Things you won't find in Pyongyang , some experiences of an early evening walk in the DPRK-special article by Dr Dermot Hudson

                                                   

 

 It is common for detractors of People's Korea and of socialism in general to say "oh but they do not have this  and they do not have that ... "Lets look at some of the things the DPRK does not have .

On the evening of the 13th  of October after our delegation and the Italian delegation had returned from a most enjoyable excursion to Panmunjom , Kaesong and the Pakyon Falls  , we decided to go for a walk around the central part of Pyongyang . There are indeed many things that can be seen easily in Britain an indeed other capitalists but were absent from Pyongyang.
                               

  We started our walk from the Koryo Hotel . We walked past several restaurants.  We did not see litter or fast food wrappers strewn on the pavements  The pavement seemed clean and there was a nice grass verge separating it from the street. We do not see beggars or homeless people. Now these are all too common in London and other capitalist countries  In the centre of London one can easily see 5 to 10 homeless people begging in a small area , even in the suburbs of London homeless people can be found. I read today that in the UK one homeless person dies every 19 hours.
   There was no sign of vandalism or graffiti . We did not see any slum area either .
  We did not see estate agent shops offering homes for rent at very high amounts ,in London it is not uncommon to find properties to rent for a £1,000 per month and in the centre of London even an extortionate and staggering £5,000 per month ! . In the DPRK housing is virtually free . There are no greedy landlords or property companies. no high rents or rip off service charges !.
                             

Although strong liquor l is cheap in the DPRK ( you can get a small bottle of Pyongyang liquor for about a Euro whereas a bottle of strong liquor in the UK costs about £8 or£9  at least  ) we do not see any chronic alcoholics  loitering on the streets with cans of lager or sprawling drunk on the pavement . Nor did we encounter the stench of drugs. Frequently in London one encounters the awful smell of dope being smoked . When I lived on a council estate in Woolwich, the smell of dope was so overpowering it nearly knocked me over  . Pyongyang citizens are free from this, the air in Pyongyang is clean and fresh ,free from contamination from the smell of cannabis  .
  In the DPRK you do not have the sources of alcohol dependency and addictive drug use  as there is no unemployment , poverty or social alienation .
   We did not see a betting shop  on the streets of Pyongyang . It is not uncommon to see 2 or 3 betting shops within a small area in London . Also absent from Pyongyang were pawnbrokers or dodgy money lending shops which thrive on the misery and poverty of people .
  We did not see any prostitutes nor so-called 'sex shops' . There were no shops in Pyongyang selling pornography but in the UK you can find pornography in any newsagent or corner shop .Prostitution was abolished in the DPRK back in the 1940s and there are plenty of jobs and careers for women .
  Yes , there are a lot of things you cannot find in Pyongyang this is true ! . Towards the end of our walk we came across a huge department store packed with many goods . Our Italian friend Marco and his guide decided to go inside . We continued our walk and headed back to the hotel. We passed the brightly lit Pyongyang railway station. The streets were well lit. Another myth about the DPRK is that it completely dark , completely black at night  .This is not what we saw in Pyongyang . I suspect that the satellite pictures that purport to show this have either been photo-shopped or are completely fake or very out of date  !
                                 

  Our walk proved most educational . We learnt a lot about the difference between Juche socialism and corrupt capitalism . People's Korea is better off without the 'gifts' of capitalism and does not need to so-called 'assistance ' of imperialism!
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman UK KFA
Official Delegate  KFA for UK
Chairman Juche Idea Study Group of England
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics