North Korea

North Korea:

Today is Kim Jong IL’s birthday. In this country, they call it “The Day of the Shining Star”. On this day the people of Pyongyang lay flowers at the feet of Kim Jong IL’s statue, and thousands attend his wreath laying ceremony.

We know Kim Jong IL as a ruthless dictator, but through isolationism imposed by the Kim Jong, and through untiring government propaganda, the people of North Korea do not quite see him this way.

The myth about his birth is one that is so strange, it is hard t see how anyone in the modern world believes it, of course North Korea isn’t actually part of the modern world.

The myth goes like this: Kim Jong IL was born in a log cabin in winter, while his father was fighting the Japanese.  When he was born, a bright star appeared in the sky and winter immediately became spring. Rainbows appeared in the sky. All this marked him as the being sent from heaven.

There are many more stories like this about Kim Jong IL. How many North Koreans believe the stories, is hard to say. For more on this see: http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/

Experience:

When I was in high school, I went to model UN. I was given North Korea, but had been told tat I was given South Korea. I spent most of my time researching South Korea, before someone correct the error. I then had two days to look up the all I could on North Korea.

At this time, North Korea was termed part of the “Axis of Evil”. This realization doomed my experience at Model UN. Instead of representing an economically stable modern country I was representing an isolationist communist country.

Our school had only prepared for this for two weeks. It was set up by our Government and Economics teacher as a small extra credit assignment. Many of the schools we were competing against had taken an entire class devoted to model UN where there final semester grades hinged on this assignment. We as a school was completely outgunned.

One of my opponents was a student representing the United States. He was a typical popular kid: well dressed, well spoken, and arrogant. The U.S. representative was a complete bully towards North Korea. I only made two friends: the representative of China and the representative of Australia. All and all, I had a lot of fun, even when if I represented a country that was doomed to appose all countries I came up against.

T.V.

My favorite part of looking into this country was getting the chance to watch episodes of my favorite TV show: M*A*S*H. I love this show. I had left all the Seasons with my husband except for Season 9. Today was snowy, and I had very little to do, so I watched 2/3 of the season.

The T.V. takes place in Korea during the Korean war. It follows the doctors and nurses of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. It dives into what many of the people who were stationed in Korea went through, including: how bad the food was, dealing with army bureaucracy, and dealing with the constant barrage of wounded.

In this season Margaret (Hot Lips, the head nurse) deals with her best friend’s battle with an alcohol problem, Hawkeye (the head doctor) deals with the realization that the army has stocked up enough tongue depressors to last them through a five year war, and another doctor deals with the fact that for the first time he is away from his wife on their anniversary.

Food:

I had a lot of trouble finding Korean food in the town that I am living in. When I asked an employee of the grocery store if they had Kim Chi she told me she had never heard of it. I finally asked the guy making the sushi if they had any, he was the only one I spoke to who even knew what it was, but they didn’t have any there. For those of you who do not know what Kim Chi is, it is picked cabbage (or radish), normally spicy, and similar to sauerkraut.

Instead, I will be making Korean Barbeque chicken, stir fried bok choi (Asian Cabbage) in sesame oil, sticky rice, and steamed chicken pot stickers.

Work Cited:

Mikes. “Top 10 Crazy Facts About Kim Jong IL”. Listverse. Published : 30 May 2010. http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/ . Retrieved: February 16, 201

“North Korea Marks Birthday of Kim Jong IL”. Voice of America. Published: 16 February 2014. http://www.voanews.com/content/north-korea-marks-birthday-of-kim-jong-il/1852293.html. Retrieved: February 16, 2014.

 Rappaport, John. “M*A*S*H. Season 9”. 1980-1981.