very close to shore, but we did motor by an industrial area where we saw several people loading heavy sacks of rice or corn off a boat and onto a truck.  There was almost no mechanization, mostly manual labor.  In another place we say huge bags of what Mark thought was charcoal.

West of Dandong the border crosses the river and follows the highway to the coast.  We were within a few feet of the dividing barbed wire fence in places, but again not photographs.  A truck load of Chinese police drove buy and stopped us to make sure we did not have our cameras at the ready.  That was probably a closer call than anything we experienced in NK.  I barely got my camera out of the way in time.  Finally they left us and we drove on to the airport for our 1pm flight to Beijing on Air China.  In Beijing we transferred our luggage from one terminal to another with Walter’s help, said good bye to him and and rechecked our bags onto the 6pm flight to Seoul on China Southern.   We managed to catch the last bus limo into the city and got to the Millennium Hilton Hotel near the train station by 11:30pm.  Fortunately we did not need to be on the train until noon so we could relax and enjoy the sumptuous suite into which we were unexpectedly upgraded.  After North Korea the Dandong Crowne Plaza was a blessing.  This hotel was over the top.  In the morning we could see that the city was filled with gentle hills and covered with whole neighborhoods of low rises, interspersed with canyons of very high and interestingly shaped towers of steel and glass.  Even from our suite windows we could tell it was a very stimulating city even though we were not even near the center.  We were sorry to have to leave it so soon.

October 2, 2010

By the way, we have had mostly wonderful autumn weather the whole time—sunny, gently warm, with no humidity.  In NK it was often overcast and a bit rainy in the morning, but always clear and warm in the afternoons.  South Korea proved to be even better.  We had clear crisp mornings that warmed in the afternoon.  No humidity and pleasant evenings.  Had only one big storm the evening we were in the pizza parlor in Pyongyang and temporarily lost power.  It ended before we left the restaurant.

Not sure what we would encounter in the train station, we arrived early.  Naturally then, we had no trouble finding the correct track and train car spot had to cool our heels awhile waiting for the train.  When it arrived, we were on with all our bags and a few minutes to spare before it pulled out precisely on time.  We whizzed most comfortably south-east through the dense, rice harvest-ready countryside at 186 miles per hour to a city called Dongdaegu.  There we transferred to a slower, but reasonably comfortable train to Gyeongju, the capital of ancient Korea and full of UNESCO sites.  We noticed that the fields along the whole route were almost as small as the fields in the north, but where the North Koreans are still working the fields by hand and ox, the Koreans have produced small, efficient machines to do the work.  The scenery, except for the modernization, looked the same in both countries.  We arrived late in the afternoon and took a taxi to our new, ultra modern, austere and nearly empty hotel.  Neither of us liked it, but we decided to make it do as we had made the choice ourselves, against our travel agent’s suggestion, and already paid for it.  We walked to nearby Bomun Lake where we found lots of people enjoying themselves in front of the Hyundai Hotel, the very one our agent had recommended.  Since we were to be in the area for three nights we inquired about changing to the Hyundai and found that they had rooms.  We determined to transfer the next day.  Back at the Gyeongju Suites Hotel, we had a good western dinner and retired, or tried to.  The room was so warm we could not sleep regardless how low we set the AC or opened the windows.  The hotel, we learned, has a central HVAC system and on October 1^st the temperature is set to 20 degrees centigrade for the winter season.  We could not wait to get out of there.  Our new guide arrived at 8:45 am and we had him work out the details with the local operator.  By mid day we had a room reserved in the Hyundai at no extra charge.  That was a relief.  We set off with Kim Suyeol, or True Man as he calls himself, to see the local sights.

First we went some distance out of town, in a private car with TrueMan at the wheel, to one of Korea’s best know temples, the Bulguksa, which translates: Bul = Buddhist; gu = country and sa = temple.  It was built by the Silla dynasty in 535AD and enlarged in 752.  The original wooden structures are long gone, but there are newer reconstructions and the place is an active temple.  The most interesting elements are the original stone structures from 752 –bridges, walkways, stairs, pagodas.  TrueMan was full of interesting tidbits of Buddhist lore that were readily available on the property.

Bamboo, for example, has many meanings.

It is straight and therefore true; its green leaves stay green, which refer to an unchanging mind;

it is flexible and therefore adaptable, which is to be humanistic;

the stalk is hollow, which allows evil thoughts to pass through;

and segmented, suggesting the completion of one project before moving to another.

He also talked about the symbolism of numbers, especially 3, 6, 9 and 12; about Ying and Yang; about the mouth in the open position sounding “ah” and in the closed position sounding “ommm”; about everything having three parts—head or God, body or human and root or earth and much more I won’t bore you with.

With all this new information we grew hungry and TrueMan took us to his favorite Noodle restaurant back in town.  We had a delightful bowl of noodles in what we would call a fast food joint.  Afterwards we crossed the street into a park and hiked a short distance up a trail toward Mount Namsan.  It was TrueMan’s idea that we needed to exercise after lunch.  Fortunately we had little time or he would have had us hiking to the top, I’m sure.  Instead, we made a series of stops: first, at a pavilion where we saw a tortoise shaped wine conveyor, that is a small waterway in the shape of a tortoise that the Silla king of the day used to float cups of wine around to his guests—a bit odd; Second, the Gyeongju National Museum where we saw many Silla Dynasty (668–918AD) artifacts.  Especially interesting were the unusual gold crowns and girdles found in royal Silla tombs, and a 19 ton, 11 feet tall bronze bell (named Emille for the baby that was supposedly thrown into the mold with the hot bronze to give it a good tone) that is reputed to be one of the largest and most resonant in Asia (in both Koreas we saw a lot of such bells, but none as large as this one); Third, the Anapji Pond, where the Silla royal family relaxed, and which was drained in 1974 to reveal a veritable treasure trove of Silla castoffs—some fine, but most quite ordinary—which are displayed in a nearby building we walked through, the best of which was an unusual 20 meter long, canoe-shaped, wooden boat with two sizeable square dowels that held three carved wooden beams together.

What I must tell you is that, as soon as TrueMan found out we had been in the north, he could not keep from asking us questions.  When at the sites he would put on his guide hat, but back in the car he was all questions again.  This happened everywhere we went in the south.  If we mentioned where we had been, people stared at us and were compelled to ask questions.  We did not mind.  It was fun to recall our observations and interesting to hear their comments.  Everyone wants reunification and is, at the same time, afraid of it.  I feel the same.  Reunification, however it happens, will be a very difficult and painful process.

At last TrueMan took us to the Hyundai, where we happily checked into our lake front room with a balcony and lots of cool air.  We enjoyed Japanese tempura and sushi in the hotel and went to bed.

Next day, October 4, TrueMan is raring to go at 8:30.  He has decided that we are to see more than what is on the itinerary—to have a, tsk-tsk, “TrueMan Tour”.  Heading SE out of town again we stopped, not far from Bulguksa Temple, at the Seokguram Grotto parking lot and hiked a kilometer or more to the sixth century grotto, which contains “one of the world’s finest shrines of Buddha” according to the guide book.  Getting up there took my breath away.  I had no trouble breathing in front of the shrine, especially since it was behind glass and photography was not allowed.   It was, indeed, a lovely, serene image of Buddha gazing out over the forested hills to the East Sea.  The Sakyamuni Buddha, bodhisattvas and guardian deities are covered by a round, carved granite dome representing heaven that is considered an architectural feat.  In front of that is the square area representing earth and humans.  Apparently the grotto had been covered over during the Confucius period, when his supporters tried to destroy all Buddha images.  Gradually the location was lost through the centuries and was stumbled upon by a postman in 1913 and almost immediately rebuilt.  Both this grotto and the Bulguksa Temple are UNESCO world heritage sites. Back at the bottom of the hill was a large bronze bell we were allowed, for $1, to ring.  Both Mark and I took advantage of the opportunity.  The best part of the sound is the hum and vibration that goes on inside the bell long after the tone stops.  When I put my ear to it, I could feel the vibration throughout my body. Ah-Omm.

Next we visited a”TrueMan” site, the GolGul Temple which consists of 12 temples carved into a mountain.  We had another walk up to the mountain face and then realized that TrueMan expected us to climb up the rock face to visit all the temples—so, of course, we did.  It was tough going.  All the footholds were carved out of the rock and roaps and steep pipes were necessary to pull ourselves up.  It was not fun with my bad hip, but I refused to give up and finally made it to the top.  As we passed each temple cave we could here monks chanting and playing instruments.  Each song was different, but together the sounds were enchanting.  I snuck a few photos, in spite of the spiritual aspect of the place.  The way down was a little easier, but I was glad to be back on flat ground.  With that out of the way we were taken around the corner to a Taekwondo Center where TrueMan used to practice.  Unfortunately, no one is there on Mondays, so we had to content ourselves with looking at the facility, which was set nicely into the mountains.  TrueMan was sorry about the mistake.

The next TrueMan destination was right on money.  We went to Bongill Beach on the East Sea, which means we have now crossed the Korean peninsula from the North West to the South East.  The beach itself was rocky, but the water was a nice color.  The area was a bit scruffy and unappealing, even the fishermen, boats and small beach side village seemed bleached and worn out.  Vendor booths for weekend visitors were all closed on Mondays.  TrueMan pointed out the one tourist attraction, a cluster of jagged rocks about 100 meters off shore, which supposedly was the tomb of a Silla king, who wanted to be buried where he could protect Korea from evils in and on the sea.  We watched a female shaman setting up a large spread of fruits, rice, clothing and other items on a long table on the beach.   TrueMan thought it might be for a family that paid big money for her to pray for a deceased relative.  After hanging out there for awhile and wondering why we were there at all, TrueMan finally took us to a restaurant where he had made reservations. Obviously, we were early and needed to kill time.  All frustration soon evaporated.  We were ushered into a corner room with glass walls right over the water and shared a fabulous meal.  Sitting on the floor while dining at a low table was never so enchanting.   We ate lots of different raw and grilled fish and loved every bite.  Wish I could tell you what all we ate, but I was too busy eating to take notes.  We all stuffed ourselves.  Fortunately, the walk TrueMan had us take after that meal was on level ground at a large indoor and outdoor fish market.  Many of the fish were kept alive in large aquariums with sea water being pumped through continuously.  That is what I call “fresh fish”.   TrueMan bought some to take home to his wife.  What a thoughtful guy!

Heading back to Gyeongju, we were now done with the TrueMan tour and back on our itinerary.  Just a few more stops…groan, groan.  However, they were interesting.  The first was Cheomseongdae Observatory, Asia’s oldest existing one, built during the reign of Queen Sunduk (632-647).  It is bottle shaped and has a square window midway up the side that is believed to have served as an entrance reached by a ladder.  The place was surrounded by groups of students on field trips with their teachers.  Apparently, Mondays are field trip days.  Each group would wait its turn to get close and then sit on the ground in a tight group and listen to the teacher tell them about the observatory’s history.  They were all quite charming and well disciplined.  TrueMan remembered that when he was a kid there was a ladder and he and his buddies used to climb up and into the observatory, which is full of rocks to the bottom of the doorway so you can stand inside.

Lastly we visited Tumuli Park to see a collection of 23 royal Silla tombs.  Like tombs we have see in several places in both the north and the south, these tombs are large, steep grass covered mounds.  Each one holds one person.  Some are double hills for a king and queen.  Smaller mounds are for less important people and very small mounds are for common folk.  More than 200 royal tombs are found in Gyeongju.  Most have never been opened.  One tomb in this park, called Flying Horse Tomb after an image of a horse on an artifact, was opened in 1974 and revealed over 10,000 artifacts, many of which we saw in the National Museum, such as the unusual gold crown I mentioned.  We were welcome to go inside this tomb and see how it was constructed and how the artifacts had been arranged.  The coffin is placed inside a square or rectangular wooden enclosure the size of a small room, then small and increasingly larger rocks are piled all around and over it to several feet in depth and finally grass is sown over the top.  Over time the wood rots and the tomb collapses. We have seen some tombs where the dent from the cave in is apparent.  There must be many more treasures to discover, but there is resistance to opening more of them as the people still worship their ancestors and the process is time consuming and costly.

Our last stop was the traditional market in the center of town.  We wanted to by Korean chopsticks and look around.  It was a typical market with most shops under awnings on narrow pedestrian streets.  A few streets had regular indoor shops.  It did not take long before we had had enough.  On the way back to the car TrueMan spotted a shrub he recognized as the herb “chapi”, which meant nothing to us.  He had us pop one of the small red berry-like seeds in our mouth.  Without hesitation, we, the trusting souls that we are, did as he said and very soon our tongue and lips were numb and tingly and spicy hot. What an unexpected sensation.  TrueMan stood there and laughed at us.  He said it is used in kimchee, soups to spice them up.  It was because the berry was not ripe that we got the tingling sensation.   The sensation lasted half an hour or so.  Later we found some dried black chapi in a market.  They had a slightly sweet, spicy taste with only a hint of tingles.

After the whirlwind TruMan put us through, we were exhausted and almost glad to say good bye.  We will have a different guide to take us back to Dongdeagu the next day.  Being still full from that huge fish lunch, we decided to pass on dinner.  Mark went down stairs, bought some ice cream which we ate in the room.  Meanwhile we made phone contact with Jun Moon Ju, Paul Jun’s niece who lives in Seoul and speaks very good English. ( Paul, the owner of the Perko’s Restaurant in Grass Valley, suggested we meet her.)  We chatted a bit and made a date for dinner the next night. Door open, air cool, lights out…sleep tight honey.

Hang in there.  There are still a few exciting days left.

Julia and Mark

October 5, 2010

David, our driver-guide for the day, was a real surprise.  He was from Isreal, studied in India, married a Korean lady who was also studying there and eventually settled in her home town of Gyeungju.  He spoke very good English, but his Korean history was not as thorough as TrueMan’s.  His job was to drive us to the Dongdeagu train station a couple of hours away, show us a major temple along the way and squeeze in lunch somewhere.  We got him so engrossed in talking about modern Korean history that he missed a couple of turns and then his driving became a bit erratic. This was more unnerving than all our time in North Korea.  Mark noticed that there was something strange with one of his eyes and we wondered if that was the cause of his unusual driving.  We made it safely and learned a lot along the way.

He was planning to talk about ancient history as had TrueMan, but when we explained why we were more interested in contemporary history and how it compared with the same time period in the north, he did his best to remember details he had not personally experienced.  The first president to the ROK (Republic of Korea) was a civilian named Kim, who was popularly elected in 1948.  There was a very brief period of peace from then until June 8, 1950 when the North Korean forces under Kim Il Sung invaded the south and took over most of the country within a few weeks as neither the south nor the UNC nor the US were the slightest bit prepared.  We gathered our forces and fought back.  Look elsewhere for info on the Korean War.  After the Armistice was signed in 1953, another civilian was elected president in about 1954.  The ROK was almost as devastated as the north.  Severe flooding in the mid fifties, compounded by high taxes and the confiscation of most of the rice harvests to pay the government debts for borrowing to rebuild infrastructure caused great poverty and famine.  Life during the fifties and 60’s was actually better in the north than in the south.  The people protested. There was a revolt in 1961 and a military general named Parks took over and became a dictator.  His aim was to industrialize the country and shift away from agriculture.  Under him  companies like Samsung, POSCO and Hyundai began to develop into the huge industrial machine Korea is today.  Ship building and auto factories were built in the South East as well as steel mills.  People were put to work and the infrastructure began to be rebuilt, but Parks was hated by many for his dictatorial ways and there were several attempts on his life.  David told us the story of his wife’s uncle who was a guerilla fighter who, along with some others, made an attempt to kill Parks.  He was caught and charged with the death penalty.  While he was in prison, someone else killed Parks in 1978.  The next leader was another dictator named General Jung, who released the educated elite and political prisoners who had been incarcerated by Parks.  David said he enjoys hearing his uncle-in-law tell the story.  Jung was not as despised as Parks and continued the industrialization of the country.  He opened relations with many more countries and the ROK, with continuing assistance from the US, began to prosper rapidly during the 80’s and 90’s, while North Korea stopped making improvements and began to stagnate and decline in the late 80’s with the decline in support from Russia and China.  By the time Jung dies, the modernizing elite had laid the bases for economic and social conditions that lead to democratization. Korea returned to a constitutional government and held elections.  During the first decade of this century the ROK presidents held summits with the north and developed good relations with Kim Jung Il.  People on both sides were hopeful about reunification.  The current president, Lee Myung Bak came into office in February 2008.  He has done some good things for the country.   As a member of the G-20, Korea, through Lee’s efforts, made a successful bid to hold the G-20 Summit in Korea in November, 2010.  It will be the first non-G-8 country to take the chairmanship of the forum.  Korea has recently been admitted to the DAC as its 24^th member.  DAC members provide more than 90 percent of the world’s aid for impoverished developing nations, and South Korea is the only member nation that has gone from being an aid beneficiary to a donor.

He is pro-US and takes an aggressive position toward North Korea.  Here is a paragraph taken from Wikipedia that fairly sums up the current policy:

“A longtime opponent of the ‘Sunshine Policy’ carried out by his predecessors Kim Dae-Jung and Roh Moo-Hyun, Lee shifted towards a more aggressive policy on North Korea, promising to provide massive economic assistance but only after North Korea abandoned its suspected nuclear weapons programs. The ultimate goal of the administration regarding inter-Korean relation is based on the “non-nuclear, openness, 3000” plan that entails reciprocity and mutual benefit between the two Koreas in order to achieve economic advancement and bring about happiness among the people living in the Korean peninsula. The current inter-Korean situation is undergoing a massive transitional period. The administration, however, made it clear that it will pursue a more productive policy that eventually would contribute to the peaceful reunification, but only after North Korea gives up its nuclear ambitions and adopts a more open-minded approach. The North Korean government viewed this as confrontational and responded by calling Lee a “traitor” and an “anti-North confrontation advocator”. The North Korean response included the expulsion of South Korean officials from an inter-Korean industrial complex, the launching of naval missiles into the sea, and the deployment of MIGs and army units provocatively close to the DMZ. Domestically, Lee’s critics claim his strategy will only serve to antagonize the Kim Jung Il regime and undermine progress towards friendly North-South relations.”

 After two hours of non-stop talking and driving, we arrived in the mountains above Deagu at the one Temple Mark and I had been looking forward to seeing.  It is a UNESCO world heritage site called Haeinsa (Haein meaning “reflection on a flat sea”, sa meaning “temple”), perhaps the best known temple in Korea.  Established in 802 and containing many treasures in over 90 buildings, the main and only attraction for us was the collection of over 80,000 wooden printing blocks, which contain the Tripitaka Koreana , the most complete collection of Buddhist Canon found in east Asia.

David told us that when Buddha died at the age of 80 in 552BC, 500 enlightened monks decided to preserve the 84,000 sutras (teachings or discourses of Buddha and his disciple Ananda)  by reciting them until they had them all memorized precisely as Buddha said them.  Sometime around 523BC, the sutras were written on palm leaves in Sri Lanka.  From then on every 100 years, monks would get together to review the sutras for accuracy and memorize them again.  The sutras were divided into three (tripitaka) “baskets” of teaching:  1) teachings for lay disciples, 2) rules for monks and nuns, each rule being explained with an example, and 3) analysis of mind and matter, an analytical study from the very gross to the very subtle.

In 802, during the Silla dynasty, two monks went to China to study Buddhism.  When they returned they, through some miracle, convinced the king to build a temple to Buddha and his teachings to help keep the Mongols away.  Eventually it was decided to carve the sutras on wood to help the people to remember the teachings.  The carving started in 1011 and went on for 77 years.  However, the Mongols came in 1232 and burned the whole temple including the sutras.  In 1236 the monks started again.  This time the carvings were finished in 16 years and, to this day, are contained in the same wooden structures that held them originally.  The construction and ventilation are so perfect that there is no mold even in winter and there are no animals, birds, bugs or spider webs to be found.  Some years ago scientists thought to improve on the safety and storage of the tablets, but found that nothing could be done that was better than the wooden structures.  They were an incredible sight, all of them stored in four rectangular buildings that are laid out in a rectangle.  On all four sides of each building there are two rows of openings, each containing wooden slats spaced 2-3 inches apart to reduce light and keep people out.   The lower openings on one side are large while the upper openings on that side are smaller.  The reverse is true on the other side.  The beams and roof are high with large overhangs that are open to the circulation but keep out the sun and rain.   The floor also is made of special substances including clay, ash and other materials that somehow detract animals, bugs and insects.  Even birds avoid the buildings so there are no droppings anywhere.  It was an amazing place.  Each wooden tablet was, to my eye, about 2 ½ feet long by 14 inches high and 1 ½ inches thick.  The whole tablet was encased in a metal frame for easier handling and stability of the wood over time.  There was carving only on one side, with each character carved in reverse for printing purposes.  It is an incredible treasure for the Korean people.  During the Korean War, a Korean air force pilot was ordered to bomb the Temple because the enemy was nearby.  He flew over the temple, but could not pull the trigger.  He radioed his officer that he was refusing to follow the order.  In the end he was made a hero for not damaging the temple.  Again, we were not supposed to take photos, but using a high ISO and no flash I was able to catch a few without being noticed.

This was an very interesting morning and soon we arrived at the Dongdeagu train station, said good bye to David and flew back to Seoul at 297 kilometers/hour.  We took a taxi to our next and last hotel, the Silla and were in the room only 20 minutes when Moon called to say she was down stairs.  When she arrived at the door, she had a girlfriend and her 19 month old baby with her.  We agreed on a dinner location and off we all went in her friend’s car to an “in” neighborhood called Insa-Dong.  It proved to be a collection of narrow pedestrian streets loaded with neon lights and small art galleries, shops and restaurants.  They picked, of all things, a Korean restaurant.  Mark and I were politely agreeable but stared longingly at an Italian place we passed on the way.  The food was…what can I say….Korean.  Since the petite ladies did the ordering, there was less variety then we had generally been served.  We tried to make conversation, but the baby was totally distracting and the ladies hardly ate anything.  There was also a large age gap and we were at a loss how to keep the conversation going.  Finally, we paid the bill and walked around looking at the stores and people.  I continued to marvel at the difference between Korea and North Korea, even though the people look and speak the same.  After awhile, Moon suggested we stop at an upstairs Tea House.  It was quite contemporary and hip.  I had a nice Chrysanthemum tea and Mark had water.  Moon disappeared for awhile and returned with a framed picture of traditional Korean masks for us.  We were dumbfounded.  Did she really expect us to carry a 2x2x2 glass framed picture home?  We graciously said thank you and wondered what we would do with it.  Moon and her friend were really cute and sweet young women and the baby was four hands full.  I felt really old and out of date and Mark was rendered speechless.  Fortunately, we did not stay out late and were dropped off by 9:30.

October 6, 2010

Today is the day we saw the DMZ from the South Korean side.  We met our bus group at a midtown hotel and proceeded north with a bus full of Japanese and a handful of English speakers.  There were two guides and they took turns speaking to each group.  Out guide, Geana-Lee, filled us with many facts you will be happy to know I did not write down.  We drove to Mt Odu Observatory for a close, but dim and hazy view of the DMZ and the North.  We were glad we already knew what it looked like up close.  There were a number of interesting historical maps and photos of the Korean War, a movie theater for viewing scenes from the war, a collection of war planes and equipment and a store where South Koreans could see and buy North Korean goods.  It fascinated me to watch the South Koreans poke through things with which we had so recently become familiar, such as North Korean beer and chopsticks.  I became all too clear that the South does not know the North anymore than the North knows the South.  Such a pity to be so close and yet so far apart.  There was also a room full of samples of the clothing the North Koreans supposedly wear including underwear.   I recognized some things, but most looked pretty out of date to me.  But then, I did not see anyone’s underwear in the North.  I can say I inspected a lot of restrooms in all three countries and can tell you ladies that North Korea has virtually no western toilets, outside the tourist hotels.  In Beijing and South Korea, where there are one or two western toilets in many public bathrooms, I never had to wait even when there was a line, because the Asian women seem to prefer Asian toilets and would rather wait for a free one than sit on a western commode. Lucky me. Now doesn’t that inspire you to want to visit these countries.?!

I had just the luck mentioned above at the restaurant our bus load along with others stopped for lunch.  I hate such group events.  Anyway, you know by now what we were served.…yep….another traditional Korean meal.  Thankfully, this was our last one.

Luckily, lunch was overshadowed by a North Korean defector, who accompanying our group somewhat as an ambassador.  We got to meet her and talk a bit through our guide.  She was petit, nicely dressed and pretty, but bone thin, I realized when we put our arms around each other for a photo.   She had a nice smile, but seemed a little nervous and unsure of herself.  She told us she had defected in April through the NE corner of NK via the Yalu (NK) or Tuman (China) River I have described.  She said she traveled to Cambodia where she was taken care of by protestant ministers before eventually flying from Beijing to Seoul, just as others we have read about have done.  She grew up in the NE industrial city of Chongjin and had somehow gotten transferred to Pyongyang where she worked as a secretary for 8 years.  She said she had good career possibilities until her grandfather defected and sadly died after a heart attack three days after entering China.  Having no future in the North she chose to defect, leaving her mother and two younger brothers behind.  She reluctantly gave me her name, which, in case this document should ever become a best seller, I will not put down.  Shortly after our brief meeting, she departed.  Our guide told us she was hired to come on these bus tours to share some of her experience with guests and make a little money.  My heart goes out to her and the other defectors for their incredible courage.

The DMZ was “lack luster and anticlimactic” said Mark of the South Korean side of the JSA (Joint Security Area).  We changed to a US military bus and were escorted by Specialist Casiano from North Carolina, who had seen two tours of duty in Afghanistan and been at Camp Bonifas for only 7 weeks.  Again we were not allowed to take photos.  Something about the military uniform and the polite way in which he said he would confiscate our cameras made me obey the order.  When we got to the JSA buildings we had seen from the North, our experience was much more sedate and decorous.  We nearly marched into the Armistice signing room and were allowed to take photos, but not sit on the furniture.  When we were on the tour from the North, the Chinese were all over the furniture and talking really loudly.  I preferred the solemnity of the South tour in that regard.  Here we were allowed to take photos, thankfully.  The big open and airy building we stood in front of to take photos of the north side of the DMZ had been built, we learned, to provide a meeting place for families from the North and South to gather.  Unfortunately, it has never been used.  From the north, this building looks new and very inviting compared to the other buildings in the JSA and puts the North Korean buildings to shame.  Back on the bus, we drove passed the infamous tree where Captain Bonifas was killed by North Korean military men wielding axes.  His intent had been to limb the tree as it was blocking the view from one outpost to another.  The scandal nearly caused another war, but things settled down and later, a large contingent of the military, including air force planes and battleships were ready and waiting while the army went out and cut down the tree—which was, in fact, on the North side of the DMZ.  Thus the name, Camp Bonifas.

On the way back to Seoul, we did learn about the 44,000 North Koreans that work in 121 South Korean factories in a designated area not far north of the DMZ.  This is a friendship program to help people in the north have jobs.  The businesses are supervised by South Koreans, who spend a month working on site, then return home, while someone else takes their place.  I am not sure what happens to the products that are made.  Coming into Seoul, we could see the low mountains that surround the city and the large Han River that runs through it.  Mark described the city as compact, vertical and vibrant.  We agreed it is almost, but not quite, as pretty as San Francisco.

We were let off the bus down town and went for a walk around the City Hall area and especially to a park called Cheonggyecheon Stream, or simple The Stream.  I had read about it in our guide book and was glad we went there.  It meanders through a long, wide and straight hole in the ground between two busy streets. On both sides of The Stream wide sidewalks and verdant landscaping fill the space.   Much art–ancient, modern and contemporary–lines the walls below the streets.  There are fountains, multiple cascading waterfalls, soft music piped along the walk and many people enjoying themselves.  Living art works were happening while we were there including: a woman in a long white gown walking slowly in the Stream pulling on colored streamers and creating different visual images as she walked; and two people wearing transparent, colored plastic cubes over their heads and interacting silently with people in the crowd that gathered around them.  We were invited to write our dreams on ribbons and hang them, artistically if possible, on a metal framework with strings hanging from it.  I could have stayed at The Stream a long time, but finally Mark reminded me we needed to eat and he wanted a drink so we found an Italian restaurant, Mezalune, and had a good Italian dinner.  In the taxi we could see the high rises all lit up and the changing shapes of the neighborhoods as we passed.  Seoul is quite an interesting and pretty city.  In addition to the museums and sights, there are many shopping malls above and underground as well as theaters and restaurants.  It seems like it would be just as easy to fly 10 hours non-stop from SFO to Seoul to see, shop and enjoy good entertainment and food as to fly to Paris, London or Rome.   No visa required for South Korea either.

Anyway, back as the Silla Hotel, we made arrangements to meet our last guide at 8:30 and went to bed.  The Silla is an ok hotel, but not the 5-star room we thought we booked.

October 7, 2010

This was our last full day in Korea and we made the most of it.  Natalie, our guide, picked us up on time and off we went in a van with a separate driver.  It was definitely easier for her to talk without having to negotiate her way around town too.

Our first stop was the War Memorial Museum.  We arrived ahead of the crowds and were able to walk the outdoor corridor where all the deceased Korean War servicemen and women from the16 UNC countries who participated were listed.  The vast majority, over 54,000, were US soldiers.  It was a sobering walk. Then we entered the museum and a docent took us to the top floor to see lots of war things that did not interest us, except that we found the displays most appealing to people and even interactive with children.  It was well laid out.  Then we walked down to the first floor where the Korean War and other more recent, conflicts with the North were displayed just as interestingly as the upstairs displays.  I was so taken by each object or photo we passed that it was hard to keep up with the guide.  Mark, of course, didn’t bother and went his own pace.  Will I ever learn?  It was especially interesting to compare the three war museums we visited on this trip—the one in Pyongyang, where the US Aggressors and their South Korean puppets  invaded North Korea and were severely defeated by the Korean Peoples’ Army—the one in Dandong, where the Chinese routed the US and the South Koreans with little help of the Korean Peoples’ Army and –the one in Seoul, where the North Invaded the South and nearly took over the country but for the rapid deployment of US, British and UN forces who fought back nearly to China before being driven back to a line near the 38^th parallel.  The last exhibit was about the May sinking of the South Korean war ship, Cheonan, by the North Koreans.  Even though it happened only recently, there was a full display including the part found with North Korean markings on it.  Yes, we saw it for ourselves.   A North Korean charge destroyed the ship near a disputed Island that belongs to the South, but which the North refuses to acknowledge.  Over the years, South Korean fishermen have been kidnapped while out fishing, taken to the North and trained over several years to be spies.  At least one was able to defect and has told the very sad story.  To learn more, Google North Korea and you will find many stories and videos.  There is even a web site that publishes news broadcasts from NK.  The propaganda you will see is similar to what we experienced daily when we were there.

From the War Museum, Natalie took us to the National Museum.  It was built in 2006 and is very large and modern.  One of the smallest, yet most important, artifacts in the museum was a single piece of metal type carefully encased in thick glass.  Although the first moveable-type system was created in China around 1040AD, the metal moveable-type system for printing was developed in Korea around 1230 AD.  This led to the printing of the oldest extant moveable metal print book called Jikji in 1377, nearly 100 years ahead of Gutenberg.  How’s that for a bit of trivia?  The Koreans are rightly proud.

One darkened room we almost missed contained full size images of the inside of the three tombs we had visited with Walter in North Korea, but into which only he was allowed.  I wrote about it at the time.  The images were of large horses and dragons and were like none I have seen in other tombs, such as those in Egypt.  I was glad to be able to see them in the museum and took several photos without flash.  Although we saw beautiful celadon porcelains and an exquisite bronze “pensive Bodhisattva” that is a National treasure, Mark and I were both on overload and barely listened to Natalie’s commentary.  Finally, I told her we had had enough and we left.  I think she was disappointed in us, but soon we were at a casual Vietnamese noodle restaurant she liked.  Mark had noodles and I had fresh spring rolls.  It was a nice change.

Walter had told us to be sure to visit the “Secret Garden”, so after lunch we headed to Changdeokgung Palace where the garden is located.  Natalie left us with a docent who insisted we walk slowly with the group and not get ahead of her.  The place turned out to be neither secret nor a garden.  It was more of a hilly woodland environment with lots of poorly maintained shrubs and trees and almost no flowers.  There were a few pavilions and water courses that were pleasant and photogenic.  We could have walked the whole concrete pathway in an hour, but it took us an additional 45 minutes.  Guess we were ready to come home.   Natalie then walked us at a good pace around the Palace itself and that was a bit more interesting as it remained inhabited until the 80’s and still had some furniture in it.  It was nothing like the palaces in Europe.  More like a very small version of the Forbidden City with some modern conveniences.

At last, we are done sightseeing!!!!  I wanted to return to the hotel, but we did not have time as our hotel was too far out of the way.  So, with no clean up options, we went directly to dinner at, of all places, a Tony Roma’s that happens to be near the theatre for which we had tickets. Natalie said she keeps the restaurant in the back of her mind for American tourists who admit to being tired of Korean food.  That fit us to a tee.  We invited her to join us and had fun chatting with her over ribs.  Soon it was time to say good bye to our last guide of the trip.  She left us at the door to the theater and in we walked.  The play, written and produced by Koreans, was a very funny, non-verbal performance called “Ninta”.  There were 4 “chefs” and a maître d, who were to prepare a wedding feast in just one hour.   They were all expert drummers and liberally beat away on every kitchen implement available.   They managed to chop and drum their way through many cabbages, carrots, cucumbers and onions and kept us in stitches much of the time.   We were in the 4^th row and could see, hear and smell everything.   It felt good to end our Korean experience on a light note.  As we drove to the hotel, we were entertained one last time by the colorful, blinking, twinkling display’s of light throughout the city.

October 8, 2010

We relaxed at the hotel in the morning and took the limo bus to the airport at 12:30PM for our 4pm flight home on Asiana Airlines, which provided great seats that had lots of cubby holes for our stuff and opened perfectly flat.  There was even an electric jack to plug in the computer.   That made my day and night, as I spent nearly the whole flight writing message 4 of this journal and barely got to check out the bed.  Mark enjoyed the bed, a few movies and “The Coldest Winter” (a tome about MacArthur and the Korean War) on his Kindle.  We arrived in San Francisco 3 hours earlier than we left Seoul and admired the City by the Sea as we passed by.

Postscript

On October 10, North Korea celebrated the 65 Anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party.  We knew I was going to be a BIG deal as we saw the fireworks preparations and the masses of people practicing for the event.  There was a lot of anticipation about the first public appearance of the son and intended heir of Kim Jung Il.  Kim Jung Un’s photograph had appeared on the front page of the Korean papers and everyone said he looked like his grandfather.  We brought home a copy of that paper and agree that the photo looks like Kim Il Sung.    However, when we saw him on our news broadcast during the pomp and circumstance and later on the web, he looked more like an overweight pampered kid who is not prepared, if even capable, of running or controlling the country should something happen to daddy.  Kim Jung Il’s  sister was appointed to 4-star general at the same time the son was promoted and it is presumed that she and her husband, who has been close to Kim Jung Il for a long time will mentor the son until he is able to take full control himself.

For the sake of the North Korean people, I hope Kim Jing Il moves on to the next life soon, that is, before Kim Jung Un has time to develop skills and connections of his own in the military and perpetuates the regime.  It would not surprise me if Kim Jung Il’s death resulted in a military coup and a change in power.  Hopefully that would be good for the North, but it is hard to say.  The military is totally entrenched in the good life they have and will probably not want to give up their many perks, regardless of the status of the people.  The odds are not good for the 19 million uninformed, undernourished people against the one+ million well fed, clothed and trained soldiers such as were aired on international TV at the invitation of Kim Jung Il.  Reunification might cost them their jobs and benefits, while confusion and fear could overwhelm the masses.

Meanwhile, the people in the south are largely indifferent to the situation in the north.  The South Korean government, however, is concerned and beginning to reserve money for the expected multi-billion dollar cost of reunification.  Most people on both sides say they want reunification and believe it is inevitable.  No matter if or when it happens, the transition will be incredibly difficult.  My prayer for all Korea people is that those in charge of a reunification process act with wisdom, compassion and grace.

With much gratitude for the country of our birth and heartfelt compassion for the world, we wish you all many blessings,

Julia and Mark