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TRIGGER-HAPPY NORKS
Two North Korean guards shot a South Korean tourist to death this morning at the Kumgansan resort. She was apparantly taking a morning stroll, and wandered into a "restricted military area," which is Norkspeak for "pretty much all of the country."
The Kumgansan resort is located in North Korea, just over the border, and is run by the Hyundai corporation, I believe, bringing much-needed hard currency into the Hermit State. I've talked to both Koreans and Westerners who have made the visit, and they describe a modern resort that is completely cut-off from the "real" North Korea, mainly manned by Chinese-born ethnic Koreans, to keep the contact between the Northerners and Southerners to a minimum. When the buses cruise down the roads past North Korean work parties, the parties are radioed ahead of time and turn their backs to the buses, preventing any viewing of their faces.
No doubt this woman strapped on her visor and slipped into a pair of white gloves and matching hiking boots for a pre-dawn hike. Perhaps the guards were well within their sense and prudently shot, as she could could have been concealing a deadly bomb in her ajumma-perm.
Will we see any "candlelight vigils" in Seoul over this? I somehow don't think so. Modern South Koreans are quite selective with their outrage.
The Kumgansan resort is located in North Korea, just over the border, and is run by the Hyundai corporation, I believe, bringing much-needed hard currency into the Hermit State. I've talked to both Koreans and Westerners who have made the visit, and they describe a modern resort that is completely cut-off from the "real" North Korea, mainly manned by Chinese-born ethnic Koreans, to keep the contact between the Northerners and Southerners to a minimum. When the buses cruise down the roads past North Korean work parties, the parties are radioed ahead of time and turn their backs to the buses, preventing any viewing of their faces.
No doubt this woman strapped on her visor and slipped into a pair of white gloves and matching hiking boots for a pre-dawn hike. Perhaps the guards were well within their sense and prudently shot, as she could could have been concealing a deadly bomb in her ajumma-perm.
Will we see any "candlelight vigils" in Seoul over this? I somehow don't think so. Modern South Koreans are quite selective with their outrage.
Well spoken. And what a senseless loss.
(Anonymous)
Every one of these projects, meetings, and photo op publicity thingies exist/occur for one reason only- funneling large amounts of cash to fatboy Kim and his military.
The lefties are more than happy to do it without getting anything in return.
Anyway, now to the point. I made the Geumgang trip in 2002 and I must say it sounds like there have been some changes since then.
-The locals, haggard as they were, did not turn their faces away then. They stared at us in slack jawed bewilderment. We were ordered not to take pictures of them, though. The only Norks we were allowed to talk to were propaganda robots, well washed, dressed in clean clothes & smiling, stationed at each of the stopping points.
-We were never allowed to roam around freely like this ajumma did. A pre-dawn walk on her own? WTF? We were not allowed to leave the hotel complex on our own.
-They were very strict about what we could and could not take pictures of- no pics of any Nork buildings or people. I and several others snuck a few snaps were we could.
-Every "off limits" area was guarded by soldiers. One Korean guy walked right up to to of them at a gate and blatanty snapped a picture. They yelled at him and took him into custody, most likely to remove his film. They did not draw their weapons at him, though.
All in all, it was a very interesting trip. Honestly, I don't give 2 sh*ts about the mountain itself. I was there to see North Korea. Mostly, you don't see much real North Korea. They try to keep you away as much as possible. One of the f*cked up things is that they have actually carved huge commie slogans like "Kim Il Sung is the friend of victory" (don't really understand that one) and "self reliance" (the irony is not lost on that one) and many others on the bare rock faces of the mountain. They have defaced their prized mountain with ridiculous commie graffiti that is visible from miles away!
It was a very interesting trip, but to know that the money I spent on it- $600 for 3 days- went straight into fatboy Kim's pocket still makes me uneasy!
-Ben
(Anonymous)
LOL, any chance I coud get a tape of that?
Whats the word on them visas..
caf
(Anonymous)
Sorry I couldn't stick around. I was being summoned across town by the 7 foot Kiwi.
Enjoyed what I heard, though!
I took it as a mild-affront, labeled them as Canadian, and made up the song on the spot.
(Anonymous)
Scouser
Since you don't play out you may not know how it feels to clear a room, but I bet that you're intimately familiar with the crushing sensation of being turned off six seconds into a song on youtube.
(Anonymous)
(Anonymous)
(Anonymous)
Showy Ramone there.
Scouser
(Anonymous)
"Three Canadians walked into a bar.
Shit bar."
caf
(Anonymous)
''Three Americans walk into a bar and start fights.
Saturday night."
muff
Dare ya too..