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Neilster -> RE: The Pyongyang Metro (4/17/2016 3:42:36 AM)
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Apparently there is no rush hour in North Korea. The working day is staggered to prevent it.
Pyongyang is the carefully maintained show-piece of the country. To even live there is a privilege only afforded to trusted families. You have to have proved your loyalty to the state and for probably more than one generation. Most of the rest of the country is a dump and the people there look very thin and often dirty. Apparently smuggled DVDs and USB sticks mean there is a growing knowledge of the outside world but it's in your interest to pretend you know nothing.
I remember a very respected and experienced Australian journalist named George Negus doing a TV report from there about 20 years ago. He stood on an overpass over a completely deserted six lane highway and said to camera, "How about the traffic!?" Those highways are mostly to move the military around quickly. His minders tried to herd him to all the usual propaganda sites but he kept asking to see an ordinary worker's apartment. After days of "That may be difficult" he was finally granted his wish.
Upon walking in he noted with a smile, "Fresh paint! I can smell fresh paint." It had clearly been spruced up just for his visit. The minders squirmed and glanced at each other. The model family who supposedly lived there were full of gushing praise for the Party, the Great Leader etc etc. There was a radio built into the wall, but it didn't have a dial. It didn't need one as it was fixed to the official station. Apparently not having said radio on loud enough could mean being reported to the authorities by your neighbours.
These days lots of people in the capital have televisions but don't expect a lot of channels and watching them is a bit hit or miss as there are frequent blackouts, apparently caused by America...somehow [:D]
About 25 years ago, the University of Tasmania used to get a North Korean propaganda magazine that they stamped "Display and then discard". It was truly bizarre, with endless articles about how, for example, Kim Il Sung would turn up at a site where they were trying to build a hydroelectric dam and that his inspirational engineering advice solved all the problems. They were also very keen to show how many computers they had, although it looked suspiciously like the same old PC was being placed in all the photos [;)]
The really worrying thing about North Korea is that this Stalinist freak-show is probably going to fall apart at some stage, with extremely unpredictable and possible dire results. Who knows what a nuclear armed lunatic regime will do in its death throes?
Anyhoo, their official website is a hoot. Even though it works like it's broken...
http://www.korea-dpr.com/
Cheers, Neilster
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