I read an article about North Korea the other day; it focused on country’s lack of development and extreme poverty. To be honest the whole thing seemed a little exaggerated; it may’ve just been the poor journalistic work but something was definitely not right. The following morning I caught a plane to South Korea and that afternoon snuck across the heavily guarded border. I know it sounds a little extreme but I really wanted to find out, plus, I didn’t really have a lot to do. North Korea was nothing like the description offered in the article; actually, it was nothing like anything I had ever seen before. North Korea was pure paradise. I walked around for a couple of hours checking out the perfectly designed infrastructure. I was a little worried because I really did stand out like dogs balls – everyone else was wearing a once piece silver suit. A group of happy children spotted me from across the street so I quickly ducked into a nearby building. An elderly man was seated just inside the door. “What are you doing here?” he asked, in perfect English.
“Sorry,” I replied, “you guys are getting a pretty bad rap in the western world. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Ahh,” he sighed, “thank you for your concern but we’re doing fine.”
“I can see; this place is amazing,” I said. “It’s perfect.”
“We have created a society free from both work and poverty,” he said. “North Korea controls every economy on earth and benefits from the hard work of the world.”
“Really?”
“I know it’s hard to believe but the information we send your media outlets is fabricated. We want the rest of the world to perceive us as poor and dysfunctional. If our propaganda is believed then no outsiders would want to visit and the truth would never be discovered.”
“That makes sense,” I said.
“Would you like to join our harmonious society?” he asked.
“It’s very tempting but I’ll have to pass,” I said; “I really don’t look good in silver.”
“Sorry,” I replied, “you guys are getting a pretty bad rap in the western world. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Ahh,” he sighed, “thank you for your concern but we’re doing fine.”
“I can see; this place is amazing,” I said. “It’s perfect.”
“We have created a society free from both work and poverty,” he said. “North Korea controls every economy on earth and benefits from the hard work of the world.”
“Really?”
“I know it’s hard to believe but the information we send your media outlets is fabricated. We want the rest of the world to perceive us as poor and dysfunctional. If our propaganda is believed then no outsiders would want to visit and the truth would never be discovered.”
“That makes sense,” I said.
“Would you like to join our harmonious society?” he asked.
“It’s very tempting but I’ll have to pass,” I said; “I really don’t look good in silver.”