CINA

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Today The Guardian (UK) published "Jonathan Watts visits Pyongyang..":

"Central Pyongyang during rush hour" (near Pyeongyang Stn.)

Well, just check out the

☞ Photo Gallery

Some more pics you can see here..

Chungsu Chemical Factory, near the Chinese border

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Yesterday KCNA reported about the very latest news after the heavy flood disaster early this month in N.K.:

Tremendous Flood Damage in DPRK

(☞ 사망,행방불명 600여명-큰물피해 90여만명)

The continuous torrential rain that hit all parts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from August 7 caused great manpower and material losses.

- Heavy rains registering more than 500-800 mm struck at least 150 cities and counties, claiming big casualties and losses in properties and doing serious damage to all the sectors of the national economy.

- According to the information available from the Central Statistics Bureau, torrential rain, strong wind and landslide left at least 600 people dead or missing and thousands of people wounded.

- Flood hit all parts of the country including Pyongyang city, North and South Hwanghae, Kangwon, South Phyongan and South Hamgyong Provinces, leaving dwelling houses for at least 240,000 families totally or partially destroyed or inundated. This left at least 100,000 people homeless and some 900,000 people flood-stricken.

- More than 8,000 public buildings, schools, thousands of health service institutions and nurseries were totally or partially destroyed in heavy rain, stopping their operation.

- More than 1,000 major production buildings of the country covering at least 200,000 square meters including the Komdok Mining Complex and the Taean Heavy Machine Complex were totally or partially destroyed or submerged, laying great obstacles in production.

- Torrential rain struck hard the agricultural field, making it hard to harvest crops as expected in some 200,000 hectares of arable lands.

- In particular, lots of arable lands were washed away, buried under silt or inundated in North and South Hwanghae, South Phyongan and Kangwon Provinces.

- The flood hit hard the power, coal and ore mining sectors.

- Dozens of transformer substations were submerged, over 800 electric poles collapsed and dam structures and generating facilities in Pujongang, Thongchon and other hydraulic power stations were destroyed or came under water.

- Nearly 300 pits and cutting faces and more than 170 mining faces were submerged in 90 odd coal mines in Tokchon, Pukchang, Chonnae and other areas and hundreds of thousands of tons of coal were washed away.

- Lots of pits and mining faces at Unpha, Yonphung and other mines came under water, bringing production to a halt.

- The flood also struck hard railways and other means of transport and city management.

- Some 100 sections of rail-roadbeds covering more than 78,000 cubic meters were destroyed, four tunnels inundated and more than 60 sections of retaining walls were collapsed and at least 200 sections of railroads were buried under some 62,400 cubic meters of earth due to landslide, thus suspending the operation in major sections of the railroad.

- The flood destroyed major roads and tourist roads extending some 600 km in at least 2,000 sections in Pyongyang-Kaesong motorway, Pyongyang-Wonsan tourist motorway and others and some 2,200 sections of bridges.

- More than 100 pumping stations for water supply, rainwater and sewage facilities were submerged to stop the supply of drinking water.

- The flood left at least 2,000 hectares of salterns inundated. It did serious damage to other fields of the national economy.

- The unusual heavy rain caused huge material losses to the DPRK, creating unprecedented difficulties in people's living and economic construction.

- The army and people of the DPRK are now turning out as one to recover from the damage with persevering will.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200708/news08/27.htm#1

☞ Restoration Work with Bare Hands (DailyNK, 8.28)

(North) Korean Central TV, daily "news", 8.18

Surprisingly(^^) the..

..Performance of "Arirang" (is) Suspended (according to today's KCNA)

The grand gymnastic and artistic performance "Arirang" which was resumed on August 1 was suspended for the time being due to the unexpected torrential rain and flood damage.
It has now become hard to continue the performance as working people in different parts of the country are all out to recover from the flood damage these days.
The performance is expected to be staged again after the flood damage is cleared away.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200708/news08/28.htm#2

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About the latest devastating disaster in the DPRK (aka N. Korea), caused by one of the "Workers' Paradise's" main enemies (beside the US Imperialism!!!) - THE WEATHER, KCNA reported y'day:

Huge Damage by Torrential Rain (*)

The torrential rain that hit the DPRK from August 7 has persisted, causing huge human and material damage.

Pyeongyang (8.12), almost drowned in the Daedong-gang..

According to the preliminary information available from different parts of the country as of August 12, the torrential rain left hundreds of persons dead or missing and destroyed more than 30,000 houses for over 63,300 families or rendered them inundated.

It also left tens of thousands of hectares of farmland inundated, buried under silt and washed away. The heavy rain destroyed at least 800 public buildings, over 540 bridges, 70 sections of railroads and at least 1,100 vehicles.. 

The torrential rain struck Kangwon Province, claiming huge casualties and completely or partly destroying houses for more than 20,000 families or leaving them inundated.

The heavy rain that hit North Hwanghae Province all of a sudden destroyed houses for more than 3,400 families, left at least 9,160 houses inundated and more than 13,000 hectares of farmland inundated, buried under silt and washed away.

In South Hamgyong Province houses for more than 8,000 families were completely destroyed or inundated and over 9,000 hectares of farmland were inundated, buried under silt and washed away.

The torrential rain also hit South Phyongan Province, causing river and stream dikes to collapse. This left a large area of farmland inundated and washed away and destroyed houses and public buildings, roads and railways.

Pyongyang and South Hwanghae Province were also hit hard by the torrential rain.

The material damage so far is estimated to be very big. This unceasing heavy rain destroyed the nation's major railways, roads and bridges, suspended power supply and cut off the communications network.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200708/news08/14.htm#11

 P.Y., 8.12 (source of the pics: N.K. Central TV)

Related articles:

☞ Hundreds dead.. from week-long heavy rain in N. Korea (Yonhap, 8.14)

☞ North Korea's Rainfall Damage Is Serious (DailyNK)

☞ N Korea floods 'kill hundreds' (al-Jazeera)

☞ DPRK Hit by Unceasing Torrential Rain (KCNA)

* 수백명이 사망,행방불명 63,300여세대가 파괴,침수
 
 
(평양 8월 13일발 조선중앙통신)조선에서 7일부터 련일 내리는 무더기비로 하여 많은 인적, 물질적피해가 발생하였다.

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..current market prices of daily goods/groceries in DPRK's north-eastern city Hoiryeong..

Please keep in mind that "the actual monthly wage for laborers in North Korea is approx. 5,000 NK Won", according to DailyNK. Several western sources are saying that the average income of "ordinary" workers in NK is currently about 3,500/4,000 Nk Won..

*****

 source: DailyNK

Related:

☞ Five years into N. Korea’s market-friendly economy (Hankyoreh, 7.02)

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미국무성 차관보일행 평양 도착
(평양 6월 21일발 조선중앙통신)미국무성 차관보 크리스토퍼 힐과 그 일행이 21일 비행기로 평양에 도착하였다.

미국무성 차관보일행이 떠나갔다
(평양 6월 22일발 조선중앙통신)미국무성 차관보 크리스토퍼 힐과 그 일행이 22일 평양을 떠나갔다.

We should simply recognize that (the North Korean) KCNA must be the most effective "news" agency! Where/when the (f..) int'l (imperialist) news agencies need dozens of (printed) lines(*) KCNA needs just needs two sentences:

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Here
Pyongyang, June 21 (KCNA) -- Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of State, and his entourage arrived here by air today.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Leaves
Pyongyang, June 22 (KCNA) -- Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of State, and his entourage left here today.

* The stuff, published by the "imperialist enemies"..:

☞ US, N.Korea Set Timeline to Shut Reactor (AP/Guardian)

☞ North Korea to shut plutonium reactor in 3 weeks (CNN, incl. Hill interview)

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Nowadays of course (nearly) everyone knows that in fact the US administration (CIA, etc..) were creating al-Qaeda.. Or that only with the active help of the western Imperialists (such as West Germany and the US) S. Hussein's Iraq got the technical possibility for the mass murder - with chemical weapons - of its Kurdish population (in the late 1980's).. Also today's "success" of Hamas as a result of Isreal's policy of supporting the Islamic "resistance" during the (first, actually the only) Intifada is (likeley) well-known.. (*)

But now we've got the evidence that the USA is supporting another part of the "Axis of Evil": the DPRK. It seems that the US military industry is exporting fire arms/machine guns/automatic rifles (in this case AR-15) to NK (perhaps for more beautiful Public Execution Performances/before usually AK-47 were used in NK..). Just see following picture ^^ (**):

* BTW.. that's NO joke!!

** Source of the pic: .."Public Execution" Performance

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"Do you spare a particular time of the day, such as before you go to bed, for Kim? Do you talk to Kim? Does he talk to you?" A young North Korean student's answer to all these questions was, "Yes." (Phoenix TV, HK). HARRHARR
Some weeks ago NK's KCNA designated  Geumsusan Memorial Palace - the eternal residence (^^) of the "Eternal President" of the DPRK, aka Kim Il-sung's mausoleum - in Pyeongyang as the "Temple of Juche". Once again: HARRHARR!!

Following article was published in last week's (4.12) Asia Times (HK/China):

God forbid, religion in North Korea?

Juche a religion? The national ideology of North Korea has been named the world's 10th-largest religion, according to a prominent US religious research website, Adherents.com. The website estimates the number of juche "believers" to be 19 million out of a total North Korean population of 23 million

Juche, or "self-reliance", joins the list alongside the world's major religions such as Christianity and Islam, and even elbowed out some better-known religions such as Judaism, which is estimated to have 14 million believers, from the top 10 "major religions of the world" list.

From a sociological point of view, juche delivers a full range of what a religion is supposed to deliver in society, the website says, explaining its rationale for classifying North Korea's state doctrine as a religion. In fact, the site has a separate link devoted wholly to explaining painstakingly in multiple pages the theoretical and sociological basis of what makes juche count as a religion.

This view, however, is not necessarily shared in North Korea, which is after all a communist country and officially atheistic. The Pyongyang government promotes juche as a state ideology but does not outwardly endorse it as a religion. North Koreans actually use the term juche sasang, meaning the "juche ideology".

Nonetheless, the US website says juche is de facto the only officially sanctioned national ideology and also the only allowed belief system in the country at the exclusion of all other religions, so it "clearly" qualifies as a religion. Importantly, it asserts, juche, in many ways, is even more overtly religious than were Soviet-era communism or Chinese Maoism.

Many visitors who have been to North Korea are inclined to be convinced by the argument, including Han Sung-joo, a former South Korean foreign minister. Han was recently quoted as saying that the cult of two Kims (current ruler Kim Jong-il and his late father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung) is very extensive.

"There is a deification and a religious emotional element [in juche] in the North," said Han. "The twinned photos of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are everywhere. Every speech says Kim Il-sung is still alive. I think if I stayed another two weeks, I might even see Kim Il-sung. The country worships someone who is deceased, as if he were alive."

A US State Department report tacitly agrees with this view, saying juche "has practically [reached] a level that makes it a state religion".

Eun Hee-shin, a Korean-Canadian who has been teaching "religion and culture" at North Korea's Kim Il-sung University since 2003, recently told a South Korean magazine: "Whenever I visit Pyongyang, I get the feeling that North Korea is a place that doesn't feel the need to have other religions. For North Koreans, the juche ideology is the most uplifting religion and has become a firm faith."

In a surprisingly sympathetic view, Eun saw similarities between Christianity and juche. If Christianity is a distinctive form of religious culture that believes in "Father God", the juche ideology is North Korea's distinctive form of religious culture that believes in "Supreme Father", Eun said.

"The juche ideology goes beyond being a political ideology and has become a state religion. The deification of Kim Il-sung has been carried out accordingly. From the perspective of the academic study of religion, this is similar to the deification of Jesus that [occurred] after his death," Eun said.

From Eun's point of view, it's simplistic to think of a female schoolteacher who died in flames while trying to save the portrait of Kim Il-sung during the 2004 explosion incident in the Yongchon region as strange. Deification always produces fervent followers, and there's little difference between a Christian martyr in a remote African village and the North Korean teacher, Eun said.

Juche began to impinge on the outside world from the mid-1960s in some translated North Korean works. Yet the origin of the ideology goes back to a 1955 speech made by Kim Il-sung, titled "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work".

The juche philosophy gradually emerged as a systematic ideological doctrine in North Korea while it was witnessing the China-Soviet split in the 1960s. Kim Il-sung outlined the three fundamental principles of juche in 1965. They were "independence in politics", "self-sustenance in the economy", and "self-defense of the national security"...

It is not easy to travel to North Korea to find out for oneself the magnitude of the cult indoctrination of juche in real life. Last year, the country had only about 20,000 visitors from abroad. But this month Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV offered viewers a rare glimpse of how the theology of Kim worship is practiced in North Korea, airing an hour-long program fresh from Pyongyang.

Reporter Liu Fang quizzed a young student and checked on the degree of deification of the Dear Leader by asking questions that very much sounded like a Sunday-school teacher asking her pupil about the bedtime prayer. "Do you spare a particular time of the day, such as before you go to bed, for Kim? Do you talk to Kim? Does he talk to you?"

The young student's answer to all these questions was, "Yes."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/IE12Dg01.html

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Following strange report was published in y'day's DailyNK:

Disabled Persons Ousted From the

Revolutionary Capital of Pyongyang

 
..In North Korea, special treatment for disabled persons is uncommon as is the concept of helping people voluntarily.

Countries with such systems symbolize a developed social welfare class and an advanced level of people’s living standards. Though North Korean citizens proclaim they live in a paradise, the average person is dying of starvation and disabled people live lives far worse.

While soldiers who are injured on duty are cared for by the nation, all other disabled persons are as they say, “should not have been born.”

There is no opportunity to develop your abilities and talents. Here in South Korea, people say that disabled people are discriminated against. But the facilities, benefits and opportunities for employment here, by far outweigh the privileges in North Korea.

In North Korea, a symbolic policy for disabled people is by expelling them from Pyongyang. Even today, you will not find any disabled persons living in the major districts in Pyongyang, Joong, Pyongchun and Daedong River.

The reason is simple. The mere presence of disabled people in the revolutionary city of Pyongyang leaves an unpleasant impression to foreign visitors. Kim Jong Il made this order himself.

There are disabled persons on the outer skirts of Pyongyang. These people are able to live there but secretly, as it is merely the outer perimeter of Pyongyang. Nonetheless, they live under the strict protection of families.

Authority orders bring unhappiness

Our family was living in Pyongchun-district, Pyongyang at the time. I have a younger sister, but when she was young one of her legs became numb after an incident of infantile paralysis. As a result, one of her legs was very thin and shorter than the other, which made her body shape different to other people.

One day in July of `82, my father who worked for the agricultural committee came home looking saddened. Without finishing his evening meal, he went in his room. My mother followed him instantly knowing something was wrong.

After a very long time, my father and my mother came back and said while stroking my sister’s hair, “Come what may, you will have to go to uncle’s house for a while.”

At first my sister was happy thinking it was a holiday but then burst into tears, “I don’t want to. I want to stay with mommy. I don’t want to go.” Though others may have snickered pointing their finger at my sister calling her a spastic, my parents treasured my sister above all the children. And we children, also knew the hearts of our parents well.

My parents just barely saved my sister from dying of infantile paralysis and the thought of having to send her to the country broke their heart. Even though it was a relative, undeniably no one would welcome a disabled cousin. My sister also felt bleak at the thought of parting the nurture of her loving parents to live in the country with relatives.

That morning, my father was called by a secretary of the Party. The secretary informed of the orders which expelled my sister from Pyongyang. He said, “Comrade, we are aware your daughter is disabled. An order has been given by the Party. Either you send your daughter to the country, or your whole family goes to live in the country.”

Though my father pleaded by saying “I will raise my daughter well, without letting her leave the home at all times” it was to no avail. The secretary merely replied, “There is nothing I can do. Under the regulations of the authority, disabled persons are not allowed in the revolutionary capital of Pyongyang.”

In South Korea, people are free to live in the country or come to Seoul as they please. However, it is not the same in Pyongyang. You can only live in Pyongyang if have a certain level of social position. If one’s parents committed a felony, or children have not been disciplined in the correct manner, a family can be expelled to the country. Similar procedures occur if a person disobeys authoritative policy.

Pyongyang is seen as the city of hope to North Koreans as rations are distributed on the rare occasions. You are considered a big success if you leave the country for Pyongyang. After completing his 10 years of military service, my father graduated from the University of Agriculture and began working for the agricultural committee under the Party. It was in fact, a very difficult situation for him to leave his position to live in the country for his daughter.

In the end, my father asked his older brother who lived hundreds of kilometers away to look after my sister, “until further measures were made.” My uncle who was always proud of his younger brother for living in Pyongyang happily agreed.

“Why were you banished?” Feelings of estrangement and isolation

My mother could not hold her tears as she watched my sister walking away on her crutches. I can still vividly remember my mother sitting on the ground crying, nodding her head. As I held my sisters hand, I said, “You must study hard” and promised to go get her one day.

Although my sister was uncomfortable in the legs, she studied well and was pretty. In our family, she received a lot of attention but people treated her differently in the country. She couldn’t socialize with the other children as she walked abnormally and she was teased by the other children.

Further, people have a tendency to look down on people who have been expelled form Pyongyang. They teased her and said, “Why were you banished? Did your father lose his job?” My sister who was angered by this remark threw a stone at one child and as a result, my aunt was called by the security agency and there was a lot of trouble.

My sister didn’t place one foot outside the door as the teasing was severe. She did not attend school and the school was more content with this. After spending 3 years in the country still unable to fit in, my sister came to Pyongyang in the holidays and resisted returning to the country.

Leaving little choice, my father consulted my grandmother in Nakrang-district, Pyongyang and after giving a large bribe to the authorities there, my sister went to live with our grandmother. From then, my sister was prohibited from leaving the home and learned needlework. Since she had not even completed her middle school studies, she was unable to enroll at the school for disabled people.

My sister always regretted being uneducated. I realize that battling and surviving any discrimination is the key to living. However, my sister left school unable to endure the hardship, though it is not entirely her own fault.

Today, I see disabled people in South Korea and my heart goes out to my sister who still lives with our grandmother in North Korea. 

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01300&num=1956

*****

PS:

When I visited PY I really saw only one group of disabled people (j.y.dongji should have at least one picture about it.. perhaps .. will upload it..??!!)

BTW.. even old people, in SK everywhere you see them on the streets, in PY.. it seems that they are not existing, not at all..

Eh~ of course in SK the situation for disabled people isn't so good. At least for them, living outside Seoul, there are - for example - no possibilities to move. Even they are living, let's say in Pyeongtaek(with a subway connection to Seoul), they never will have the possibility to go to the capital, because in the subway there are no elivators. And just imagine the life of disabled people on the SK countryside...

Related stuff:

☞ 경찰, 장애인의 날 행사 80여명 폭력연행 

☞ 4.20 장애인대회 (사진報告 #1)

☞ 경찰의 잘못으로 장애인 한분이 20일 밤 집회후 교통사고로 크게 다쳤습니다!!

☞ 또 다른 세상은 가능하다 (지난 주 투쟁報告)

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평양, 4.15

Before y'day (4.15) "the entire world celebrated the 95th birthday of Kim Il-sung, the Great Leader, the eternal President of the Korean people, the Shining Sun of the entire mankind.." (Rodong Shinmun).

And - because it was also celebrated in the DPRK - its leadership invited such "illustrious" birthday guests like a high-ranking delegation of the "Liberal Democratic" Party of Russia(LDPR) and gave a "great reception" (according to KCNA, 4.16) for them.

But the LDPR has complete nothing to do with liberalism and/or democracy. It is one of the most reactionary parties in the entire former Soviet Union/Russia. It's a very nationalist, racist organization (GNP/Hannara-dang, for instance, is - compared to the LDPR - a bunch of progressive activists..^^/eh~ sorry!!). LDPR has very good relationships to several European fascist organisations, such as Front National in France, the British National Party, NPD in Germany, Vlaams Belang in Belgium etc.. 

And in several articles Rodong Shinmun, during the last days, was glorifying/praising the ongoing struggle of the "Korean Style Socialism" against the (US) Imperialism/Capitalism. And this is exactly the same what - for example - the German (fascist) NPD means when it calls for "National Socialism instead of Capitalism"!!

FIGHT ALL KINDS OF NATIONALISM & RACISM!!

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No More Monster Bunnies for North Korea

The fate of 12 German giant rabbits delivered to North Korea is in doubt. The breeder who sent them suspects they have been eaten by top officials rather than used to set up a bunny farm. Berlin's North Korean embassy denies the allegation. One thing is sure: the country will have to find another seller.

A German rabbit breeder who sold 12 rabbits to North Korea to breed giant bunnies said he won't be exporting any more to the reclusive communist country because he suspects they have been eaten.

Karl Szmolinsky, 68, sent the spectacularly huge rabbits, which are as big as dogs, to North Korea late last year and had said in January he might deliver more to assist the country's program to alleviate food shortages through rabbit breeding.

He had been due to travel to North Korea after Easter to provide advice on setting up a breeding facility for the rabbits, which can produce around seven kilos of meat.

But his trip was cancelled at short notice. Szmolinsky said he got a call from a North Korean official last Thursday informing him that the trip was off because the government was unhappy with the way in which a local Berlin newspaper had reported about the deal.

"I think the animals aren't alive anymore. I was due to go and inspect the animals and look at the facility. North Korea won't be getting anything from me any more, they shouldn't even bother asking," Szmolinsky told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "They kept delaying the trip. I would have liked to go."

The North Korean embassy in Berlin denied that the rabbits were dead and said no one at the embassy had contacted Szmolinsky. "The rabbits aren't intended to be eaten, they are for breeding purposes," a spokesman said.

Szmolinsky, who has been breeding rabbits for 47 years, has won prizes for his bunnies. Robert, a 10.5 kilo "German gray giant" that won a prize at a rabbit show last year, was among the consignment of four males and eight females dispatched to North Korea. Robert's son, Robert II, is still safe in his hutch in the eastern German town of Eberswalde.

Szmolinsky said he suspected Robert I and his fellow bunnies had been eaten by top officials and that that was the real reason why he wasn't getting a visa. "That's an assumption, not an assertion," he added. "But they're not getting any more."

Szmolinsky had made the North Koreans a special price of €80 per rabbit instead of the usual €200 to €250. He had said in January that the 12 rabbits, capable of producing 60 babies a year, were being kept in a petting zoo in the North Korean capital Pyongyang pending his arrival.
 

Szmolinsky's deal with North Korea attracted worldwide media coverage and brought him orders from around the world.

He has been in preliminary talks with potential buyers in China, Russia, Cameroon and the United States. "The Russians wanted 400 rabbits, there's no way I could deliver that many," said Szmolinsky, who produces around 90 rabbits a year. "I'm getting a delegation from China in June or July and have been told that I may be asked to go to Shanghai to provide advice."

North Korea's state-run news agency had reported in September that people were being encouraged to breed rabbits for food. The country has admitted to food shortages of a million tons, the United Nations World Food Program said last week.

In the absence of better donor support, millions were vulnerable to hunger, the UN warned. North Korea suffered a famine in the mid-1990s that killed as many as 2.5 million people, and has since suffered chronic food shortages.

It had been unclear from the start how Szmolinsky's bunnies would help given their own voracious appetite for top-quality vegetables.

Source: Der Spiegel, 4.02

Related:

독일 토끼^^ (1.12)