Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea

I’m a little conflicted about this book. On one hand, it’s boring, but on the other hand, it’s about the most boring country on earth. North Korea has sterile buildings, no casual socialization, no casual music or arts, and no food. So why does the author bother to draw it? There isn’t really anything to draw.

    Delise is a Quebec-born artist and animator, now living in the south of France, and travels to Pyongyang to visit the state animation studios. There are other foreigners in Pyongyang – French, Italian, and Arab – mostly doing engineering projects. There are things to entertain them – discos, cafes, and a bowling alley – all of which lack essential parts. Worse, they’re only open to foreigners, so there won’t be a lot of people there to talk to. That’s fine with Kim, because the foreigners can’t speak or understand Korean and therefore they can’t corrupt the locals with their fascinating stories of Western capitalism. On more than one occasion, the author says he’d rather be nuked.

    High rise hotels have only three occupied floors. The 1,000 foot tall pyramid-shaped hotel is a concrete shell (covered with glass by the time of this writing) and admired by only three tourists. There’s a club for tourists, situated inside an ugly Soviet-style lobby that used to be the Romanian embassy. I have to wonder why Romania needed an embassy in North Korea, when the two countries had almost no relationship. Neither country had anything to contribute to the other.

     I wasn’t surprised by the guitar-playing kids who do a performance for the tourists. I saw it on youtube, where the kids in Soviet-style outfits play an old Russian melody. The kids look like they’re less than eight years old, and they play huge guitars. I wonder how their tiny fingers can handle the massive frets. Maybe those “kids” are actually dwarves? What surprises me is that the leaders of North Korea can’t see that nobody’s fooled. They have to be aware of how foreigners are laughing at them. I also wonder how a country that hasn’t had a war in years can need to conscript men for over ten years at a time. With so many people forced into the army, it’s a wonder there’s anyone to grow the food.

   Maybe their “Dear Leader” is fully aware how the foreigners see him, but doesn’t care. The Kim family spent decades being obeyed, so maybe they’re happy as long as their own people are kept in line. One thing however, is certain; the North Koreans are brainwashed, and if the doors of North Korea ever open up, they’re going to need to bring in psychiatrists.