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THE MASS GAMES
On our first night, we were driven to the huge May Day Stadium to see "Arirang," a mass gymnastics and artistic performance by 100,000 gymnasts and dancers. The 90- minute extravaganza started with waving banners and countless marchers depicting the military and occupation by the Japanese sixty years ago. It then switched to themes of bunnies and rainbows representing the plentiful harvest, and the hoped-for reunification of the Korean peninsula, presumably under benevolent North Korean rule. A card section of 20,000 students provided a backdrop depicting animals, landscapes, waterfalls, slogans, and even a portrait of Kim Il Sung. The field was crowded with costumed dancers, gymnasts and aerialists moving in unison. Between segments the stadium went dark for a minute, and about 80,000 people somehow got off the field in total darkness, then replaced with just as many in under a minute. How I don’t know. Imagine the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games, then multiply by a hundred. A brochure in our hotel said, “The optimistic outlook of the Korean people is depicted well in the work. It is a performance that grasps the hearts of the audience for its philosophical profundity and truthfulness and its strong national character."
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
KIM IL SUNG ("KIS"): "The Eternal President." The Great Leader. He lived from 1912 and died in 1994 at the age of 82. Seventy-five years ago, in his late 20's, KIS's legend began when he fought with the Korean revolutionaries to defeat the Japanese who occupied the peninsula. KIS is credited with defeating the U.S., “a ferocious imperialist,” during the Korean War. As such, Koreans are taught that KIS "ushered in the dawn of a great, prosperous, and powerful nation."
KIM JONG IL ("KJI"). The Dear Leader. The son of KIS is General Secretary of the Workers' Party and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army. Since KIS is the eternal President, KJI is referred to as General, the Commander, or simply the Leader.
Respect for the President and his fluffy-haired son is visible everywhere. There are photos of both leaders in all the buildings we visited. Reportedly, a special cloth is used to dust the framed photos. Billboards around the country carry painted or ceramic images of father or son (most often KIS) in heroic poses. Military might and bountiful harvests are recurring themes.
See our slideshow of Inside North Korea.
Kim Jong Il is said to be "exactly" like his late father. His leadership is needed, because, according to the Dear Leader’s speech quoted in the daily paper (always folded so as not crease his photo), "the danger of war still hovers over the country due to the continued attempts of the U.S. imperialists to stifle the DPRK. If they dare infringe upon DPRK's sovereignty and right to existence the Korean People's Army will destroy them at one stroke and achieve the historic cause of national unification, the greatest desire of the nation."
The newspaper also reported on the 1948 meeting of representatives from the North and South at a time when "the U.S. was instigating the South Korean reactionaries to hold separate elections for setting up a puppet regime in a bid to perpetuate Korea's division and make the south its colony." At the time, KIS hosted a meeting in Pyongyang in favor of "his just and correct policies of reunification." Since then KIS worked to reunify while the US "is bringing the dark clouds of confrontation and war." Yet another article blasts the other DPRK enemy—Japan—for their use of Korean "comfort women" during World War I. It is as if time stopped in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Of all the grievances we read about in translation, few were about events more recent than 1953, the end of the Korean War. In DPRK, that is referred to as the "Fatherland Liberation War" in which “the U.S. invaders" were defeated by forces led by KIS. The DPRK, and KIS in particular, thus "built a solid foundation for national prosperity" and "world-startling changes."
HOMAGE
After visiting the giant statue of KIS, where we were strongly urged to buy a $4 sprig of flowers to lay at his feet, the next stopover was KIS’s birthplace. It is set on a hill in a park with “a thousand views.” It is a small thatched hut “left as it was when he lived there.” Elsewhere, every restaurant we visited, without exception, showed televised tributes to father or son. A few translated excerpts:
“The current yearning [for the leader] will flow forever down through the generations... KIS is the first and eternal President... Anti-Japanese veterans are loved by KJI... Another great father [KJI] exactly like KIS is guarding the future...Our country is solid as a bell... We will continue to fight against the Imperialists and carry on KIS’s effort to make the army invincible. The greatest all-around happiness is to see KJI close at hand.” It is said that young and old weep when in the presence of the Dear Leader.
CUISINE
Each day, our breakfast consisted of toasted crustless white bread, a cold little omelet, and instant coffee with powdered milk. Lunch was usually soup of broth and vegetables, rice, and seven or eight bowls of boiled cabbage, dried fish, bean sprouts, bean paste, tofu, and some items that defied standard culinary nomenclature. Dinner one night was a Korean version of sukiyaki heated over a Sterno can. Another night we went to a duck barbecue restaurant where we grilled thinly sliced pieces of roasted duck and duck fat. The guide asked me if Korean duck is as good as Chinese Peking duck. With my quest for a red pin in mind, I choked down a piece of grilled fat and said, "It’s better." Ever the optimist, I asked the waitress if white wine was available. She said “white?” and I said yes. She left and returned a bit later with a glass of hot milk. She got the white part right.
See our slideshow of Inside North Korea.
