The red elite of North Korea
A journalist portrays from the Kim Jong-un regime
A week infiltrated in the country of the last villain has spent
His subjects don't talk about him with love
Album: A North Korea never seen
A row of mobile phones crosses the street without paying attention to the Hyundai engine that roars to hurry.Glued to them march, with their eyes fixed on their screens, dozens of bodies wrapped in white shirts and tweezers.When they arrive at the other side of the sidewalk, a traffic agent revolves on their heels and indicates the vehicle to continue their way.
The working day has touched its end and, with it, one more day in the life of the inhabitants of the Pyongyang of Kim Jong-un.There is no declared curfew, but not too much to do in free time, so they resign to return to their neighborhoods.The schoolboys, before they can go to play, fulfill their duty to honor the paintings of two dead who in life condemned their parents to have to distribute the poverty of a country isolated from the rest of humanity.
With his red scarf to the neck-who already identifies the children as members of the revolution that claims to continue carrying out the Single Party-form ranks throughout the central square and dedicate praises to Kim Il-Sung andKim Jong-il.Since the death of the latter in 2011, the residents of the capital of North Korea not only have to praise a dictator, but two.There are also two faces of the dead that must shine in the pin that lead to heart height.Everything seems to remain the same, but it is much that has changed in its daily life since Kim III inherited the crown of the only communist monarchy of the planet.
The new leader - who has not yet earned this title and must settle for Mariscal - continues to force them to live incommunicado with the outside.However, the decisions he has made in his early years of term have wanted to bring Pyongyang closer to the most advanced capitals, reserving only for her a progress that denies the rest of the country.From the outset, their neighbors have also allowed them to resemble their inhabitants and have given them a smartphone.Thanks to these devices, the voice that pronounces without rest revolutionary slogans by the speakers installed in each corner does not have to strive to be heard: in the most hermetic country in the world the conversations have also become written.
"Welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea!", Exclaims Miss Yon for the bus microphone that prevents foreigners from coming into contact with workers who crows the streets.She, an official who studied English at the University, will be in charge, together with Miss Min, to graze the group by the path that the Ministry of Tourism has carefully designed so that they do not see more than it is acceptable to show.The mission of each is to ensure that the other does not tell its customers anything that the regime considers that it should not be known.They must also prevent them from photographing the places not allowed - 90% of the itinerary - and that they try to talk to foot citizens.
Kim III's 'gifts', "the generous"
"We apologize for traffic.It is rush time and there are more and more cars in our prosperous city, "Miss Min present is.More and more cars of the official manufacturer, but also the latest high -end models of foreign brands.The red elite is no longer ashamed to walk their privileges in the eyes of construction and industry employees, who must settle for home piled up in the back of a truck.
In the eyes of the town it is not, however, an elite that leads cars: "Our marshal is generous and gift with a car to those who work very hard for the Republic, such as the military, the great athletes or the singers," he explains, proud, Miss Min, outside the stir that her concept of meritocracy generates among foreigners.Forget to point out that North Korean cannot drive and, until recently, they were forbidden to wear pants."The popular pressure caused Kim Jong-un to have to eliminate that rule," he says to., a kind of intermediary between visitors and the guides-spy, whose confidence has managed to hire dozens of tours with the living museum of communism.
What is allowed to women is to regulate traffic, and to delight some still do so in skirt.Although an unexpected competitor has come out: the traffic light.This has been installed on many avenues to organize not only the Hyundai, Audi or Mercedes that circulate through them, but also to the dozens of colorful taxis that already operate in the capital privately.
The aquatic whim
And is that making money is not so frowned upon in an increasingly gray pyongyang.Especially if it is at the expense of tourists.One of the visits that are obliged to do during their stay in the capital is that of the Munsu Aquatic Park, a personal whim of Kim III...at 15 euros the entrance."If the government has a whole ministry dedicated to attract tourists, it is to obtain currencies," he says under his.-.With them import refrigerators, televisions and other 'luxury' objects that it is difficult to get here ".Many of these items enter the border with China, in more or less rudimentary smuggling actions.The few members of the elite who obtain permission to go out to do business on the other side of the Yalu River return in the pyongyang exprees loaded with household appliances and bags full of food.The long legs of the maidens of the Court also walk through the wagons of this train, which they share with their southern Korea neighbors the obsession for wearing an extremely white face and the taste for Prada bags.
Out -of -the -age with which those who handle the threads of the last system from the world free of consumerism, several retirees who have dedicated their lives to lifting it are enriched with raising their hoods with the massage of the jets in the thermal area of the park of the park.They do not fit in joy listening to the laughter of their grandchildren, who enjoy throwing themselves with mushroom or flower -shaped slides.The Marshal "gave the Korean people" this immense recreational "to reward his effort," says Miss Min.
But it is not a gift that everyone can enjoy: they only have the right to spend one day in the park the citizens of Pyongyang who receive a coupon in their work unit -in two years to either of the two guides -spy they have touched them, according torecognize- or the privileged few who can pay about 3 euros.
The great aquatic tracks are crowded with smiles.Swimsuits of all shapes and colors surprise travelers, accustomed to monotonous gray -tone garments and straight cut that still predominate in the streets.Of course: neither a single bikini nor such a western daring is seen.
In this oasis of joy, Kim Jong-un manages to print in the minds of his most fortunate subjects an idea that a few years ago neither the officials of the Ministry of Tourism believed themselves: that they live in the happiest country in the world.But the reality, oblivious to those who have gained the right to be happy for one day and only denounced by complaints, is that after supporting half an hour of tail to climb until the beginning of the highest slide, it is possible that it is unusable becauseStop running water.What a cruel irony was to build an aquatic park in a country that, hit today by the worst drought in 100 years, depends on humanitarian aid to feed and drink more than half of its people!
Not far from Munsu is the Kaesong attraction park, whose Russian mountains are lit and off the whim of the constant cuts of light that put in check to the Pyongyang electric network.Although it has no doors, North Koreans know that they can only enter if they have the coveted coupon or paying another 3 euros (35 for foreigners).
Luckily, some young people do not need a mirage of happiness to have fun.A soccer ball is enough for them.A handful of athletic boys improvises a party with a mural of the workers' party as a backdrop.The highest of all a goal a goal.His teammates come to congratulate him, but he doesn't celebrate him.It is not going to be that the sickle, the brush and the hammer come alive and accuse him of individualism.
A few meters from them, a girl who holds the bike handlebar with one hand and another, the mobile phone is strongly pedaling."Look, look!" Miss Yon points out, wanting tourists to repair the new lane-bici that runs through the main urban roads."This is another gift that the Marshal has made to the Korean people," he explains.
Neither free nor equal
But Kim -II's generosity has only earned him one statue -in front of the more than 30.000 of his grandfather distributed throughout the country- of which he himself is ashamed, as can be intuitous for the prohibition of being photographed.Perhaps because it is made with a material that resembles plasticine and represents real size -Barriga included-, with an umbrella and a beach ball.Despite his nuclear games, his subjects know that he lacks military experience and does not take him seriously.When they talk about him, they do not even do it with an iota of the love they felt for their grandfather, or even for their father, who were called leaders.They only love him for his gifts.
The apparent halo of modernity that surrounds the Pyongyang of Kim Jong-un did not make its citizens more free or more equal, but quite the opposite.No one can escape the revolutionary music to be taken out of bed 25 million Koreans called to put into operation, day after day, the great communist machine.
The slogans launched by the speakers coincide with those of the posters that decorate the murals painted in each street.One says: "We turned ours into the most powerful nation in the world, as the great comrades Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il wanted!".
It does not seem that his energetic message contagies.Many choose to do so sitting on the sidewalk.It is as if they failed forces, even the military who are called to protect a Korea that is still technically at war with their southern neighbor.Hardly their thin arms manage to fill the sleeves with a uniform too large.
"How do food, clothing and other goods acquire here, Miss Yon?" Asks a tourist."Oh! We don't have to pay anything, our government gives us everything," he just answers.And it continues: "For example, my family corresponds 500 grams of daily rice, in addition to a little chicken, Kimchi (typical vegetable dish)...".He has a husband and a young son.
It seems uncomfortable talking about food, so redirect the conversation to your smartphone.Open the North Korean version of WhatsApp and shows its customers an extensive catalog of colorful icons."In Korea very good mobiles are manufactured, following Kim Jong-un instructions.Our Marshal visited a factory recently and gave councils to engineers to improve their quality, "he says.Without a doubt, one of the customs that Kim III has inherited from its predecessors is to attribute qualities in all fields of knowledge;Then, propaganda deals that everything that occurs in the country seems touched by its divine finger.Since the little one in the dynasty exercises power, the number of terminals connected to the intranet - which not internet - of his kingdom, has become the most powerful tentacle of the Big Brother who watches all his subjects..The CIA estimates that in North Korea there are 2.8 million mobile phones, practically the same figure as citizens censored in their capital.
A gardener holds one of them with one hand and with the other handles an electric cortesped.He strives that not a single weed grows around Mansudae, the most solemn enclave of the Republic founded by Kim Il-Sung.Four years ago, when his son died, dozens of workers had to comply.
Many people queue to lean before them.Two girls, dressed in the school uniform, have fun sweeping the stairs that carry the colossal figures.A tourist approaches them to ask them why.But before he can open his mouth, Miss Yon recriminates him to separated two meters from the group.You cannot allow a foreigner to skip the golden rule - impronvable, but unwavering - of the Ministry of Tourism: it is forbidden to try to speak with any citizen on foot.
"Please, we put ourselves in line and we all do at once a respectful reverence before our dear leaders," Miss Min, irritated.Watch the corner of the eye that none dare not to lower their heads before the dictators.
Only when it is good for the sample leaves its customers to return to the bus.He almost laughs on the face of a one who asks if they can take a walk on foot.For nothing in the world he would risk allowing it and that someone would take to try to enter any store with the aim of discovering whether their shelves are empty or full, something that is impossible to glimpse from the road due to the gloom in which they remain.
Confined again on the bus that takes them or not - this time to the great house of the town for the study, the outsiders repair what an advertising fence looks like."Is that an ad?" Ask one."Yes! There are several in Pyongyang.It informs that a housing complex is being built that will be delivered to the town next year, in 105, "Miss Yon smiles.
In Norcorea, the story starts with the birth of Kim Il-Sung, in 1912.Considered father of the country and eternal leader, continues to condition his destiny after dead.It has not ceased to be mandatory that his portrait presides, with that of his son, both public spaces and private houses, those that the government gives "free" to all workers, according to Miss Min: "Here we are all equalAnd we do not have to pay to go to the hospital, or to receive education, or to access a house.Everything gives us the State! ".
However, the cranes that they intend to make to the new white blocks to play the sky fail.In the margin of the Taedong River, in the heart of Pyongyang, rudimentary are piled up constructions covered by metal sheets that serve as a home to men with the skin beefed by the sun and the clavicles too pronounced to be able to hide them under the blackened shirts that dress.
It does not seem likely that these second-second citizens have access to the great house of the town for the study, despite the fact that Miss Min says that her "dear leader Kim Il-Sung" ordered her to build it so that anyone interested in learning another could comeLanguage or in instructing music, art or science ".For their marble staircase they only climb and go down men with perfectly ironed shirts and women who wear tumper higher than their heels.And some already prefer to chat with their mobiles instead of reading the unique newspaper, exposed in a panel.But before the outsiders can stop to think if the center will be reserved for a select minority, the director invites them to look through a door.Theirs intersect with the attentive looks of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il, whose portraits preside over a classroom crowded with music devices that would be called vintage.But what baffles the group is the unmistakable melody that comes out of one of them.It's Yellow Submarine.
What happens in North Korea so that you now learn English at the rhythm of The Beatles?Is the hermetic kingdom starting to open up to the world?For any foreigner it would be a dream to ask those who walk through the new Pyongyang, but it would be exposed to be accused of spy or undercover journalist.After all, he knows that citizens could not answer him either, and less with the truth.Although music sounds better and better, the lyrics of North Korean songs are still written with the blood of those who have dared to stand up to a dictatorship that lasts 67 years.