Holiday Nostalgia for Communism

For years I've had an obsession with North Korea. I don't have the typical American-style North Korea obsession, which revolves around annihilating it because it's an evil commie menace, etc. No, what I have more bizarre. Even though I consider North Korea to be one of the most vicious states on earth (far, far worse than North Dakota), in a way I almost like it. Well, I don't like it, that's not the right word; I'm fascinated by it. To me it would be an absolute dream to tour North Korea. A communist Disneyland on a nationwide scale, imagine it! And since the North Koreans are so cash-strapped they should take advantage of what they have and turn it into a tourist Mecca: Commieland! I can think of a slogan: "Come to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, it's like no place on earth." But, no, they wouldn't do that, they have other methods of raising cash which I'll mention below.

I've listened to shortwave radio for over twenty years, and my obsession with North Korea comes from listening to English language broadcasts from Radio Pyongyang in my formative years. How can I describe a broadcast from Radio Pyongyang? Most people just dismiss it by saying that it's nothing but a bunch of dreary, heavy-handed, stiff propaganda, and they would be right, but there's an added element of the bizarre that kept me coming back. These programs were like picking up a transmission from Neptune because they had so little connection to what was happening on planet earth. If Western Europe mysteriously vanished overnight, Radio Pyongyang's main story would have something to do with the Great Leader President Kim Il Sung, despite the fact that the bastard has been dead for years. Imagine a broadcast so completely devoid of humor, irony, joy, or any recognizable human feelings and you might have an inkling of what Radio Pyongyang is like. Even during the Cold War Radio Moscow was downright goofy compared to what the North Koreans had to offer. Lots and lots of talk about things that didn't make any sense, poems about how great is to be living in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, patriotic songs from the Women's Choir of Tractor Building Plant No. 14, etc.

Below are few of the more interesting North Korea-related links I could dig up.

A journalist/travel writer named Simon Bone has a site that's a long account of his travels in North Korea. I don't typically like reading long stretches of prose online, but Bone's writing is fascinating stuff that didn't bore me in the least.

The North Koreans have started an online casino in a dotty scheme to raise money. (In his coffin, Karl Marx is spinning like a lathe.) (And, naturally, the site only displays properly if you use Internet Explorer.)

The North Koreans are also selling stuff like books and videos to raise money. They offer a cartoon entitled "Thermometer Seen By Pig" I'd love to see.