Foreigners visiting an apartment on Changjong Street in downtown Pyongyang asked the owner:
How much is this apartment worth?
- I do not know.
- So how do you live in this apartment?
- It was given to me by the state.
- Is it really free?
- Of course!
The foreigners, opening their mouths in surprise, told the owner that in their country such an apartment could be bought for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Still in doubt, they asked again:
“How can you get such an apartment for free ?! Perhaps there are people from the authorities or privileged circles among your family members or relatives? "
And the owner answered them:
"Most of the people who celebrated housewarming on this street are simple workers and employees."
However, this is too commonplace in our homeland, where one of the popular events is the free distribution of housing. In its cities and villages, ordinary people receive apartments built by the state for free.
As of 2011, there were over 7 million families in South Korea who did not have their own apartment. And of them 680 thousand families, not having the strength to rent an apartment, drag out a miserable life in hovels and dugouts.
Because of the high apartment price, many Americans rent apartments or live outdoors, not daring to think about their home.
Comfortable apartment buildings built in various locations in Pyongyang, including Gwangbok Avenue, Thonyer Avenue, and Changjong Street, clearly show the popular events in our homeland.
In capitalist countries, luxurious houses are being built in the interests of a handful of privileged circles, so that ordinary workers cannot even think about them.
So why, in our Motherland, allocating a lot of money, labor and building materials for housing construction, give out apartments to ordinary people free of charge?
The Nigerian newspaper Nijirian Observer wrote:
“Korea's social events are attracting international attention. This is due to the fact that, cherishing the people, they are pursuing a policy in their interests. "
Applause please!
So, as you understood, today we will walk around Pyongyang and watch how ordinary workers live. As they say, we have no reason not to trust North Korean propaganda - they won't lie to us, will they?
I will give you the street of the future, which was built for scientists. Now let's see the street for ordinary workers - this is Changjong Street!
I must say right away that I have not been to North Korea and I am not planning yet. I'm not very interested in walking through exemplary places surrounded by guides and security officers. I'm interested in real life, but today it is not available to an ordinary tourist. It remains to collect video and photographs bit by bit on the Internet and use them to collect an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat is really happening in North Korea today.
So let's take a look at the new area!
01. There he is! 
“To transform Pyongyang into a magnificent world city, a city of a people armed with revolutionary views on the leader - this was the desire of President Kim Il Sung and Warlord Kim Jong Il. The great Kim Jong Il has taken the initiative to demolish old residential buildings in the area and build a new street to celebrate the centenary of the great leader Kim Il Sung. He more than once familiarized himself with the general plan for the improvement of the Mansudhe Upland and gave specific instructions. "
04. The North Korean capital now has a silhouette like a modern Asian city! "Changjong Street, built in June 101 Juche (2012), is located in the central part of Pyongyang." 
05. The main public transport of the city is the trolleybus. Electricity is much cheaper than diesel. And diesel is more useful to tractors. There are practically no private cars on the streets. Pyongyang is probably the most seamless capital in the world. 
06. The houses are built according to very similar designs. 
07. Most of the population travels by public transport. There is not enough of it, so in all non-staged photos of Pyongyang there will always be crowds of people at stops. Please note that the roads are so wide and there are so few cars that people can easily cross the streets in any convenient place without fear of cars. 
All this is very reminiscent of Soviet photographs of Moscow after the Stalinist reconstruction, when highways were cut through the narrow streets of the historical center.
08. There are practically no private cars. 
09. Dear Kim Jong-un, who embodied the noble love of the great giants for the people and the coming generation, has been here more than once. And at the end of May 2012, he examined residential buildings, public buildings, a nursery, a kindergarten and a school. 
10. And now new settlers are entering new houses! Notice how happy they are, how they hurry to get into their new apartments! 
11. In apartments, they are shocked by the luxurious decoration. People are surprised by the smooth walls and the presence of furniture. In fact, it is really a great happiness to see the furniture. 
Usually all housewarming takes place without furniture: 
They sleep and eat on the floor. At best, there will be a kitchen. 
12. Ordinary life 
13. Since the new district is exemplary, it was beautifully illuminated 
14. Electricity was spared 
15. It's funny that the lanterns in the park are off, but the area does. 
16. The street is flooded with light, almost like Hong Kong. And who will then say that the country has problems with electricity? 
17. Well, yes, the lanterns hardly burn on the street, but everything else is lit! 
18.
19.
20. So, 6 years ago, in 2012, propaganda reported:
“Kim Jong-un looked into the apartments on the highest floors, did not lose sight of anything so that the newcomers would not feel inconvenience. Examining a number of public services facilities, he said that first-priority attention should be paid to comfort, and then to architectural aesthetics. " Here is one of the apartments. Let's take a close look at this photo. Right and left are the owners, they just got married, and the girl is expecting a baby.
21. The description for the photo says that this is a young family of workers. In the corner there is a TV set covered with a napkin; on the wall are portraits of the leaders. There are no curtains on the windows, and there are also no heating appliances. 
22. In the next shot, a table appears, and they took off the napkin from the TV and turned it on! 
23. Correct photos hang on the walls 
24. And now a new video came out, which shows us the same family that was shown 6 years ago! Let's see how they are doing! 
25. At the beginning of the video, we are confirmed that the skyscrapers were not built for some party workers, but for ordinary workers. 
26. Here she is, our weaver. 6 years ago she was a teacher, but these are little things. She is now a weaver. Let's not find fault 
27. Gorgeous views of evening Pyongyang 
28. And now a young family goes to their home! As you remember, in 2012 the girl was pregnant, now they have a boy, everything is fine. Congratulations to the young! Happy girls follow a couple on the bridge 
29. The girl in yellow does not lag behind throughout the entire route. After 6 years, the streets are still deserted, there are no markings, so you can cross anywhere 
30. We enter the entrance 
31. Take the elevator to the second floor! Notice how luxurious the elevator is in the house! It is decorated with garlands and has a chair and a fan! Do you have a similar luxury in your home? 
32. It's funny that the door to the apartment is not locked. A young family of workers just opens it. But on the door there are alarm sensors. Well, the usual thing is not to make a lock on the door, but to make an alarm. 
33. As we remember, this is not just a house, this is the very house! 
34. And now we find ourselves in the very room! Much has changed in the lives of ordinary North Korean workers in 6 years. First, there are curtains on the windows! Secondly, instead of a fan, there are now flowers. Well, change the photos and diplomas on the walls a little. 
35. Have you noticed the changes? 
36. Yes, there was a photo of this sofa here from 2012 
37. A young family of workers quickly changes their clothes and starts watching TV! Now it's an LCD panel! A girl appears from somewhere. It looks like you can congratulate them on their second child. 
38. Next, the operator proudly displays other rooms. We are shown a bedroom in which for some reason there is no bed, but there is a refrigerator ... Again, there are no heating appliances and even curtains. 
39. Probably the bed is hiding in the closet! 
40. There is also a kitchen! Kitchen with utensils, what a great achievement. 
All. We can only rejoice for the young families working in North Korea.
Of course, I imagined a little differently an apartment in which a young family with two children has been living for 6 years. Well, there, toys, books, cribs, a bookcase, a table. But these are trifles.
I continue to observe the development of events with interest.
Workers who live without breaking the law and do their job well receive up to 1,000 grams of rice, meat and eggs in return. On TV, they constantly report that people from other countries do not have all this and live much worse. An ordinary person cannot check this, since only verified personalities are allowed to communicate with foreigners.
Life in North Korea is about complete obedience. If a person keeps a radio in his home, listens to the music of foreign performers or watches foreign TV channels (although this is almost impossible), he will be exiled to hard labor or prison. The situation is aggravated by the fact that repression is imposed not only on the offender, but also on his entire family. And the whole genus falls into the so-called black list. This is fraught with the fact that no one will be admitted to the university, there will be no work, the entrance to the capital is also prohibited. For especially grave crimes, a person is publicly executed.
These laws have one huge advantage: there is virtually no crime. The nation is growing healthy and strong, since from childhood everyone attends the sections, are regularly examined by doctors and do not eat much. No woman has the right to pick up a cigarette.
The birth rate of North Korea exceeds the birth rate of South Korea. But soon these numbers will be equal, as the government of the country is pursuing a policy to reduce the number of children in families.
Decreased life expectancy
As strange as it may sound, even though Koreans often do not have bad habits, their life expectancy is decreasing. He is now 66 years old. This figure is constantly falling due to the fact that women and children suffer from the general situation in the country.
An expert on US international affairs said that the amount of food allocated to one person is not enough to restore vital energy. Therefore, life expectancy in North Korea, especially for ordinary workers, is only falling.
The problem with this system can be called the fact that some parts of the country simply do not receive it. All due to the fact that the state has a basic rule - to notify the government of their intentions to visit any area.
Impact of the Korean War on the country's economic development
The war, or police operation, took place from 1950 to 1953. This confrontation is also called “ Forgotten war”, As it was not mentioned in official publications for a long time.
In fact, this conflict was unleashed by the bad relations between the United States and its allies and China. The northern coalition consisted of the DPRK, the army) and the USSR. The last two countries did not officially participate in the war, but they actively supplied weapons and financed. The southern coalition consisted of the Republic of Korea, England and the United States of America. In addition to the listed countries, there was also the UN on the South side.
The reason for the war was the desire of the president of both North and South Korea to unite the peninsula under his leadership. Such a warlike mood radically changed life in North Korea, the photos of those times are indisputable proof. All men were liable for military service and had to serve for more than 10 years without fail.
During the preparation for the confrontation, the government of the Soviet Union feared the outbreak of the Third World War, which justified the non-fulfillment of some requests from North Korea. However, this did not affect the supply of weapons and the military. The DPRK gradually increased the power of its army.
The war began with the occupation of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. It ended with India making a proposal to create a peace treaty. But since the south refused to sign the document, Clark, the UN general, became its representative. A demilitarized zone was created. But interesting fact what remains is that the treaty to end the war has not yet been signed.
Foreign policy
The DPRK leads a very aggressive, but at the same time reasonable Political scientists of other countries suspect that the leader of the state has experts who are able to suggest correct decisions and predict the consequences in a given situation. It is worth noting that North Korea is a nuclear state. On the one hand, this forces hostile countries to reckon with it, on the other, it is quite costly to maintain such weapons, many European countries have long abandoned them.
Relationship with developed states and their influence on the development of the economy of North Korea
- Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, relations with the Russian Federation nearly died out. Only during the reign of Vladimir Putin were agreements on cooperation in many areas signed. In addition, in 2014, all debts of the north to the Russian Federation were written off. This kind of made life a little easier for North Koreans.
- USA. Relations with the United States are still quite strained. America to this day stands on the side of South Korea and strongly supports it, which helps to significantly develop the economy. The same cannot be said about the northern part of the state. US representatives portray the DPRK as an aggressor and often accuse them of provoking their southern neighbor and Japan. Some serious publications carried out investigations and wrote that the northern government is trying to kill the President of South Korea, shooting down planes, sinking liners. This attitude of America does not contribute to the economic development of the country, and it does not improve life in North Korea for the common people.
- Japan. Relations with this country are completely severed and can turn into a full-fledged war at any time. Each state imposed sanctions on each other after the Korean War. And the DPRK openly declared in 2009 that if Japanese aircraft flew into Korea, they would open fire to kill.
- South Korea. Due to the strained relations and the desire to unite the peninsula underneath, abductions, murders and attacks regularly occur. Skirmishes are often heard on the outskirts of countries, and they are also recorded on the land border. Several years ago, the DPRK announced its decision to launch a nuclear attack against Seoul. However, this event was prevented. This is one of the main reasons why life in North Korea is dangerous and leads to the fact that young people try to leave for permanent residence in other countries as soon as possible.
Military life of men
In 2006, the army of the People's Democratic Republic had more than 1 million people. There were over 7,500,000 in the reserve, and 6,500,000 people were members of the Red Guard. About 200,000 more work as security guards at military facilities and in other similar positions. And this despite the fact that the country's population is no more than 23 million.
The contract with the ground forces is for 5-12 years. A man has the right to choose where to go to serve: in the army, division, corps or brigade.
The service time in the navy is slightly shorter: from 5 to 10 years. Due to the fact that the government does not spare funds for the development of its army, people are fully equipped with the necessary equipment, weapons and protective suits.
Unlike other countries, the state in question is investing in the development of intelligence, which significantly worsens the lives of people in North Korea.
Most of the military is concentrated in the area of \u200b\u200bthe demilitarized zone. The People's Army has at its disposal more than 3 thousand main and 500 light tanks, 2 thousand armored personnel carriers, 3 thousand artillery barrels, 7 thousand mortars; in ground forces there are also about 11 thousand anti-aircraft installations. Such uniforms require an investment of large sums of money that could bring the country out of stagnation.
Life in North Korea (reviews of ordinary people confirm this) because of such a militant attitude has no progress, or rather, it just stands still. The indigenous people do not even know that they can exist somehow differently. No wonder the rulers of the country have come up with a slogan, the essence of which is not to envy anyone and live only on their own. Such a policy helps in some way to maintain control over the common population.
What is life like in North Korea? Reviews of foreigners
Unfortunately, all people living in the country are forbidden to talk about how hard life is for them. However, tourists who have visited North Korea willingly share all their memories and impressions.
According to travelers' reviews, entry into the country is carried out only with the help of travel agencies. All the time a person or a group of people is under supervision and moves around the city or region only with a guide. Radios, telephones, and any other gadgets are not allowed to be imported. This is contrary to the government's beliefs. You can only take pictures that are allowed by the guide. In case of disobedience, the person is added to the blacklist and is prohibited from entering North Korea.
It is immediately clear to the naked eye that people live in an average way. They are poorly dressed, the roads are empty. Cars appear very rarely, which is why many children play on the road.
There are a lot of soldiers on the streets, who are also prohibited from photographing, especially if they are resting.
People move on foot or by bike. Tourists are given a free ride near the hotel. By the way, the corridors in the building resemble horror films. There was no repair for a long time, people appear here extremely rarely. In addition to bicycles, residents use bulls.
Both women and children work in the fields. The abandoned territories that are located on military bases are rich in small trickery, similar to tanks.
Some buildings have escalators, which have appeared quite recently. People are not yet used to them and are poorly guided in how to use them.
Homes are supplied with electricity for several hours. Trees and small monuments are whitewashed not with a brush, but with hands.
In the spring, people eat ordinary grass added to their dishes, which can be quickly and discreetly picked up on the neighboring lawn.
Economic spheres
The DPRK has an underdeveloped economy. Due to the fact that since 1960 the country became closed and stopped publishing production statistics, all conclusions were given by independent experts, they cannot be 100% reliable.
- Industry. North Korea (the everyday life of citizens depends on the level of development of the state in this area) is moving well towards the extraction of minerals. In addition, there are oil refineries on the territory.
- Mechanical engineering. The country is engaged in the production of machine tools that Russian Federation imports. However, the models are outdated, they were produced in the USSR several decades ago. It produces cars, SUVs, trucks.
- Electronic sphere. After the DPRK imported several million more smartphones and ordinary cell phones in 2014 than in 2013, everyday life in North Korea has improved. Over the past 5-7 years, companies have produced tablets, several smartphones and a special computer for work in factories.
- Agriculture. Due to the lack of fertile land in the country, agriculture poorly developed. Mountains occupy a large area of \u200b\u200bthe country. Crops such as rice, soybeans, potatoes and corn are mainly planted. Unfortunately, there are few greens and vegetables that can be eaten raw. This leads to poor health and, as a result, reduces the life expectancy of ordinary Koreans. Poultry and pig breeding prevail in animal husbandry. Due to the poor development of the country, the harvest is harvested by hand.
Comparison of living standards of people in North and South Korea
The most closed country is North Korea. The life of ordinary people here is not the best. You can only get around the city by bike. Cars are an unprecedented luxury that the average worker can hardly afford.
Anyone wishing to enter the capital must first obtain a pass. However, it's worth it. There are picturesque places, various monuments and monuments, and even the only metro in the whole country. Outside the city, you can drive up by hitchhiking. The military must always be brought up - as is customary by law.
Everyone living in the DPRK must wear badges with the leaders of the state. Also, citizens who have reached working age must get a job. But since there are often just not enough places, local authority comes up with new activities, such as bundling sheaves of hay or sawing old trees. Those who have retired must also do something. As a rule, the parties allocate a small piece of land, which the elderly are obliged to look after.
Everyone has long known that North Korea, where the lives of ordinary people sometimes turn into hell, has cruel laws and follows in the footsteps of cruel communism. However, there is something that this country attracts and beckons to itself. These are parks, nature reserves and just very beautiful places that you can admire endlessly. That there is "Dragon Mountain", which is located 30 minutes from Pyongyang.
Life for women in North Korea is very difficult. Mostly men are involved in the army, there is practically no benefit from them for the family, so the weaker sex became more active and was able to prove that it could live in such conditions. Now the main breadwinners are women. They are the ones who work around the clock because of several inadequate laws of the DPRK, aimed only at protecting the state. If we compare modern life with any historical era, then we can confidently say that Korea lives in 1950. The photo below is proof of that.
South Korea is a country of cinema, music, prosperity. The country's main problem is alcoholism. In terms of drunkenness, the state ranks 7th in the world, but this does not prevent it from advancing, expanding its sphere of influence and becoming a powerful power. The Government of the Republic conducts its foreign policy in such a way that it has good relations with many European countries.
The people living in the country are kind, helpful, they always bow and smile at passers-by. And this feature is especially evident in the service sector: in cafes, restaurants, cinemas. The buyer, or rather, the person who pays the money, is treated like God. In no case should he wait long for his turn. Due to such rules, service in this country is distinguished by quality and speed.
Education is what makes South Korea different. He she the highest level... Poor academic performance, which leads to failure in college, means expulsion from society.
The army is not as well developed as in the north, but everyone is obliged to serve here - from workers to pop stars. The consequences that await after attempts to evade service are reminded by North Korean planes constantly cutting through the sky. The call for men is carried out closer to 30 years. As a rule, Koreans marry very late, often after demobilization.
Their apartments look sparse. Only those who work tirelessly can afford houses. Citizens themselves laugh at apartments and other housing that is shown on TV and published in magazines, saying that this is just a game of fantasy.
North and South Korea, whose living standards are very different, unfortunately, do not even think to unite with the world. Conflicts and risks of a renewed war constantly arise, which severely hits the ordinary citizens of the north and forces them to migrate to other countries.
North Korea counters
The life of ordinary Koreans in the DPRK is protected from outsiders as a military secret. Journalists can only look at her from a safe distance - through the glass from the bus. And breaking through this glass is an incredibly difficult task. You cannot go to the city on your own: only with a guide, only by agreement, but there is no agreement. It took five days to persuade the escorts to ride to the center.
Taxis go to the center. The drivers are incredibly happy about the passengers - almost no one uses their services at the hotel. It is impossible to order a taxi for a foreigner in the DPRK. They are taken to a shopping center on Kwan Bo Avenue - something like Novy Arbat in Moscow. The store is special - there are two red signs above the entrance. Kim Jong Il was here twice and Kim Jong-un came once. The shopping center resembles a typical Soviet Central Department Store: a three-story concrete cube with high windows.
Inside, the atmosphere is like in the main department store of a small Russian city. On the ground floor there is a supermarket. There is a queue at the cash register There are many people, maybe even unnaturally many. Everyone is actively filling large carts with food.
Researching prices: Pork 22,500 won, chicken 17,500 won, rice 6,700 won, vodka 4,900 won. If we remove a couple of zeros, then prices in North Korea are almost the same as in Russia, only vodka is cheaper. There is a strange story with prices in the DPRK. The minimum wage for a worker is 1,500 won. And a pack of instant noodles costs 6,900 won.
How so? - I ask the translator.
He is silent for a long time.
Consider so that we just forgot about the two zeros. - Thinking, he answers.
Local money
And in terms of prices, the official life of the DPRK does not get along with the real one. Currency for foreigners: 1 dollar - 100 won, and the real rate is 8,900 won per dollar. An example can be illustrated on a bottle of a North Korean energy drink - a still ginseng decoction. In the hotel and in the store, it costs completely different money.
Locals look at the prices in the store through the sight of the denomination. That is, two zeros are subtracted from the price tag. Or rather, adding two zeros to the salary. With this approach, the situation with wages and prices is more or less normalized. And either the noodles cost 6900 won instead of 6900. Or the minimum wage for a worker is not 1,500, but 150,000 won, about $ 17. The question remains: who buys food carts in the shopping center and for what. It seems that they are not workers and definitely not foreigners.
Foreigners in the DPRK do not use the local currency won. Although the prices in the hotel are indicated in won, you can pay in dollars, euros or yuan. Moreover, there may be such a situation that you pay in euros, and you receive change in Chinese money. North Korean money is banned. Old-style won of 1990 can be purchased in souvenir shops. Real won is hard to find - but you can.
They differ only in the aged Kim Il Sung.
However, the real money of the DPRK is of little use to a foreigner - sellers simply will not accept it. And it is forbidden to take out national money from the country.
On the second floor of the mall, they sell colorful dresses. On the third, parents lined up in a dense formation at the children's play corner. Kids ride down slides and play with balls. Parents take them on their phones. Phones are different, a couple of times in the hands of quite expensive mobile phones of a famous Chinese brand. And once I notice a phone that looks like a South Korean flagship. However, the DPRK knows how to surprise and mislead, and sometimes strange things happen - on an excursion to the red corner of a cosmetic factory, a modest guide suddenly flashes in his hands, it seems, an apple phone of the latest model. But it is worth taking a closer look - no, it seemed like a Chinese device similar to it.
On the top floor there is a row of cafes typical for shopping centers: visitors eat burgers, potatoes, Chinese noodles, and drink Taedongan light draft beer - one sort, no alternative. But they are not allowed to film it. Having enjoyed the abundance of the people, we go out into the street.
Pyongyang on style
A new "Lada" is parked on the sidewalk as if by chance. Domestic cars are rare for the DPRK. Is it a coincidence - or the car was put here especially for the guests.
People are walking along the street: many pioneers and pensioners. Passers-by are not afraid of filming. A man and a woman, apparently 40 years old, are holding a little girl. They say that they are walking with their daughter. Koreans marry late - not earlier than 25-30 years.
A cyclist in black glasses and a khaki shirt passes by. Girls in long skirts are passing by. Girls in the DPRK are prohibited from miniskirts and revealing outfits. Pyongyang's streets are guarded by "trendy patrols". Elderly ladies have the right to catch violating fashionistas and turn them over to the police. The only truly striking detail in a Korean woman's wardrobe is the sun umbrella. They can even be flashy motley.
Korean women love makeup. But mostly it's not makeup, it's skin care. As elsewhere in Asia, face whitening is in vogue here. Cosmetics are made in Pyongyang. And the state is closely following it.
There is a secret shelf in the bowels of Pyongyang's main cosmetics factory. Hundreds of bottles and bottles: Italian shadows, Austrian shampoos, French creams and perfumes. "Forbidden", which cannot be bought in the country, is sent to the factory personally by Kim Jong-un. He demands that Korean beauticians and perfumers follow Western brands.
Men in Korea wear gray, black and khaki more often. Bright outfits are rare. In general, the fashion is of the same type. There are no those who clearly oppose themselves to those around them. Even jeans are illegal, only black or gray pants. Shorts on the street are also not welcome. And a man with piercings, tattoos, dyed or long hair is impossible in the DPRK. Decorations interfere with building a bright future.
Other children
North Korean children are another matter. The little people of the DPRK don't look like boring adults. They wear outfits of all colors of the rainbow. The girls have pink dresses. The boys are wearing ripped jeans. Or a T-shirt, where not a portrait of Kim Jong Il is attached, but an American Batman badge. Children look like they have escaped from another world. They even talk about something else.
What do you like most about the DPRK? - I ask the kid with Batman on the jacket. And I look forward to hearing the names of the leaders.
The boy looks shyly at me from under his brows, but suddenly smiles.
Toys and walk! he says, somewhat confused.
Koreans explain why kids look so bright and adults look so bland. There are no serious requirements for babies. Until school age, they can dress in anything. But from the first grade, children are taught to live the right way and explain how everything in the world works. The rules of conduct, the way of thinking and the adult dress code change their lives.
Street life
There is a stall near the shopping center. Koreans buy DVDs with films - there are new DPRK releases. There is a story about partisans, and a drama about an innovator in production and a lyrical comedy about a girl who became a tour guide in the museum named after the great Kim Il Sung. DVD players are very popular in the DPRK.
But flash drives with films banned by the party - this is an article. The article covers, for example, South Korean TV series. Of course, ordinary Koreans find such films and watch them on the sly. But the state is struggling with this. And gradually transfers local computers to the North Korean counterpart of the Linux operating system with its own code. This is to prevent third-party media from being played.
There is a nearby stall selling snacks.
These buns are bought by the workers during the break, - the saleswoman happily informs and holds out a bag of cakes, reminiscent of portions of shortbread cookies with jam.
Everything is local, ”she adds, and shows the barcode on the package“ 86 ”- made in the DPRK. On the counter is "pesot" - popular homemade pies, shaped like khinkali, but with cabbage inside.
A tram arrives at the stop. A crowd of passengers surrounds him. There is a bike rental behind the stop. It is somewhat similar to the Moscow one.
One minute - 20 won. You can take a bike using such a token, '' a pretty girl in the window explains the conditions to me.
Having said this, she takes out a thick notebook. And hands it to my translator. He makes a note in a notebook. Apparently, this is a catalog for registering foreigners. A cyclist in black glasses and a khaki shirt stands by the curb. And I understand that this is the same cyclist who passed me over an hour ago. He looks in my direction carefully.
It's time for us to go to the hotel, says the translator.
Internet and cellular
The Internet that is shown to foreigners resembles the local area network that used to be popular in residential areas. She connected several quarters, and there they changed films and music. Access to global internet Koreans don't.
You can access the internal network from a smartphone - there is even a North Korean messenger. But there isn't much else. However, cellular communication has become available to residents of the country only ten years ago.
The DPRK's internal Internet is not a place for fun. There are sites government agencies, universities and organizations. All resources are reviewed by the Ministry of State Security. The DPRK does not have its own bloggers or truth-tellers on the Internet.
Memasics, social networks, swearing in comments are alien concepts of the capitalist world. I examined various computer labs. Some run on Windows, some on Linux. But you cannot access the Net from any computer. Although there are well-known browsers, there is even a local DPRK browser. But search histories are not site names, but sets of IP addresses. Although the Internet for journalists is: global, fast and insanely expensive.
Dog dinner
Koreans eat dogs. South Koreans are a little ashamed of this. But in the north they are proud of it. In response to all outraged comments, they ask why eating a dog is worse than eating beef cutlet, pork kebab or mutton soup. Goats, sheep and cows are cute pets too. So are the dogs.
For Koreans, dog meat is not only exotic, but also curative. By tradition, it was eaten in the heat, in the midst of field work "to expel heat from the body." Here, apparently, the principle of "knocking out a wedge by a wedge" works: the spicy and spicy stew of dog meat burned the body so much that it was followed by relief and it became easier to work.
Koreans don't eat all dogs, and pets don't go under the knife. Although on the streets of Pyongyang the dog (with or without the owner) could not be seen. Dogs are raised on special farms. And for foreigners served in a hotel cafe. They are not on the regular menu, but you can ask. The dish is called Tangogi. Dog broth, fried and spicy dog \u200b\u200bmeat, and a set of sauces are brought. All this must be mixed and eaten with rice. You can drink hot tea. However, Koreans often wash down everything with rice vodka.
The taste of the dog, if you try to describe the dish, resembles spicy and unleavened lamb. The dish, to be honest, is insanely spicy, but very tasty - yes, especially scrupulous dog breeders will forgive me.
Souvenir, magnet, poster
A souvenir from the DPRK is a strange combination in itself. It seems that from such a closed and regulated country it is impossible to bring cute tourist joys. In fact, it is possible, but not much. First, fans of ginseng will feel at ease in the DPRK. Everything is made of it in the country: teas, vodka, medicines, cosmetics, spices.
Lovers of alcoholic beverages do not particularly roam. Strong alcohol - or specific, like rice vodka, giving, according to people in the know, a strong hangover. Or exotic, like drinks with a snake or a seal penis. Beverages like beer exist in two or three varieties and differ little from the average Russian samples. Grape wine is not produced in the DPRK, there is plum wine.
The types of magnets in the DPRK are disastrously few, or rather, one - with national flag... No other pictures - not with leaders, not with landmarks - will decorate your refrigerator. But you can buy a statuette: a "monument to the Juche ideas" or a flying horse Chollima (emphasis on last syllable) - this is a North Korean Pegasus carrying the idea of \u200b\u200bJuche. There are also stamps and postcards - there you can find images of the leaders. The famous Kim pins are unfortunately not for sale. The national flag badge is the only prey of a foreigner. In general, that's all - the range is not great.
Lovers of exotic can buy a souvenir passport of the DPRK. This is certainly a nomination for the most original dual citizenship.
Bright tomorrow
It seems that now the DPRK is on the verge of great changes. What they will be is unknown. But it seems that with reluctance, a little scared, the country is opening slightly. The rhetoric and attitude towards the world around us are changing.
On the one hand, the DPRK authorities continue to build their inhabited island. A fortress-state, closed from all external forces. On the other hand, more and more people are talking not about the struggle to the bitter end and to the last soldier, but about the welfare of the people. And the people are drawn to this prosperity.
Three Koreans are sitting at the next cafe table and drinking. They are in nondescript gray trousers. In plain polo shirts. Above the heart, everyone has a scarlet icon with the leaders. And on the hand of the one who is closer, a Swiss watch is gilded. Not the most expensive - a couple of thousand euros.
But with an average salary in the DPRK, you will have to work on this accessory a couple of lives seven days a week. And only Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il live forever. However, the owner of the watch wears them calmly, perceiving them as something normal. For him, this is already a new, established reality of the Juche country.
Of course, in a society of exemplary universal equality, there are always those who are much more equal. But it seems that the country is facing a closed door to a new world. The people of the DPRK were frightened with this world for a long time, but in the near future they may have to open this door and face the new world one on one.
Journalist Roman Super managed to meet and speak frankly with an old man who, fourteen years ago, was able to flee from Pyongyang to South Korea. Not everyone succeeds in learning about the reality of life and everyday life of ordinary North Koreans. For example, of the Russians, only one journalist succeeded, not counting Roman.
Defectors from North Korea, fearing to be calculated by the DPRK authorities, are in no hurry to communicate with journalists. And the stories of those defectors who agree to be interviewed by the Western media, as a rule, resemble propaganda tales, says the author himself. It took four years to find a refugee who could tell about the most closed country in the world without concealment.
The Survivor
Jong Hyun Moo (fictitious name), now 60 years old, lives in Seoul. In 2003, he miraculously managed to escape from the DPRK to neighboring South Korea. The man was born in the capital Pyongyang into a middle-class family. His parents are the most ordinary people, not belonging to the elite or having high ranks. The mother worked for the North Korean Women's Association for thirty years. Father worked at an art academy, then changed two more educational institutions... According to the hero's story, the family lived modestly, no frills. Like everyone else, they did not have the right to private property.
John agreed to be interviewed on the condition that he would not be filmed or photographed
Photo: author of the article
"In the nineties, the situation began to change: four categories of people appeared who were allowed to own a private car: Japanese Koreans who returned to their homeland, employees of diplomatic services, that is, who received a car as a gift from the country's leadership and children of high-ranking officials."
Residents of the capital could enjoy the benefits of civilization: refrigerator, TV set and other simple household appliances. Until the nineties, the old man says, there could be no transactions with the purchase, sale or exchange of housing. This was strictly prohibited by the party. However, in the 90s, a kind of black market for real estate began to form. The state knew about this, sometimes revealingly punishing market participants. But the market was just developing. Under Kim Jong-il, outside Pyongyang, the sale and purchase of apartments has become a fairly common occurrence, the hero shares his memory. In the mid-nineties, problems with power outages began. At first, they began to turn off for an hour. Then for four hours. Then it could be dark for half a day. There are regular interruptions now.
Photo: kchetverg.ru
Who was it better with?
The journalist's questions also touched on political trends adjacent to the Soviet Union. For example, are terms like "thaw" or "freeze" appropriate in the DPRK?
“Such phenomena have also been observed in North Korea. We all felt it. I remember life under young Kim Il Sung. It was a very tough regime. As Kim Il Sung got older, in his late sixties, he began to soften. This is not obvious, but it did appear. But these changes cannot be compared with Russia anyway. In the DPRK, the picture of changes is completely different: there is no clear division into thaw and freeze "
Jong Hyun Moo explains this by the fact that the political line of the party has always changed with the coming to power of the next leader. For example, during the reign of the already aged Kim Il Sung, the country seemed to be weakening. However, as soon as Kim Jong Il came to power, such trends immediately evaporated, if not to say that it became even tougher than it was.
“Older North Koreans say that it was better under Kim Il Sung, that there was no such terrible repression. I don't think so myself. During the harsh period of Kim Il Sung's rule, I was a child and did not experience repression. But I remember my environment, friends of my parents, acquaintances of people, many of whom suffered. Of the sixty-three people who studied with me at school, only thirteen remained "
The hero does not see much difference in the regime of rule of two leaders. After all, one cannot compare the number of missing or liquidated people. At the same time, John cites a parallel between the USSR and the DPRK.
"Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were ten times more severe than Stalin"
Party with fig in his pocket
After university, John got a job as a cook in a hotel. Then, after three years of service in the army, he was able to become a member of the party. Party affiliation helped him get a job at the same hotel, but not as a cook, but as a manager. It was strictly forbidden to talk with foreign guests. And in general, it is legally prohibited to get in touch with the outside world, to learn about what is happening outside the country. Even radio cannot be listened to without government approval. Otherwise, a prison.
Photo: tourweek.ru
However, closer to the 2000s, a lot of contraband from China appeared: discs with films, USB cards with South Korean TV shows. It was a real underground cultural revolution.
"After being shown the same show for decades, a movie from Seoul is a celebration."
Then John begins to talk about the huge gap between the rich and the poor in the DPRK. Such a spread exists in many countries of the world, but in contrast to them in North Korea, the rich are only one percent of the total population. Despite the fact that a huge number of the population understand this injustice, arguing it with memories of the nineties: there was a terrible famine in the country, but now it is not, so now it is better!
Card system
According to the stories of Jong Hyun Moo, there used to be two types of cards: grocery cards, for which food was purchased, and those for which clothes could be obtained. Each citizen had his own standards. The workers have seven hundred grams of rice, the students three hundred grams. All according to your needs. The problem was that the norms were not respected. In Pyongyang, they monitored this and gave people food as needed. In the provinces they gave less than they should. With the ration cards, you could only get basic products: soybean paste, rice, sugar. And what was not included in the mandatory basket could be bought for money. But some minimal variety was only in Pyongyang.
Photo: repin.info
Clothes were rarely given out, for example, a set of underwear and socks could be obtained at a time for the whole family. Once a quarter. Shoes are less common. The fabric was also given out. Everything was strictly fixed: such and such a person took so many shorts, so many meters of fabric in such and such a time. In the eighties, clothes were steadily given out. In the nineties there were big interruptions in distribution, the hero says.
Private entrepreneurship began when the country began to run out of food and basic necessities. People went to the side of business solely because of the urgent need not to die of hunger, and not out of love for private entrepreneurship. In the nineties, when hunger raged, it already flourished with might and main.
“I would even say that in the nineties, North Korean citizens were more capitalists than southerners. Only in the DPRK, the party did not recognize this. North Korea introduced a private business system modeled on the Soviet Union. Everyone is trying to sell something whenever possible, but officially this is not. The currency was banned, but it certainly is on the black market. In 2002, when the Kaesong industrial complex opened, the party acknowledged that a new business system had emerged in North Korea. "
All businessmen in North Korea are counted by the state, they know everything about everyone. In the DPRK, there is a clear rule in power: if a person, according to the state, has begun to earn too much, then sooner or later this businessman goes to jail .. Because, according to the logic of the state, a person cannot honestly earn a lot of money. This logic is a sufficient basis for a prison sentence. Or elimination.
John himself once traded in second-hand bicycles, backed-up clothing. He managed to earn colossal sums: $ 87,000 and another 1,300,000 Japanese yen, with an average monthly salary of several dollars.
Everything is fine, but I want to live
With such an income, John had no idea of \u200b\u200bfleeing the country where everything was going so well for him. But after a series of disappearances, and later the murders of his companions, the businessman decided to flee.
Photo: newsader.com
Realizing that the escape of the whole family (wife and two children) is an outright death, he decided to fake his own demise. He made false documents that he died in a car accident. This is the only safe option for them. If they knew that I was alive and fled, and did not tell the authorities about it, they could be severely punished. He never spoke to his family again.
“I can see my family if only the North Korean regime collapses. I think it will collapse. But this can take a long time. Most likely, I will not live, so I will not see my family "
Escape from home
Pretending that he was going for another consignment of goods, he left for China. It took John 4 months to buy a fake South Korean passport. Rather, special people gemally pasted his photograph into a real foreign passport. After confessing to the South Korean embassy about his escape, he ended up in the Philippines. This is a common practice; defectors are almost always sent to South Korea through some other country, not directly. In the Philippines, he spent two hours at the airport, simply boarding a plane to Seoul.
This was followed by a series of checks by the South Koreans to determine whether he was a spy and whether he was indeed a refugee. After that, he was sent to a retraining college, where he is taught how to adapt to life in South Korea. To do this, first of all, you need to get rid of the old ideological attitudes. It is difficult for people who have lived all their lives in a socialist society to reorganize to a capitalist regime of existence. This adaptation is a very difficult thing. In all senses. Everyday life is very different.
“The North at the party level tells you clearly all your life what you should do, and you do not make any decisions. The South forces you to make all decisions yourself. At first it is incredibly difficult to understand, accept and apply to life. "
New life
Photo: arhinovosti.ru
In Seoul, John tried to engage in jewelry, then got a job at a radio station in the department where they prepare programs for the DPRK. However, he is not sure if this radio is still possible to hear even in 2016.
There are two reasons when defectors return to the DPRK: The first is family. People get in touch with loved ones, this is revealed very quickly, real threats begin to come to the family, then refugees return to soften the state blow to their relatives. The second reason is the problems of northerners with the law in South Korea. Upon their return, someone is released, someone is imprisoned, someone is liquidated.
When asked what surprised John the most in South Korea, he says that in North Korea all their life they have been told that South Korea is completely subordinate to the Americans. In geography lessons at school, they said that mountains are only in North Korea, and in South Korea they are not. I heard that the Internet exists, but I never even used a computer. Now he has his own mail and social networks, but he uses them very carefully, fearing that his wife and two children may suffer.
“If the party finds out that I am alive, and even in South Korea, my relatives will have big problems. As long as I am "dead" they are alive. This is what I think about every day "
Dissidents
“In Pyongyang, dissident movements are simply impossible. The South, despite its harsh authoritarian past, has long been able to afford a court of law, it could count on the attention of the world community, it could ensure the elementary rights of citizens through institutions. Southerners did not send people to concentration camps without trial and investigation on such a scale. Southerners did not kill people because of the sick suspiciousness of the authorities. "
According to the former northerner, a coup from within is impossible. North Korea is now the third leader. And all this time, people's discontent accumulates. They accumulate, accumulate, accumulate, but this "gas" does not come out. He is afraid that this gas will be released only when someone outside brings a lighted match, for example, war. Then change will be inevitable, says John.
“People won't even fight for the divine Kim Il Sung. It's one thing to go with the flow silently when speaking is scary. Fighting is another matter. Nobody will fight. But, taking advantage of the military situation, discontent will come out. Words will begin to come out too "
Photo: kchetverg.ru
As for the crowds sobbing in the square after Kim Jong Il's death, John says they were different people... There were also the tears of careerists who tried to curry favor in this way. And those who are simply pathologically afraid not to show loyalty.
“I’ll tell you how the North Korean authorities bring up these tears and flowers. The first word that a child pronounces aloud in the DPRK is "mother". The second word is a word of praise for Kim Il Sung. This propaganda literally comes to a person with mother's milk and accompanies him all his life. This is religion. In religious families, children are brought up in a specific tradition. In North Korea, this religious tradition is called Juche. "
John himself does not miss his homeland at all. Even after 14 years of living in South Korea, Juche continues to have nightmares.
When asked if he knows about Russia, John says that he doesn't care much. He thinks more about China, because, in his opinion, it is the only country that can really influence North Korea.
“Moscow and Pyongyang have no serious ties. Moscow cooperates much more with Seoul "
Refugee Talks
According to the hero, about 30 thousand refugees from the DPRK live in South Korea. Basically, they "cluster" and stick together. But all people are different. Anyone who has lived well in North Korea lives well in South Korea. Those who lived poorly in North Korea live poorly even now. Social system, the system is very important. But the inner problems of a person are more important, John shares his observations.
Nine out of ten flee the country from poverty, in search of a better life.
Modern Pyongyang
Photo: reuters
Last time I also wrote about one of the eastern countries:. And about North Korea here on the site. Read more.
Human society is constantly experimenting - how to arrange itself so that most of its members are as comfortable as possible.
From the outside, this is probably similar to the attempts of a rheumatic fat man to make himself comfortable on a flimsy couch with sharp corners: no matter how the poor man turns, he will surely pinch something for himself, then serve it.
Not expressing deep respect for the image of the leader is to endanger not only yourself, but also your entire family.
Some particularly desperate experiments were costly. Take, for example, XX century. The entire planet was a gigantic training ground where two systems collided in rivalry. Society is against individuality, totalitarianism is against democracy, order is against chaos. As we know, chaos won, which is not surprising. You know, you need to make a lot of effort to ruin the chaos, while the most ideal order can be destroyed with one successfully inverted bowl of chili.
Order abhors mistakes, but chaos ... chaos feeds on them.
The love of freedom is a vile quality that gets in the way of orderly happiness
The demonstration defeat took place at two experimental sites. Two countries were taken: one in Europe, the other in Asia. Germany and Korea were neatly divided in half, and in both cases, in one half they created the market, electivity, freedom of speech and individual rights, while the other half was sent to build a perfectly fair and well-oiled social system, in which the individual has the only right - to serve the common good.
However, the German experiment went unsuccessfully from the very beginning. Even Hitler did not destroy the cultural traditions of freedom-loving Germans to the end - where is Honecker? And it’s difficult to create a socialist society right in the middle of the swamp of decaying capitalism. It is not surprising that the GDR, no matter how much effort and money poured in here, did not demonstrate any brilliant success, the economy grew the most old, and its inhabitants, instead of being filled with a competitive spirit, preferred to run to their Western relatives, disguising themselves on the border under the contents of suitcases.
The Korean site promised great success. Still, the Asian mentality is historically more inclined towards submission, total control, and even more so when it comes to Koreans who have lived under the Japanese protectorate for almost half a century and have long and firmly forgotten their oat freedoms.
Juche forever
Kim Il Sung at the beginning of his reign.
After a series of rather bloody political upheavals, the former captain of the Soviet Army, Kim Il Sung, became practically the sole ruler of the DPRK. Once he was a partisan who fought against the Japanese occupation, then, like many Korean communists, he ended up in the USSR and in 1945 returned to his homeland to build a new order. Knowing well the Stalinist regime, he managed to recreate it in Korea, and the copy surpassed the original in many ways.
The entire population of the country was divided into 51 groups by social background the degree of loyalty to the new regime. Moreover, unlike the USSR, it was not even hushed up that the very fact of your birth into a "wrong" family could be a crime: exiles and camps here have been officially sending not only criminals, but also all members of their families, including minors for more than half a century. children. The main ideology of the state was the "Juche idea", which can be translated with some stretch as "self-reliance." The essence of ideology boils down to the following provisions.
The DPRK is the greatest country in the world. Very good. All other countries are bad. There are very bad ones, and there are inferior ones who are enslaved by the very bad ones. There are also countries that are not so bad, but also bad. For example, China and the USSR. They followed the path of communism, but they perverted it, and this is wrong.
The characteristic features of a Caucasian are always signs of an enemy.
Only North Koreans live happily, all other peoples eke out a miserable existence. The most unfortunate country in the world is South Korea. It has been taken over by the damned imperialist bastards, and all South Koreans fall into two categories: jackals, the dastardly minions of the regime, and the oppressed pathetic beggars who are too cowardly to drive out the Americans.
Most great person in the world - the great leader Kim Il Sung *. He liberated the country and expelled the accursed Japanese. He is the wisest man on earth. He is a living god. That is, it is already inanimate, but it does not matter, because it is eternally alive. Everything you have has been given to you by Kim Il Sung. The second great man is the son of the great leader Kim Il Sung, the beloved leader of Kim Jong Il. The third is the current owner of the DPRK, the grandson of the great leader, the brilliant comrade Kim Jong-un. We express our love for Kim Il Sung with hard work. We love to work. We also love to learn Juche ideas.
- By the way, for this phrase in Korea we would be sent to a camp. Because Koreans are taught from kindergarten that the name of the great leader Kim Il Sung should be at the beginning of a sentence. Damn, this one would also be exiled ...
We North Koreans are great, happy people. Hooray!
Magic levers
Kim Il Sung and his closest assistants were, of course, crocodiles. But these crocodiles had good intentions. They were really trying to create a perfectly happy society. And when is a person happy? From the point of view of the theory of order, a person is happy when he takes his place, knows exactly what to do, and is satisfied with the existing state of affairs. Unfortunately, the one who created humans made many mistakes in his creation. For example, he put in us a craving for freedom, independence, adventurism, risk, as well as vanity and a desire to express our thoughts aloud.
All these vile human qualities had a state of complete, orderly happiness. But Kim Il Sung knew very well with what levers a person could be controlled. These levers - love, fear, ignorance and control - are one hundred percent involved in Korean ideology. That is, in all other ideologies, they are also involved a little, but nobody can follow the Koreans here.
Ignorance
Until the early 1980s, televisions in the country were distributed only by party lists.
Any unofficial information in the country is completely illegal. There is no access to any foreign newspapers and magazines. There is practically no literature as such, except for the officially approved works of modern North Korean writers, which by and large boil down to praising the ideas of the Juche and the great leader.
Moreover, even North Korean newspapers cannot be kept here for too long: according to A.N. Lankov, one of the few experts on the DPRK, it is practically impossible to get a newspaper of fifteen years ago even in special storage. Still would! Party policy sometimes has to change, and there is no need for the layman to follow these fluctuations.
The Koreans have radios, but each device must be sealed in the workshop so that it can only pick up a few state radio channels. For keeping an unsealed receiver at home, you immediately go to the camp, and with the whole family.
There are televisions, but the cost of a device made in Taiwan or Russia, but with a Korean brand on top of the manufacturer's brand, is equal to about a five-year employee's salary. So few people can watch TV, two state channels, especially considering that the electricity in residential buildings is turned on for only a few hours a day. However, there is nothing to watch, unless, of course, you count the hymns to the leader, children's parades in honor of the leader and monstrous cartoons about the fact that you need to study well in order to fight well with the damned imperialists.
Obviously, North Koreans do not travel abroad, except for a tiny layer of representatives of the party elite. Some specialists can use Internet access with special permissions - several institutions have computers connected to the Network. But in order to sit down for them, a scientist needs to have a bunch of passes, and any visit to any site, of course, is registered, and then carefully studied by the security service.
Elite housing for the elite. There is even a sewage system and lifts work in the morning!
In the world of official information, a fabulous lie is going on. What is being told on the news is not just a distortion of reality - it has nothing to do with it. Did you know that the average American ration doesn’t exceed 300 grams of grain a day? At the same time, they do not have rations as such, they must earn their three hundred grams of corn in a factory where they are beaten by police officers so that the Americans work better.
Lankov gives a charming example from a North Korean third grade textbook: “A South Korean boy donated a liter of blood to American soldiers to save his dying sister from hunger. With this money, he bought a rice cake for his sister. How many liters of blood should he donate so that he, an unemployed mother and an old grandmother, would also get half a flat cake? "
The North Korean knows practically nothing about the world around him, he knows neither the past nor the future, and even the exact sciences in local schools and institutes are taught with distortions that are required by the official ideology. For such an information vacuum, of course, one has to pay with a fantastically low level of science and culture. But it's worth it.
Love
North Korean has almost no idea of \u200b\u200bthe real world
Love brings happiness, and this, by the way, is very good if you make a person love what you need. The North Korean loves his leader and his country, and they help him in every possible way. Every adult Korean is required to wear a badge with a portrait of Kim Il Sung on the lapel; in every house, institution, in every apartment there should be a portrait of the leader. The portrait needs to be brushed and wiped with a dry cloth daily. So, there is a special box for this brush, which stands in a place of honor in the apartment. There should be nothing else on the wall on which the portrait hangs, no patterns or pictures - this is disrespectful. For damage to a portrait, even if unintentionally, until the seventies, execution was supposed to, in the eighties this could already be exiled.
The North Korean's eleven-hour working day begins and ends daily with half an hour of political information, which tells about how good it is to live in the DPRK and how great and beautiful the leaders of the world's greatest country are. On Sunday, the only non-working day, colleagues are supposed to meet together to once again discuss Juche ideas.
The most important school subject is the study of Kim Il Sung's biography. In each kindergarten, for example, there is a carefully guarded model of the leader's native village, idol schoolchildren are obliged to show without hesitation under which tree "the great leader at the age of five thought about the fate of mankind", and where "he trained his body with sports and conditioning to fight the Japanese invaders." There is not a single song in the country without the name of the leader.
Control
All young people in the country serve in the army. There are simply no young people on the streets.
Control over the state of mind of DPRK citizens is carried out by the MTF and the MOB, or the Ministry of State Protection and the Ministry of Public Security. Moreover, the MTF is in charge of ideology and deals only with serious political misconduct of the residents, and the usual control over the lives of Koreans is in the jurisdiction of the MOB. It is the MOB patrols that carry out raids on apartments for their political decency and collect denunciations of citizens against each other.
But, naturally, no ministries would have been enough for vigilant vigil, so the country has created a system of “inminbans”. Any housing in the DPRK is included in one or another inmingban - usually twenty, thirty, rarely forty families. Each inminbana has a headman - the person responsible for everything that happens in the cell. On a weekly basis, the head of the Inminbana is obliged to report to the representative of the MOB about what is happening in the area entrusted to him, whether there is anything suspicious, whether someone has uttered sedition, whether there is unregistered radio equipment. The headman of Inminbana has the right to enter any apartment in love at any time of the day or night, it is a crime not to let him in.
Every person who comes to a house or apartment for more than a few hours is obliged to register with the headman, especially if he intends to stay overnight. The apartment owners and the guest must provide the headman with a written explanation of what caused the overnight stay. If unaccounted guests are found in the house during the MOB raid, not only the owners of the apartment, but also the headman will go to the special settlement. In especially obvious cases of sedition, responsibility may fall on all members of the inmingbang at once - for failure to inform. For example, for an unauthorized visit of a foreigner to the house of a Koreans, several dozen families may end up in the camp at once, if they saw him but concealed the information.
Traffic jams in a country where there is no private transport is, as we can see, a rare phenomenon.
However, unaccounted guests in Korea are rare. The fact is that you can move from city to city and from village to village here only with special passes that the headmen of the Inminbans receive at the MOB. You can wait for such permits for months. And in Pyongyang, for example, no one can go just like that: from other districts to the capital are allowed only for business needs.
Fear
The DPRK is ready to fight the imperialist reptile with machine guns, calculators and Juche volumes.
According to human rights organizations, approximately 15 percent of all North Koreans live in camps and special settlements.
There are regimes of different severity, but usually these are just territories surrounded by barbed wire under voltage, where prisoners live in dugouts and shacks. In strict regimes, women, men and children are kept separately, in ordinary regimes - families are not prohibited from living together. Prisoners cultivate the land or work in factories. The working day here lasts 18 hours, all free time is devoted to sleep.
The biggest problem in the camp is hunger. Defector to South Korea, Kang Chul Hwan, who escaped from the camp and got out of the country, testifies that the diet for an adult camper was 290 grams of millet or corn per day. Prisoners eat rats, mice and frogs - this is a rare delicacy, the rat corpse is of great value here. The mortality rate reaches about 30 percent in the first five years due to hunger, exhaustion and beatings.
The death penalty is also a popular measure for political criminals (as well as for criminals). It is automatically applied when it comes to such serious violations as disrespectful words addressed to a great leader. Deaths are carried out in public, by firing squad. They lead excursions for high school students and students, so that young people get the right idea of \u200b\u200bwhat is good and what is bad.
This is how they lived
Portraits of precious leaders hang even in the subway, in every carriage.
The life of a not yet convicted North Korean, however, cannot be called raspberry. As a child, he spends almost all his free time in kindergarten and school, since his parents have no time to sit with him: they are always at work. At seventeen he was drafted into the army, where he served ten years (for women, the term of service was reduced to eight). Only after the army can he go to college, as well as get married (marriage is prohibited for men under 27 and women - 25).
He lives in a tiny apartment, 18 meters of total area here is very comfortable housing for a family. If he is not a resident of Pyongyang, then with a probability of 99 percent, his house has neither water supply nor sewerage system, even in cities in front of apartment buildings there are columns and wooden toilets.
He eats meat and sweets four times a year, on national holidays, when vouchers for these types of food are handed out to residents. Usually, he feeds on rice, corn and millet, which he receives on ration cards at the rate of 500-600 grams per adult in “well-fed” years. Once a year, he is allowed to receive 80 kilograms of cabbage by cards to pickle it. A small free market has started up here in recent years, but the cost of a skinny chicken is equal to an employee's monthly salary. Party officials, however, eat quite decently: they get food from the distributors and differ from the very lean population in pleasant corpulence.
Almost all women cut their hair short and curl, as the great leader once said that this particular hairstyle suits Korean women very well. Now wearing a different hairstyle is like signing your own disloyalty. Long hair in men is strictly forbidden, for a haircut longer than five centimeters can be arrested.
Experiment Results
Ceremonial children from the privileged Pyongyang kindergarten allowed to be shown to foreigners.
Deplorable. Poverty, an almost dysfunctional economy, population decline - all these signs of a failed social experience got out of control during the life of Kim Il Sung. In the nineties, a real famine came to the country, caused by drought and the cessation of food supplies from the collapsed USSR.
Pyongyang tried to silence the true scale of the catastrophe, but, according to experts who have studied, including satellite imagery, approximately two million people died of hunger during these years, that is, every tenth Korean died. Despite the fact that the DPRK was a rogue state that committed nuclear blackmail, the world community began to supply humanitarian aid there, which it is still doing.
Love for the leader helps not to go crazy - this is the state version of the "Stockholm syndrome"
In 1994, Kim Il Sung passed away, and since then, the regime has begun to creak especially loudly. Nevertheless, nothing has changed fundamentally, except for some market liberalization. There are signs that suggest that the North Korean party elite is ready to give up the country in exchange for guarantees of personal integrity and Swiss bank accounts.
But now South Korea does not express an immediate readiness for unification and forgiveness: it is still a risky business to take on board 20 million people who are not adapted to modern life. Engineers who have never seen a computer; peasants who perfectly know how to cook grass, but are unfamiliar with the basics of modern agriculture; civil servants who know the Juche formulas by heart, but have no idea what a toilet looks like ... Sociologists predict social upheavals, stock traders predict St. Vitus's dance on the stock exchanges, ordinary South Koreans reasonably fear a sharp decline in living standards.
Even in a shop for foreigners, where Koreans are not allowed to enter, the range of goods does not shine with variety.
So the DPRK still exists - a crumbling monument to a great social experiment, which once again showed that freedom, despite all its untidiness, is perhaps the only path that humanity can take.
Half-land country: historical background
Kim Il Sung
In 1945, Soviet and American troops occupied Korea, thus freeing it from Japanese occupation. The country was divided according to the 38th parallel: the north went to the USSR, the south to the USA. Some time was spent trying to negotiate the unification of the country back, but since the partners had different views on everything, no consensus, of course, was reached and in 1948 they officially announced the formation of two Koreas. It cannot be said that the sides surrendered like this, without effort. In 1950, the Korean War began, a bit like World War III. From the north, the USSR, China and the hastily formed North Korean army fought, the honor of the southerners was defended by the United States, Great Britain and the Philippines, and among other things, UN peacekeeping forces traveled back and forth across Korea, which put a spoke in the wheels of both. In general, it was quite stormy.
In 1953, the war ended. True, no agreements were signed, and formally both Koreas continued to remain in a state of war. The North Koreans call this war the "Patriotic Liberation", the South - the "Incident of June 25". Quite a characteristic difference in terms.
In the end, the division along the 38th parallel remained in effect. Around the border, the sides formed the so-called "demilitarized zone" - an area that is still crammed with unexcavated mines and remnants military equipment: the war is not officially over. During the war, about a million Chinese were killed, two million South and North Koreans, 54,000 Americans, 5,000 English, 315 soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army.
After the war, the United States put things in order in South Korea: it took control of the government, banned the shooting of communists without trial and investigation, built military bases and poured money into the economy, so that South Korea quickly became one of the richest and most successful Asian states. In North Korea, much more interesting things began.
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Photo: Reuters; Hulton Getty / Fotobank.com; Eyedea; AFP / East News; AP; Corbis / RPG.