It’s a couple of days old, but if you haven’t read it, make absolutely certain to check out the Barbara Demick’s two-part series on everyday life in the North Korean port city of Chongjin (Part 1, Part 2) in the LAT. Along with the accompanying photos and video footage, this may be the best piece on North Korea I’ve read all year, if not ever.
Have I mentioned that it’s a MUST READ?
(Hat tip to NKzone)
5 Comments
Thanks for a fascinating read.
I’d very much like to view the videos, but for some reason, WMV on Mac can’t handle them. Does anyone here know how to get to them from a Mac? I’ve tried downloading the site and so on, but nothing seems to work. Any clues?
I can’t get it to work under XP-SP2 either, so it’s not just a Mac issue.
What an amazing story. Things certainly do seem to be happening up there. It’s exciting to hear that the grip of KJI is loosening, and yet frightening to think of what could come, collapse or worse.
From some articles floating around by NK refugees, they say northern part of NK is very different from the southern part of NK in terms of treatment by PyongYang and their political outlook. I hope one day a brave and pulitzer deserving journalist can get into the region closer to the South Korean border…
From page 2 of part one of the linked article:
“Seo had little equipment, save for an accordion, which all kindergarten teachers were required to play so they could lead their pupils in songs praising the Kim family.”
Mandatory accordion music???
Now I know that they are well and truly mad…