DPRK - Part 5

23 Mar 2016 . category: Travel . Comments
#DPRK

Day 4: The Last

This was our last real day in Korea, and involved a lot of smaller sights within Pyongyang.

Pyongyang Metro

We began the day with a ride on the Pyongyang Metro, stopping off at three of the more beautiful stations (though to be clear the ones we went by didn’t seem terribly run down). The stations were pretty cavernous feeling compared to Boston or NYC, with beautiful murals on either side of the leaders and/or revolutionary struggles:

I even got this photo with an adorable child riding the subway with us:

All of us on the tour were surprised at how uncontrolled this part seemed to be, as we shared crowded subway cars with local Koreans. Of course, this is not to say that this wasn’t being orchestrated behind our backs in some way…perhaps that child was a bit too cute…

Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum

This was another heavily propagandized locations. First, we went to check out the many captured arms and vehicles from the Korean War. It seems that they’ve saved basically every captured tank or shot-down plane. Next came the USS Pueblo, the only currently commissioned US ship in enemy captivity. Both around the boat and on it, a big deal was made about the ship’s “wrongdoing” and the shipmen’s “confessions.”

Then came the museum building itself, where we walked through exhibitions such as “US Atrocities During the Korean War” and watched a video which highlighted the incessant instigation of conflict by the US imperialists under the guise of liberation. In particular, the US ruthlessly tamped down democratic activities in South Korea to prop up the puppet regime. And it also fought the Korean War to distract its citizens from a serious economic crisis which swept the nation in 1948. Even though I’d been hearing bits and pieces of this narrative all week, this video was still a lot to take in. And others on the tour felt similarly. I was surprised at just how blatantly anti-American the entire video and tour were, given that our party was entirely Western and included several Americans other than me and Aaron. More thoughts about this in a later post.

Sadly we weren’t allowed to take pictures within the museum, but I did manage to get this photo with our tour guide:

Kim Il Sung Birthplace

Next up was a national monument to Kim Il Sung’s birthplace, where you can see the building that he grew up in. It’s apparently so sacred that we were unable to step on the ground of the building itself or even the steps leading up to it! Not sure how much of what we were told was actually true, but it seemed very engineered to make his upbringings seem as humble as possible.

Pyongyang Landmarks

Next in the day were several landmarks in Pyongyang. First, Kim Il Sung Square is the large central square of Pyongyang that serves as the location for many rallies and marches in the country. In fact, throughout the square there is a careful numbered grid of dots used for the soldiers. Our guide, Mr. Pang, even instructed us about how to march properly, as he had been in the military and marched through the very square. Here’s me applying those lessons!

While in the square, our bus was also parked next to a bus of Koreans. Some tour members were able to get a lot of waves by waving the North Korean flags that he had purchased. Then, Albert remembered that he had purchased a large Korean flag which, the unfurling of which got applause from the Koreans!

Next, the Juche Tower was built for Kim Il Sung’s 70th birthday, and named after his Juche ideology. We were given the option to take the elevator up, but it didn’t seem worth the money for a view similar to the hotel. While waiting in the tower, we were able to find that issue of the Pyongyang Times which included an article about Otto Warmbier.

Finally, we checked out the Monument to the Party Founding. It includes the symbols of their party: a hammer, sickle, and writing brush. The last modification to the normal Communist symbols represents the intellectual and studious nature of the party.

Bowling, Dinner, and Diplomat’s Club

The rest of the night was much more carefree. We stopped to bowl at the Pyongyang Gold Lane before a hotpot dinner and then the Diplomat’s Club. Unsurprisingly, we ran into a diplomat at the Diplomat’s Club! He was stationed at the Russian embassy and lived in Pyongyang with his wife and three daughters. He seemed to be enjoying his time in North Korea, and it was nice to make a friend. The Diplomat’s Club also had a karaoke bar with many Western songs: the group got a kick out of singing stuff like Eye of the Tiger.

Back at the hotel, we randomly met a Chinese man who was from the same village as Albert’s dad who then snagged us discount-rate massages. I think they’re still in touch via WeChat so that’s pretty cool.

Day 5: Journey Home

We left early the next morning for Beijing, passing through a very relaxed check on the way out. The agent and I chatted in Chinese briefly about my trip, and I was on my way. They didn’t ask to look through my photos or anything. We made it first to Beijing without a hitch, Aaron and I both being surprised that nothing had gone wrong so far. We of course spoke too soon, as his suitcase had somehow been lost on the one flight between Pyongyang and Beijing everyday. Thankfully, it has since gotten to us in Boston, and the rest of the flights back were uneventful (highlight: I slept for over 10 hours on the Beijing to DC leg).

This ends the first part of these blog posts. Next up, some (hopefully interesting) reflections on general themes from the trip.

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