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| A little girl spies SS taking her photo |
- “people are the masters of everything” – we were told this at least once every half hour
- The army is “open” to everyone to join, but everyone “volunteers” for a three year stint at some point before they are about 25
- There are 9 provinces and 200 counties in the DPRK, and “5000 years” of history
- Pyongyang means “flat land”, but it is nothing like Norfolk!
- The Japanese “owe their culture to the DPRK”
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| Inspiring... |
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| More inspiration - these were posters rather than mosaics and so could be put up without a Kim in them |
- All education is free (including tertiary)
- Every village or island has its own school
- Once women have children, they can stay at home and be paid an allowance until the children go to school, then they work again
- School holidays are all of January, and 20 days in summer
- Kids learn English and computer studies from the age of 9
- Parent’s generation learned Russian at school, not English
- They learn to read Chinese in high school but not speak it. To learn to speak, you must do languages at university
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| Children practising for the events in September |
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| Another traffic monitor rushed off her feet... |
- Iron smelting was invented in the DPRK
- Electricity is 60% coal sourced, 40% renewable. They are developing nuclear power now
- There are no road lights in tunnels, regardless of their length
- Road surfaces are all terrible
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| The main train station |
- All forms of public transport cost the same – 5won or about US5cents
- Public transport stops at around 9:30pm (metro) and 11pm (buses)
- Taxis are US 50 cents per km (out of the reach of most people) and petrol costs US$11 per 15 litres
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| Over the bridge, heading back into town |
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| Rush hour, downtown Pyongyang |
- 20% of farms are state farms, where workers work 8 hours per day and get paid a fixed salary regardless of output
- 80% of farms are co-ops where they are paid on output once a year.
- The famine in the 90’s (they claim there are no food shortages now!) was “caused by Russia reneging on the barter system” such that the DPRK suddenly had to become self sufficient in agriculture
- For 15 days each spring and August the city workers “donate” their time to help with the harvest, bunking in with local farmers
- Co-op farmers also keep small animals like ducks, rabbits, pigs, cattle, goats
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| Newbuilds for the elite workers |
- Everyone works Monday to Saturday, 8 hours minimum a day, and then on Sunday does compulsory community service. 15 days of leave per year.
- There are no drink driving laws at all
- Retirement age is 60 for men and 55 for women
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| Another super expensive mosaic and housing for party faithful - note how many people just walk |
- There is free healthcare, and you receive work pay whilst you are ill
- There are no taxes (of course, since everyone is government employed, why would you bother taxing them?)
- Housing is free, although it is linked to your job. People have to pay for utilities and furniture.
- There is no private ownership of cars except: people whose rich relatives who live overseas who send them a car as a gift; athletes who win a medal in the Olympics get given a car
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| Locals doing their thing - note the sparkly umbrellas the rich ladies have... |
Marriage
- People do date before marriage, but not for long – they tend to marry within a year
- In general people have 1-3 children, but are encouraged to have more
- When a couple get engaged there is an engagement ceremony. The girl is gifted with cosmetics/jewellery. The boy is given a wedding suit and a nice watch (but not shoes, as they superstitiously believe that this can cause the boy to “run away”). The parents are also given clothes. The parents set the wedding date. Weddings used to be held at the parent’s house, but now more common to have them at a restaurant or events centre.
- Traditionally newlyweds lived with the boy’s parents, but not increasingly they want their own place. They can apply to the housing committee in their twon for a place, which is usually allocated when they get married. But realistically, this is more linked to their jobs than where they might want to live.
- Divorce is OK
Hotels
- The lobby was very typical of a 4 star western hotel, and the facilities were pretty good
- The towels in the hotel are literally the size of a hand towel in the UK, and very thin and different colours each day
- TV channels were RT, BBC World, CNBC and local channels
- The beds in the hotel are very very hard and small
- The bathroom had a full amenities kit including toothbrushes, razors, shower caps, shampoo and conditioner etc!
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| The Koryo Hotel |
Shops
- All have a “lozenge" outside and above the door which displays what the shop sells - try and guess what they all mean!
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