Visit to the DPR of Korea

I visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) together with my colleague, Catherine Bertrand, from 8-15 November 2008 to evaluate the completion of 2 middle schools which we funded in 2008 and to review possible new projects for 2009. (Please see www.microprojects-vietnam.org). This is an account of our visit.

3 November 2008 - DPRK Embassy, Hanoi

It’s been about 5 months since I first applied for a visa. Today I was informed it was ready. I arrive at the DPRK Embassy in Hanoi to pick it up. The gates are shut, the shutters on the former French colonial house closed. Not an auspicious start. I ask a Vietnamese guard outside if he could call for someone to let me in. He takes out his mobile phone. Ten minutes later, the Second Secretary, Mr. Pak, comes shuffling out and invites me inside. He speaks little English but offers me tea.

There’s little visible furniture in the entrance hall. I’m asked to sit down. Large portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il look down from the wall. Mr. Pak takes my passport and disappears. Two other officials arrive and sit down without saying a word. I sip tea wondering whether the two Kims on the wall are standing before a sunset or sunrise. Ten minutes later, Mr. Pak reappears with my visa. He wishes me a good trip and suggests that Pyongyang will be a much quieter place than the turbulent streets of Hanoi.

7 November 2008 – Air Koryo office, Beijing

Catherine, a long-time friend and colleague who has already visited Korea, has just arrived in Beijing. Together we go to the Air Koryo office to purchase our tickets. I’m surprised to find a small, relatively modern office equipped with computers. A young Korean woman who speaks some English issues our electronic tickets in exchange for 300 euros. This will be the only currency we will be allowed to use in the DPRK.

8 November 2008 – Beijing-Pyongyang, first encounters

We board flight JS 152 from Beijing to Pyongyang. The plane, a Tupolev 144, looks relatively new and clean. The air hostesses smile and to my surprise the service is reasonably good. The seats are filled with Koreans loaded with parcels and boxes. The aircraft takes a long time to leave the ground. There were only 2 or 3 other foreigners on the flight.

One and a half hours later we land in Pyongyang on a clear autumn day. About 12 other Russian-built aircraft are parked at the airport seemingly not having been used for some time. We pass through immigration under the watchful eyes of security officials and are asked to hand over our mobile phones. Anticipating this, we had left them behind in Beijing.

Ms. Jang and Mr. Cha of the Korean Education Fund meet us at the airport with flowers. They greet Catherine like an old friend. Ms Jang, speaks almost perfect English while Mr. Cha speaks but a few words. We get into a Toyota minibus. On the way into the city, we cross only a few vehicles, mainly Japanese-made. We are taken to the Haebangsan Hotel with apologies that it is only a 3rd class hotel. But the facilities are fine, the staff friendly and the hotel centrally located.

That evening we have dinner at the hotel with the newly-appointed director of the Korea Education Fund, Mr. Chae. A retired diplomat, he too speaks very good English. The conversation is serious but easy. Ms. Jang joins in and Mr. Cha looks on. The dinner quickly loses its initial formality. We discuss the programme. The initial contacts seem positive.

9 November 2008 - Kumusan Palace

Catherine and I decide to take a quick walk around the hotel. That no one stopped us from going out was a surprise to me. We encounter other pedestrians on their way to work moving quickly and purposefully, swinging their arms as they walk. No one even glances at us even though we are the only foreigners in sight.

We walk for about half an hour along the river through Kim Il Sung Square and back again. When we return to the hotel, Mr. Cha is agitated. Where have we been? We’re late. It’s time to go to Kumsusan Palace, where Kim Il Sung’s mausoleum is located. And we need to dress up.

Kumsusan Palace is an enormous marble palace where Kim Il Sung supposedly worked during his life-time. Long marble corridors with moving walkways bring visitors into and out of the hall where Kim Il Sung’s body is on display.

As we enter, lines of formally-dressed farmers, students, and people from all walks of life are conveyed in the opposite direction, speechless and with transfixed expressions, having just seen with their own eyes the body of the Great Leader.

After 15 minutes standing on the walkway, we arrive in the great marble hall. The audioguide calls it the Hall of Lamentations. Tears are supposedly etched in the marble floor. An attendant leads us to the foot of Kim Il Sung’s body encased in glass. He looks oddly wooden. Ms. Jang, Mr. Cha, Catherine and I bow together. We move to his left and bow again. Then again towards his head. Then again to his right, each time bowing.

I am asked to write a sentence or two and sign a book of condolences. Ms. Jang copies down in her notebook what I had written. She says that she sometimes brings her children on weekends to see the Great Leader ‘to feel closer to him’. The deep sense of admiration felt by all Koreans appears genuine.

Catherine has a guide book - one of the few on North Korea. Somewhere within its pages it says that if you have qualms about bowing to the Great Leader, then don’t go to the DPRK. If you do go, then just do it. It seems like useful advice.

Drive to Wonsan, dinner with local authorities

This afternoon the four of us set off for the port city of Wonsan in Kangwon Province. Wonsan faces the Sea of Japan (here called the Korea East Sea) and was until recently the main port of entry for trade and shipping with Japan. All commercial exchanges have been halted following the deterioration of relations over the abduction of Japanese citizens. The two projects we came to see are located in this province.

The drive to Wonsan shows the full extent of the DPRK’s isolation. We travel for 3 ½ hours along a 6-lane highway and cross perhaps one vehicle every 15 minutes. Long dark tunnels allow us to cross through mountainous countryside. The landscape is dry and desolate with but a few signs of rudimentary agricultural activity.

Little villages or cooperatives are scattered here and there with small dirt roads leading to them from the highway. The only visible signs of agricultural activity are farmers, including soldiers in uniform, harvesting small patches of cabbage for the coming winter. There are no animals to be seen aside from a few goats.

The extraordinary thing is that everyone is moving around on foot. There are hardly any bicycles or other means of transport. Groups of people sit on the backs of their heels along the highway hoping for a ride from a passing vehicle or simply chatting. There’s nowhere to go, no means of communication. One could have been on another planet. We are briefly stopped at several checkpoints along the highway before being waved on.

Electrical power lines can be seen off the highway but whether or not they carry electricity is not clear. In any case, they seem to bypass the villages. It’s hard to imagine what life must be like in those villages in the dead of winter.

We ask Ms. Jang, an intelligent and well-educated woman in her thirties, whether she has heard news of Mr. Obama’s election. Yes, she says, she has heard of him. It was in the newspapers.But she has not seen any photographs of him. She did not know he was black. ‘Black?’, she asks, pointing to some black material in the car.

At last, we arrive in the port city of Wonsan. We stay at the Tongmyong Hotel. Thankfully it’s heated. We are invited to dinner with the Vice-Director of Kangwon Province, the Director of the Department of Education and the Director of Bopdong County where the schools are located.

We sit uncomfortably for 2 hours on a straw mat eating local seafood delicacies. Our hosts are warm and friendly and offer copious toasts of rice wine. Evidently, the funding of the two projects mean something more than the simple fact that two schools had been built. It seems they are genuinely happy to be in contact with us and especially to see Catherine again.

Suchim middle school

After breakfast we set off to see the first of the 2 schools located in a village cooperative called Suchim-gol (gol means mountain village), about 20 minutes drive from Wonsan. The village was newly-built in order to relocate the inhabitants from a village destroyed by flooding. The school is located across a river from the village. We are not allowed to enter the village.

The school is built in traditional Korean style. It has one story and stretches about 80 meters from one end to the other. The headmaster greets us. He explains that it had taken 11 months to carry out the school’s construction. There had been a lot of difficulty in clearing away the mud and building materials had to be purchased and transported over a long distance. The quality of construction, however, looks extremely good.

Electricity is provided by a nearby factory, there is good lighting and, above all, there is heating. There had been a lot of discussion about how the heating would be provided. In the end, it was decided to install a boiler with steam radiators under the floors. This is a common way of heating in Korea. Many of the hotels have heated floors.

Some 245 students (90 primary and 155 secondary) attend school with 22 teachers. There are 10 classrooms, 2 teachers’ rooms, 3 laboratories, a headmaster’s room and what they called a ‘political room’ for the teaching of ideology. Computers have been provided by the province. The students have to walk up to 4 km to get to the school. This is a normal distance in Korea. Before the school was built, they had to walk up to 10 km, not an easy task when it’s minus 15 degrees.

We visit the students in the classrooms. They are at first stiff and unresponsive. We take some photos and show them the results. They loosen up and start breaking into smiles. Even the teacher begins to smile.

During the break, while we are touring the building outside, the students pour out of the classrooms and surrounded us, jumping up and down with glee. More pictures are taken which generates even more glee. This is no doubt the first time they have ever seen foreigners.

Biam middle school

We visit the second school in a cooperative village called Biam-gol. As with Suchim, this was a newly-built village for the victims of flooding. The houses are built in traditional Korean style with a wall around it. Again, we are told it would be ‘difficult’ to enter the village.

The school is similar in construction to Suchim. It took 10 months to build, has 296 students (118 primary and 182 secondary) with 23 teachers. Some 54% of the students are girls. The school has 24 rooms of which 10 classrooms. The students have to walk up to 6 km to get to school. The procurement and transport of construction material was also difficult.

We visit the classrooms. The students’ reactions are similar to Suchim. Taking photos and showing the results once again break the ice. We ask them what they want to do when they finish school. One boy says he wants to raise goats another says he wants to join the army. The headmaster adds that a few might attend training courses and work in Wonsan but the majority will probably work in their villages.

The visit to both schools has been a very positive experience and the projects are clearly appreciated by the teachers and evidently by the students themselves. More than the actual schools, the fact that we have come from so far away to render assistance to these isolated villages seems to have left quite an impression.

Back to Pyongyang

That afternoon we return to Pyongyang along the same 6-lane highway. We stop at a roadside snack-bar near a lake. Mr. Cha’s mother, who lives in Wonsan, has prepared some snacks for us to eat. There is a waitress in the snack-bar who serves us the snacks. She has a nice face so I take a photo of her. As we walk back to the car, she accompanies us and takes my hand. She doesn’t let go until I get into the car. It leaves me with many questions about the full meaning of her gesture.

We see army units helping with agriculture and even sweeping the roads. If nothing else, Korea is very clean. Not an item of trash anywhere. In the car we talk about the lack of mobile phones. Ms. Jang ventures that ‘they must be very convenient’. She adds that perhaps next year they may be allowed ‘in her country’.

Ms Jang always refers to DPRK as ‘her country’. She explains the term ‘North Korea’ is not appropriate. There is after all only one Korea. Local maps of North Korea show the entire Korean peninsula. From now on, to avoid confusion, we use the terms ‘my country’ and ‘your country’.

It’s still daylight when we return to Pyongyang. Catherine suggests we go for a walk around the city. As the sun sets, the city looks strangely romantic, despite the socialist architecture. The river, the autumn leaves, the parks, and above all the eerie silence due to the absence of traffic, has a certain appeal. We walk for about an hour visiting the major landmarks, including a giant golden statue of Kim Il Sung.

When we return to the hotel, Ms Jang is horrified that we had ventured so far. ‘Something might happen to you’, she explains. But nothing happened. And nothing would.

11 November 2008 - Mt. Mgohyang

This will be probably the most tedious day of our visit. We drive 3 hours along another 6-lane highway north to Mt. Mgohyang to visit the International Friendship Exhibition. This is an exhibition of the hundreds of gifts made by foreign dignitaries to Kim Il Sung during his lifetime.

The surroundings are beautiful. The mountains, the trees and autumn leaves give one the feeling of being in a mountain resort. But the large marble building built to contain the gifts is something else.

We have a guide, a young, pretty woman in her 20s who speaks excellent English. She takes us from room to room and explains the origin of each of the hundreds of gifts. Some are quite interesting - a private railway car presented by Stalin, a bullet-proof limousine offered by Brezhnev, another limousine offered by Andropov, etc. But the rest of the gifts are less inspiring. Astonishingly, there’s even a gift from ‘a senior official’ of the UN Human Rights Commission.

The guide tells us that the hallways are 280 meters long, all lined with marble. There are dozens of rooms. After 2 hours of looking at gifts we have coffee in a temple-like teahouse looking out over the mountains. That was the best part of the visit.

But just when we think the visit is over, we are taken to another marble building, this time containing gifts made to Kim Jong Il. We spend another hour admiring gifts to him before heading back towards Pyongyang.

Kanso Tombs

In the late afternoon, we travel to the Kangso Tombs. We travel along the same highway as in the morning but this time south of Pyongyang. There are more bicycles in this area, the fields are more productive, villagers are pushing produce on wooden carts along dirt roads. There is an occasional cow and a few goats. We arrive at the tombs as darkness falls but no one is around to let us in. After much searching and asking around, it turns out that we are at the wrong tomb.

We move on to another tomb and find the guide who was waiting to show us around. The tomb turns out to be that of a 5th century king and is designated as a UNESCO heritage site. We enter the tomb and are shown the painted frescos which have incredibly withstood the test of time.

What did not withstand the test of time was, of course, the king’s jewelry and other possessions. These, the guide said, were looted by the Japanese. Resentment against the Japanese is never very far below the surface everywhere in this country. We leave the tombs as darkness falls.

As we head back towards Pyongyang, Ms. Jang asks about the election process in America, whether everyone can vote, whether Obama will be good for Korea, whether Clinton was a good president, what do we think of Madeleine Albright (she visited Pyongyang towards the end of her term as Secretary of State), etc.

It’s a surprisingly easy exchange of information on subjects which one might otherwise have thought best to avoid. She seems to be starved for information about the outside world. She says she has access to email but not to the internet. Mr. Cha, unfortunately, does not speak enough English to follow the conversation. Ms Jang summarizes the essentials for him.

Late in the evening we arrive gratefully back at the Haebangsan Hotel. At which point, Ms. Jang presents us with a draft agreement for future cooperation. She hopes to discuss it with us the following day.

12 November 2008 - South Hwanghae Province

Today will be devoted to visiting possible new project sites. The positive results of the first 2 projects, including, in particular, the goodwill that they have brought about, encourages me to be open to further cooperation. Ms. Jang has identified 3 villages in South Hwanghae Province where they need primary schools. She hopes we can select 2 of them for funding in 2009.

We head off for South Hwanghae Province, towards the village of Yanggye-ri (ri means lowland village) in Jaerong County, about one hour’s drive south of Pyongyang. The director of the village greets us together with the headmaster of the school. We are taken to the school complex which is located outside the village. There is a secondary school, an administrative building and the outlines in the ground of what was once the primary school.

The headmaster says that the original primary school was destroyed by flooding. But there is no sign of flooding on the other buildings. We assume that the school in reality collapsed due to bad construction material. The year the school was built was in fact a year of extreme economic hardship for the country.

We visit the secondary school. Both primary and secondary school students are attending classes in the same building. Since there are not enough classrooms, they attend in shifts. They come from several surrounding villages. The authorities say they hope to build a new 2-story primary school for about 250 primary school students.

We then head towards the village of Ninji-ri. The pattern repeats itself. The headmaster tells us that the primary school was destroyed by flooding. A new primary school is required for 263 primary school students who are now sharing classes with the secondary school students.

Chairs are brought out so that we can sit outside in the pale sunshine discussing details of the new school. We can see the villages where the students live in the distance. We agree it would be a good idea to build a new school and that we would consider it. The Vice-Chairman of the county invites us to a hotpot lunch.

Finally, we visit the village of Kangsan-ri in Anak County. It’s much the same story. The original primary school had been built in 1996 and destroyed by floods earlier this year. The remains of the school are still visible. Once again, we see no signs of flooding on the other buildings. Poor construction material seems the more likely cause. We sit again outside in the sun to work out the details of a new 2-story primary school. Locally-produced snacks, fruit and drinks are served.

North Hwanghae Province

On the way back to Pyongyang, we stop off at an orphanage in the city of Sarewon. This orphanage is somewhat controversial with Ms. Jang as it was not on her original list of possible projects. The idea evidently emanated from the DPRK Ambassador in Bern. This is considered a model orphanage to which many foreign visitors are taken. The facilities are clean and have been newly-refurbished by the province. However, it is too small. Can we please fund a new building?

We tour the facilities which house some 200 children up to the age of 4 years. They look happy and well taken care of. There are more boys than girls. Most of them have either been abandoned or their parents have died due to illness and general economic hardship. About 30 children live in one room. Toilet facilities are scarce. But since this project is much bigger than the projects we normally fund (well over US$100,000), we tell them we will ask around to see if anyone is interested. But we cannot fund it ourselves.

This completes our trip to look at possible new projects for next year. We drive back to Pyongyang. Farmers are working in the fields growing rice, maize and cabbage. Others are pushing produce on their bicycles.

This area of the country is more fertile and populated than the mountainous east. At times, teams of soldiers can be seen marching through the fields, carrying shovels or brooms over their shoulders.

Back at the Haebangsan Hotel, we have dinner with the UNICEF program officer. We tell her about the orphanage. She knows it well. Her main concern is not the building but the institutional practice by which the Ministry of Health hands over responsibility for children to the Ministry of Education when they are only 4 years old. This is a traumatic change at that age. UNICEF is trying to change that policy by delaying the handover until at least the age of 6.

13 November 2008 - MOU, diplomatic corps, Pyongyang

This morning we rework the draft agreement. We agree very quickly with KEF on its contents calling it an MOU. We inform Ms. Jang that we will ‘make every attempt’ to seek funding for 2 of the primary schools we have visited at no more than US$40,000 each. She will ask for detailed proposals, including designs, to be drawn up.

With agreement on the text in hand, Catherine and I go to the front desk of the hotel to make a photocopy of the document. Total confusion ensues. At first, they don’t understand what we are talking about. Photocopying machine? What is a photocopying machine? Do we want a coffee? Evidently, photocopying machines are not available in Korea.

This afternoon we have a meeting with the Swedish Ambassador. Catherine had met him on her previous visit. He is relatively young, friendly and informative. He invites us into his office. We talk about our experiences to date and the general situation in the country. He suggests there is no firm information on the health of Kim Jong Il, nor is it clear who will succeed him should he die. There is speculation that the country might be run by some sort of committee. Neither of Kim Jong Il’s sons are considered viable successors.

The ambassador adds that there are several European NGOs working in the DPRK. They work under the umbrella of the European Commission. Several US-based NGOs are helping to supervise the distribution of US-donated food supplies. They are based in a hotel away from the city centre.

We then meet the head of the Swiss Development Society, Katarina, who had been in charge of Swiss development assistance to DPRK for several years. We talk about the projects we visited and mention that we are looking for funding possibilities. She expresses interest and suggests we send her details when we receive them. Though non-committal, she is helpful and positive. At least she doesn’t say no.

14 November 2008 - signing of MOU, film studios and underground metro

This morning we formally sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the President of the Korean Education Fund. This important event takes place in the hotel coffee shop. Ms. Jang also signs the MOU as does Catherine. Mr. Cha looks on feeling a bit left out.

Later in the morning we attend the weekly UN inter-agency meeting. We are asked to introduce our activities as are other visiting agencies and organizations. It’s a way for everyone to be informed as to what everyone else is doing.

The content of the discussion is relatively thin. There are rumors that the border with China has been closed but there are different versions as to whether it is the Chinese or the Koreans who are responsible. Freight from China is still allowed in but Chinese visitors can now only enter DPRK by air. Rumour has it that the land border with South Korea has also been closed. This is evidently in retaliation for propaganda balloons which have been launched from the south. Most of the rest of the meeting is devoted to administrative matters, including a discussion on the removal of a ladder from the Bulgarian Embassy.

We have lunch at a restaurant in the diplomatic compound together with our friend from UNICEF and another colleague. Excluding Chinese and Russians, there are about 200 expatriates working in Pyongyang.

After lunch we meet Ms. Jang and Mr. Cha outside the diplomatic compound. We are taken on a tour of the DPRK film studios. This turns out to be very interesting.

Most of the films made in the DPRK are either anti-Japanese, anti-American or of ancient Korea. Entire sets have been built to resemble a Japanese town in the 1940s, an American town in the 1950s, and an ancient Korean village. Contrary to Hollywood where only the facades are built, these sets are made up of entire buildings. The imitation signboards and advertisements, meant to give a flavor of the time, are hilarious.

Our final bit of sightseeing leads us to the metro. We descend about 200 meters below the surface to a station decorated with chandeliers and revolutionary mosaics. We take the metro to the next stop. The subway cars are unusually small by normal standards and are decorated with portraits of the two leaders. There are other passengers in the train but they pay no attention to us.

Public transportation is efficient and plays a key role in Pyongyang since there are hardly any cars and few bicycles. Buses are filled to capacity with stars painted on their sides to show the number of accident-free trips they have taken. One cannot fail to be fascinated by the policewomen. They move as automatons directing non-existing traffic with jerky motions. At night they wear flashing lights. Their main task, it seems, is to ensure pedestrians do not walk across the street instead of using the dark underground passageways.

It’s our last night in Pyongyang. We invite Mr. Cha and Ms. Jang out to dinner. Mr. Cha brings with him the bottle of expensive cognac which Catherine gave him. We take them to the best hotel in town, the Koryo Hotel. We have dinner at a revolving roof-top restaurant. Though tired, they seem to enjoy themselves. The setting turns out to be a bit of a disappointment. There is no one else in the restaurant. And, of course, there is no view of the city as Pyongyang is plunged in darkness. The restaurant revolves in a void. But we all feel a tinge of sadness as our visit together is coming to a close.

Return to Beijing, 15 November

Our flight back to Beijing leaves early. We get up at 6am. There is no hot water and hardly any visible staff around. This does not seem to be the best time to get up. But the dining room had been mobilized by Ms. Jang to prepare for our early departure, so we have a basic breakfast. We say goodbye to the restaurant staff where we have had most of our meals.

Before long we are at the airport saying goodbye to Ms. Jang and Mr. Cha. We also say goodbye to the driver who has been a silent but competent presence throughout our trip. They have accompanied us everywhere and have done everything to make our visit pleasant. We feel sorry to leave them but agree to come back next summer when the two new projects have been completed.

We board the Air Koryo Tupolev and are soon back in Beijing, having rejoined the modern world after a one-week absence.