Visitors See North Korea Still Stunted by Its Isolation

New York Times:

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Girls' soccer teams waged a fierce battle outside a huge gymnasium. Two young brides, one resplendent in a white gown and the other in deep pink, married sweethearts in a snowy square. Parents pulled toddlers on plastic sleds. Pedestrians lined up at kiosks to buy baked sweet potatoes and pancakes.

A six-day visit to Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, that ended last Tuesday offered carefully monitored glimpses of a land where reality and fantasy are routinely conflated. While there were no obvious signs of impending collapse or political intrigue swirling around the fate of North Korea's ailing leader, the visit offered hints of why the North might be particularly eager now to resume international aid and trade.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Harold Darling]

11:19 PM on 01/01/2011

How is this a rare glimpse? For there are European Business people and NGO staff who live are in Pyongyang; some of have blogs.

Matter of fact most anyone could go to North Korea right now for a price. This story doesn't say anything at all. Where is the story?

[DeathStare]

01:33 AM on 12/29/2010

The people look happy and healthy.

[TYRANNASAURUS]

11:30 AM on 12/28/2010

A Rare Glimpse Inside North Korea............

What is this..........the DEAR LEADER looking over food his starving people will never see?

[Edward Standley]

05:15 PM on 12/27/2010

It's the DPRK military that keeps the Kims in power. The "Army First" program is sold to the North Korean people as a means to "keep them safe" (sound familiar?). In reality, the program appears to be a bribe to the generals from the Kims. The generals are the only North Koreans who could possibly threaten the little tinhorn Kims. I think the generals bear more responsibility for the sufferings of the people than the Kims do.

[MMRDO]

11:33 AM on 12/28/2010

The Generals can overthrow him at any time.

[Sergeant]

05:04 PM on 12/27/2010

A rare glimpse inside the police state and at the Supreme Leader's invention of pig snout tacos.

[MMRDO]

12:32 PM on 12/27/2010

When I read stuff like this, and when you see videos from this place, it makes you realize that people back home, tend to complain about how good they have it.

[wwoody]

11:40 PM on 12/27/2010

You told the truth.

[Earfling]

09:53 AM on 12/28/2010

travel around the world and see if you don't come back to the US and kiss the ground...

amazes me at all the "krazy Komrades" on this post who lambast the US as being the worst,
most eeeevl nation on earth.

[DAE]

05:33 PM on 12/28/2010

You can write something that would make any country look bad. Its very easy to write about what's wrong with a country, including our own. But you can also write something to make any country look good if that's what you want to do.

[VOTER]

10:53 AM on 12/27/2010

Thanks. Great article.