The Coat of Arms | Opinions
November 6, 2014
In defense of North Korea
it whose population isn’t even allowed to use email or drive private cars. If you look at a satellite picture of the Korean Peninsula taken at night, the South is lit I’ve been to almost 100 countries, but North Korea takes the cake for the strangest. Yup, you with bright lights and the North is completely dark. I was very anxious about visiting North Korea. read that right. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a.k.a North Korea, is not the one that created Everyone who heard I was going showed puzzlement, confusion and genuine concern for my life. Samsung or Hyundai Motors. It’s the one right above “Can you even go there?” they asked, with a side of “WHY?!” Yes, Americans can visit as a part of a peopleto-people exchange program, as long as they use an OFAClicensed tour operator and stay with their guides at all times. Given that three Americans were behind bars there at the time I went – one of them allegedly for leaving behind a bible in his hotel room upon checkout - my family and I took every precaution, leaving all our electronics, reading materials and souvenirs from previous trips. We packed a small bag for the four of us with modest clothes and comfortable walking shoes. This ended up being Revered leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il-Sung. PHOTO COURTESY a good call as our entry into DENNA NAZEM Denna Nazem | Co-Spread Editor
A paralyzing fear Claudia Corrigan | Co-Spread and Opinions Editor It was truly an inaudible scream. I could feel the force of my lungs pushing against my chest. My throat was sandpaper, my mouth completely dry. My lips felt permanently sealed, encapsulating that beckon to my father on the other side of the hall. I knew I was awake. I could feel the distinct sensation of tears welling behind my open eyes. I couldn’t breath. I gave my arm the signal - no movement. I closed my eyes again, attempting to regulate my rapidly increasing heart rate. As hard as I tried, I had no physical control over my body. I was stuck, immovable. I prayed for a nightmare. I closed my eyes, inhaled as deeply as was humanly possible, and opened - still my ceiling. I was awake. I needed air; I needed to gasp. I re-closed my eyes, focusing all of my energy on the single task. Again, I inhaled deeply, this time through my nose. I jerked my body. I was free. I shot up - there was no possible way I was going to lie back down. Although, it was only 3 a.m…. Sleep paralysis plagued my slumber throughout my young childhood. At the time, I thought they were recurrent nightmares. I couldn’t describe what I had experienced to my mother; she told me it was normal. Sometimes
North Korea was surprisingly easy and pleasant. The first stop on our three-day tour was the North Korean version of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, called the Arch of Triumph (real creative!). Standing 60 meters tall — 10 meters taller than the one in Paris, of course — this monument celebrates the Eternal President Kim il-Sung and his “successful” military resistance in fighting for Korean independence. Like this monument, the entire city was plastered with a plethora of dedications, statues, posters, and propaganda, all in honor of the country’s three worshiped personas: grandfather (eternal president), father (general secretary) and son (supreme leader). Probably one of the most memorable parts of my time in North Korea was our visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. Here, the founding father of the nation and his son are embalmed and showcased like other communist leaders: Lenin (Russia), Mao Zedong (China) and Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam). We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but lets just say it was probably one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. The fact that in the flesh, just under a blanket and shielded by glass laid the man behind the North Korea we know today, made me feel quite uncomfortable, never mind the idea of bowing to another human or object. The cult of personality was evermore present at the Palace as it is everywhere you look in Pyongyang and its reinforced as much by peer pressure as by laws. If any of the leaders were insulted, three generations of the culprit’s fam-
Editor-in-Chief........................................................................................Becky Swig Print Editor .......................................................................Brooke Hammarskjold Co-Online Editors.....................................Jack Hammond & Rory Plewman Co-News Editors ..............................................Michael Shames & Davis Rich Co-Arts and Lifestyle Editors..........................Laura Madeira & Alice Shaw Co-Spread Editors...................................Claudia Corrigan & Denna Nazem Opinions Editor...........................................................................Claudia Corrigan Assistant Opinions Editor...........................................................Rory Plewman Sports Editor..................................................................................Jack Hammond Copy and Assistant Sports Editor........................................Lucy Heneghan Design and Layout Editor..........................................................Andreas Katsis Co-Visual Content Editors...............................Laura Madeira & Alice Shaw Community Outreach Director........................................................Davis Rich Staff Reporters..................................................................William Bleicher, Eliza Crowder, Amanda Crisci, Melissa Demma, Liam Dunn, Alex Edidin, Yesenia Herrera, Nicola Mayer, Sarah Rantz, Lauren Yang, Nick Young Faculty Advisor...............................................................................Tripp Robbins
ily would be committed to a life in labor camps. The population wears lapel pins depicting the Eternal President, the General Secretary or both. However, this censorship was not evident quite everywhere. The national library claimed to have 30 million books (one million of them foreign), our Library of Congress comparatively has 23 million. They showed us Diary of Anne Frank and sports books to make us feel more at home. I was astounded by the fact that probably the most censored nation in the whole world has apparently more books offered to their population than the United States. Something just doesn’t add up. The trips to the DMZ, War Memori al, amusement park and so on were all so illuminating: the hermit nation has woven itself a unique narrative separate from reality. Before I visited North Korea, I thought it would be similar to the ex-Soviet states of Eastern Europe. But, it was nothing like them. For one thing, North Korea is officially not communist and has written the word out of its constitution as of 2009. Instead, it follows the Juche Idea: principles of isolationism, hierarchy, and xenophobia. The intensity with which this philosophy, the cult of personality, and military first policy are enforced makes me pessimistic, and in fact, sad, about the lack of prospects of change for the North Korean people. Their mountains silk embroidered with emerald greens unseen by most. Our free world outside unseen by them.
Comics of the Issue
people woke up before their bodies did; there wasn’t enough oxygen flowing to sustain their muscle movement. That little demon sitting on my rib cage as I slept (or so the folklores asserted) remains the greatest fear in my life. He only visits me once, maybe twice, a year nowadays, but when I wake up, conscientiously encapsulated in my own body, I push through. I have used my fear to fuel me through those times in life, not when I lie paralyzed in my sleep, but when I run into fear with the college application I’m turning in, the horror movie my sister forces me to watch, I always think, “Nothing can be as fright-inducing as lying awake, immobile.” As you face the minor fears in your life, I encourage you to choose one experience that best represents your greatest fear, just as I have done with my sleep paralysis. Relative to this moment, those mishaps (the spider in your shower, your mile-time, that neighbor that peers over your hedge at night) will seem minute and bearable. Relativity can help to motivate you through those times that would, otherwise, seem unendurable. Don’t let your fears control you; use them as a vantage point for the everyday dreads that diffuse throughout your day.
The Coat of Ar ms Staff
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COMIC COURTESY JOHN MCNELLY
COMIC COURTESY JOHN MCNELLY
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