I arrived at Pyongyang
airport on the 19th August of this year and immediately I could see
that socialist construction was rapidly continuing as the new airport terminal
was almost completed, along with a newly tarmac ked runway. Once the tour bus
had arrived in central Pyongyang, the group stopped outside the station to
collect members of the tour group who had travelled from Dandong. I noticed
that there was a large group of people near to the station that were congregated
together and they were all watching television on an extra large screen. My
guide informed me that people in Pyongyang prefer to watch television together,
as it fosters a sense of community spirit. Once all members of the tour had
boarded the bus, it continued onto the Hotel where we stayed one night.
The group left this
hotel at 7.00am the next day and on the drive to the airport I noticed that Pyongyang
was a city of new build construction, with numerous buildings under different
stages of completion. This shows the Korea under the wise leadership of Kim
Jong Un is prospering and peoples living standards continue to improve daily.
Arriving at the airport
we boarded the 30 seat plane which took 1.5hours to arrive in Samjiyon
airport where the group proceeded to board buses and embarked on the 2 hour
drive to Mount Paektu. Along the way we
passed small villages with ornate Korean style bungalows. This shows that the
DPRK has embedded traditional architectural techniques in building modern
dwellings. So it is clear that the DPRK is preserving its rich culture by using
traditional methods. This is in contrast with South Korea where many aspects of
their cultural identity has been removed and replaced with American
architecture and ideas. As our journey continued we drove on winding well
maintained roads which were lined by strong lustrous pine trees. Arriving at
the foot of mount Paektu I saw an impressive volcanic landscape with soaring
mountain peaks, the tallest of which is mount Paektu. Once the bus arrived at
the midpoint of mount Paektu, I boarded a cable car which took me near to the
summit. This mountain is inscribed with the words “Sacred Mountain of the
Revolution”, with Kim Jong Il’s signature underneath. This indicates that the
Korean people hold mount Paektu close to their hearts as this was the place
that President Kim Il Sung launched his campaign to liberate Korea. Upon
arriving at the summit of Mount Paektu I was overwhelmed by sheer natural
beauty of this vast dormant volcano and the stillness of Lake Chon, which was in
cased by large rocky peaks. Lake Chon is the highest natural lake in the world
and is the crater of the dormant volcano. The mountain is currently being
studied by a British geological team lead bya Imperial College London researcher who praised the Korean
scientists already working there, by stating “their understanding is strong and
their background is good. Arriving at seismic monitoring sites that were
already built was a bit odd, but they were incredible - far better than
anything I could have built." This shows the benefits of socialism in Korea
as there is a keen interest placed in scientific development. The Koreans have
set up better equipment than Imperial College London could have provided them
with. So the DPRK is moving forward to become not just an economic power but a
scientific power as well.
The next place that I visited after departing
Mount Paektu was the Secret Camp which was nearby. At the entrance to the camp
is a large mosaic featuring Kim Il Sung with Kim Jong Suk who is holding a
young Kim Jong Il. The mosaic comprised of 160,000 pieces which has be
precisely slotted together to form this amazing portrait. Above the camp is
Jong il peak which is 1879 meters above sea level and both the head quarters
and Kim Jong Ils birth place, are log cabins. Kim Il Sung’s Head Quarters was
originally built in the 1930’s and has been lovingly preserved by the Korean
people. The Head Quarters itself only contains the most basic of items
including a large table where Kim Il Sung planned the battles ahead, an
original map captured from the Japanese and the coat worn by Kim Il Sung in
1937. The handles of this building are all made out of animal hooves because
steel would be too cold for the soldiers to touch in the bitter Korean winter.
The building in which Kim Jong Il was born is a slightly smaller log cabin and
is very bare except for a few reed mats for sitting on and a small table for
meal times. This room had the original blanket used by Kim Jong Il as a child
and the toys made for him by soldiers which were given on his first birthday.
Although Kim Jong Il was born in a humble log cabin, he rose up to become the
leader of the Korean people.
The group then moved on by tour bus to the
Begabong Hotel where we stayed one night and in the morning departed to visit
the Rimyongsu waterfall. This
waterfall is 15m high and 27m wide. It was formed after being covered with the
thick whinstone that erupted in the late third period, or the early fourth
period of the cenozoic era. The underground water flows through the cracks of
whinstone, comes out and reaches the rock face to become a waterfall. There are
five main streams and between them are a number of smaller falls. This area is
covered with azaleas in spring, green forests in summer and golden leaves in
autumn.
Above the falls is a pavilion and nearby are camping sites where
President Kim Il Sung stayed when he marched into Korea leading the main force
of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army in May 1939.
Next on our itinerary was a visit to the Chongbong camp. At the entrance
to the site is a statue of Kim Il Sung who is seated and planning the battle
ahead. There had been a statue of the great leader on this site since May 1969
but the present statue was completed under Kim Jong Ils direction in 2001. The
camp is famous because it contained around 20 trees on which soldiers during
the anti Japanese struggle had written revolutionary messages on. The slogans
were originally written in 1939 and when the site was rediscovered in 1958, 10
of these trees were cut down and are now situated in the Korean Revolutionary
Museum. The remaining trees have been preserved in glass cases so that future
generations are able to read the slogans, which call on all of the Korean
people to participate in the anti Japanese struggle. Five of the slogan trees
on the site had been written on by Kim Jong Suk. It was only realized that
these slogans had been written by Kim Jong Suk when leader Kim Jong Il visited
the site in 1972 and recognized his mother’s hand writing. There were some also
some trees with their bark peeled off and this bark was used for the soldiers
to sleep on. One of the original chopping blocks used by the soldiers had also
been preserved, as it demonstrated how the wood muffled the chopping noise.
After departing the Chongbong camp we stopped to observe the mosaic
depicting Kim Il Sung leading the KPRA across the border from China to Korea.
The mosaic is situated next to the original road used by Kim Il Sung and his guerrilla
army. The road had been built by the Japanese to transport their troops from
the South of the country to the North of the country should an insurrection occur.
However, Kim Il Sung used this road to transport his troops quickly into Korea
and defeated the Japanese in two battles over two weeks. The group then
proceeded down the road which led to the Grand Monument. This statue of Kim Il
Sung is the second tallest in Korea and shows him in full KPRA uniform. The
statue is flanked on either side by statues depicting the jubilation of the
Korean people after becoming liberated. The monument also depicts the anti
Japanese guerillas helping the peasants and attaching the Japanese. Behind the
statue of Kim Il Sung is a statue that has been placed in the lake and is
entitled, the Water of the Motherland. The statues show soldiers who have just
crossed the borders from China, touching the waters of Korea for the first time
in many years. This grand monument has such a high level of artist skill and
craftsmanship that it was awarded a peoples art prize in 1989. Whilst I was
looking around the monument, a group of Korean students came marching past
wearing the uniforms from the war and singing revolutionary songs. This is in
stark contrast to the UK where many youths and young people spend more time
abusing alcohol and committing acts of anti- social behavior rather than
learning about their own history.
Once the tour around the
Grand monument had been completed I boarded the bus which drove me back to Samjiyon airport where an awaiting Air Koryo aircraft was parked on the tarmac. This
aircraft took one hour to arrive in Orang airport, which is the smallest airport in the DPRK. A different bus then
drove the 2 hour journey to Chongjin, which is the capital of DPRK’s North Hamgyong Province and the
country's third largest city. It is sometimes called the City of Iron because the city is one
of the DPRK’s most important steel and fibre industry centers. It has a shipyard, locomotive plant, and a rubber factory. Near the port area is the Chongjin
Steel Co, Chemical
Textile Co, May 10 Coal Mine
Machinery Factory and the famous Kimchaek Iron & Steel, which was called formally called Nippon
Steel during the Japanese
occupation. It was renamed after the liberation of Korea and was nationalized.
Chongjin also has a port, which has established itself as a crucial component
of the busy international shipping trade, with neighboring parts of Northeast
and Southeast Asia. Of DPRK's eight international shipping ports, Chongjin is
thought to be one of the most economically important and serves as a base of
trade to Russia and Japan.
The first place I
visited in Chongjin was the seamen's club which serves to cater for foreign
crews as well as a meeting base for Koreans and foreigners engaged in the
shipping trade. The restaurant at the Seaman’s club was very busy, with
locals enjoying food late into the night. Our guide explained that the
menu is several pages long, offering cheap dog, pork, chicken, beef, and
seafood dishes. This demonstrates that western propaganda claiming that people
in the DPRK are starving is totally false and nothing but infantile lies. In
fact there is a wide variety of meat and fish based dishes available in all
parts of the DPRK.
After our visit to the seamen’s club the group was
driven to the Chongjin hotel for an overnight stay. As my room was next to the
railway line I could see that the rail infrastructure in Chongjin is very well
used, with freight trains passing by the hotel during the night carrying
supplies to the local factories. This again counters claims by the CIA and NIS propagandists
that the DPRK does not have a sophisticated infrastructure. In reality trains
operate throughout the night carrying not just industrial supplies but people
as well.
In the morning, after a hearty breakfast, the group
visited Chongjin’s e-library. This facility is a large two storey building with
the ground floor full of computers for public use. There are four computer
suites and a different level of computer skills are taught in each suite. The
lessons on the use of computers are free and available for everyone and are
taught from beginner level to bachelor degree level. This clearly shows the
benefits of Korea’s socialist society as the computer lessons are free and
available to anyone who wishes to enroll. This is in stark contrast to the UK
where computer lessons can be very expensive and the students are taught using
out of date computers. In the UK only the elderly over 65 can access free
computer lessons via Age UK and often the computers are several years old. In
Chongjin’s e.library all of the computers are very new and regularly have the
latest software updates installed on them. The second floor of the library is
dedicated to books which are available to borrow free of charge for everyone.
This floor also has more teaching space where the theoretical side of how
computers work is taught.
After leaving the library we travelled to a
kindergarten in Chongjin. We were invited to watch a children’s music
performance which was truly excellent and inspiring. The ages of the children
ranged from 4-7 years old and they demonstrated a very high level of skill and
co-ordination. The performance included displays of Korean dancing, piano
playing and singing. Each child was enthusiastic and very talented in their
performing arts subject and the staff also participated by singing a very
captivating Korean song. After the performance had ended the Headmistress
invited us to look round the classrooms. Each classroom was staffed by a caring
and affectionate teacher who showed a genuine desire for the children to
succeed in their educational life. The classroom themselves were well equipped
with the latest books and stationery. This kindergarten depicts the benefits of
a socialist education system as the facilities were of a very high quality with
skilled staff helping the children. The standard of education on offer to the
younger children of Chongjin would only be available to children in the UK if
their parents had enough money to afford private education.
We then continued our journey to the statue of Kim Il
Sung where we paid our respects and then carried onto a restaurant outside of
Chongjin where we were fed freshly caught fish, crabs and various sorts of
meats. The final stop in Chongjing was a visit to the beach where the group
witnessed the construction of a 5 star resort hotel. This portrays how both
domestic and international tourism within the DPRK is thriving.
After a refreshing trip to the sea-side we drove to
Orang airport where we boarded an Antannov passenger aircraft which took 1 hour
and a half to arrive in Pyongyang. My final evening in the DPRK was spent in
the newly refurbished youth hotel in Pyongyang. In the morning we flew back to
Beijing with Air Koryo.
My trip to the DPRK demonstrated that Korea, under the
wise leadership of Kim Jong Un, is a model for socialist development and the
country is quickly moving forward to be an economic power. The past issues and
problems created by the Arduous March have been solved and Korea is now
prospering with the Juche Idea is its guiding ideology.
Alexander Meads
No comments:
Post a Comment