Reflections on the DPRK

Bali, Saturday 5 May 07....80 degrees...light refreshing shower....I have had plenty of time to ruminate about the extremely intense experience of being in North Korea.

When I have pondered Korean history, there has always been a strong factor of paranoia. For a couple of centuries the whole world called it the "hermit nation" and before that the Chinese used such a term for a couple of thousand years. The question I ask myself is how much the DPRK is political/contemporary/odd and how much of it is simply Korean. The times I have been in South Korea I feel sometimes as though I am talking to people through a scrim.

I think without the USA the DPRK could not exist today. It has no real friends. China seems really frightened of a DPRK meltdown with millions of refugees fleeing into Manchuria. Putin's Russia though only pays lip service...and the poor DPRK has almost nothing the world WANTS. It is touching to me that the apex of national pride is a fabulous halftime show. It is as though America's raison d'etre came from the Super Bowl, the Rockettes or the Rose Bowl parade. They build sturdy roads and buildings, they embalm well, they put uniforms on about 1/3rd of the citizens starting with adorable little girls all lined up and marching in their cute sailors' outfits. But I swear without the USA and our imperialism there would be very little reason for the DPRK to exist. Their national unity is absolutely defined by paranoia in the real sense. Witness the canonization of the the PUEBLO....witness the hundred or more times a day we hard about "American imperialism"....and to some extent they strike me as oddly on target. What purpose do our 40,000-odd troops in the south serve for America? If the DPRK melts down, it is Russia, South Korea, China and to a much smaller extent Japan that will be affected. Why are WE Americans propping up this particular "evil empire"?

Oh lord, I guess since the Korea war we've been on an imperialistic crusade. How loathed America is in most parts of the world. How we ache for people to follow our form of democracy which shows them no elan or spirit of good.

I wanted so badly to talk to someone in the DPRK about all of this. I posed the obvious question: if America removed troops from South Korea, would the military domination of life in the North be reduced. Certainly it would be. I don't look for them to give up the atom bomb...why should they: it is the only thing that plays into their national psyche and sets them apart. Some day I figure Korea will be unified: the south will be the industrial engine, the north will provide the cadres for the national guard.

I wish everyone could see the DPRK. It is as fascinating and odd as a two headed calf at the country fair. It is like no place else in travel. It is what travel is all about!