Reply #94: Photography in North Korea

[Zaruka]

Greetings. I noticed links to my North Korea photos were posted and I thought I would comment. I travel to the DPRK each year and photograph the country. I have taken over 11,000 photos and I am a US passport holder. I hold a degree in modern Asian politics, one in Soviet history and have traveled the socialist bloc since I was a teenager. I went alone to the USSR four times traveling all over. I have lived with families, stood in bread lines and have seen what there is, sometimes at great risk.

The first thing to know about the DPRK is that notions of the Cold War must be discarded. This is Korea. The "C" to know is not communism but Chosun - Korea. You must understand the Korean cultural context. The second thing you must know is that the society you see today was built from the ground up by the regime of Kim Il-sung after a US Air Force bombing campaign that leveled everything and killed untold numbers. The third thing to know is that the DPRK emerged from a period of slavery under the Japanese in 1945. This has left deep scars in the Korean experience. Fourth, this is a Confucian society. As one Korean said the DPRK is a place we are free to be Korean.

The disconnect between the DPRK and the US ia huge. When you are there you might as well be on Mars. The familiar cultural references, even seen in the former socialist states of Eastern Europe or Cuba are not present. Even Chinese communism is really not the same (I was in China in 1985 and many times since.) This is not Romania as many people try to make a comparison but there is no comparison really.

The trick with the socialist states is to determine those things that are political, and those things that are cultural. The DPRK is the hardest because most of what you see is a Korean cultural manifestation. I will be the first to admit that it is hard to view this society but that is why I keep going back. The longer I can stay in the DPRK the more one can see glimpses of the real DPRK. To stand in a school, walk in a village, stand in the fields or go into livestock barns really give you a better sense of the country. Yes we are guarded but <em> they cannot hide everything.</em> Actually they do not try to hide as much as you think. A society in a state of decline cannot be hidden. The bus breaks down, timing is off, we ask to go to an unscheduled stop, a village wants to show us around - things happen. We are more free to photograph than you might think (as you can see by my photos.)

Most of what you read in the press is complete crap. Much of it is made up and some I cannot figure out where it came from. I have investigated some of these stories and I can tell you they come from the three or five day tourists misinterpreting what they are seeing. I have been in the food distribution shops (without permission) and I have seen much I was not supposed to. I have had conversations with people I have spent time with over multiple visits. Koreans will tell you the truth if they trust you. They loved Kim Il-sung but Kim Jong-il is not viewed in the same way. Leadership and country are one and they see KJI as not as great as the father. There is great concern about the future BUT you have to understand the nature of leadership in a Korean society first.

I am heading back in for the month of September. I have been doubling my in-country time each year and will publish at some time but the minute I do I will no longer be eligible for a visa. Indeed the society is closed and I have had good discussions with high party officials about how Korea will move forward. Formerly American tour groups had important guides and in one group we had a "guide" that was really a high official. He was really knowledgable and was a former diplomat. He saw a gradual opening - very gradual because they want to preserve there culture, a Korean culture they see as having been lost by the South.

The situation is very complex. When you are in the DPRK you get a very different view. Some are pissed at what they were fed in the US about Korea still it does not mean there are not food problems (I have met WFP people in country). Issues of human rights are also present. Many Koreans in the north are living just fine. Some live marginally but in the South many lived like that into the 1970s. This is Korea.

Remember - those "experts" on the DPRK can say anything they want and the public will eat it up (confirmational bias) and anything that contradicts what they "know" i.e. everyone is starving, this is one large slave labor camp, everyone is brainwashed etc. is quickly discounted. "They only show you what they want. You have been duped etc."

If you would like to see the DPRK go to user Zaruka on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/collections/7215762... /

Thank you for those referring to my photos and try taking another look. I have some YouTube videos but I concentrate on still photography. Here is one from the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital.