a very strange country in which to live. It seems to be almost completely isolated but I have just been reading about Kim Jong Un's anger at the possibility that their defences have been breached with respect to Covid19.
If that is true then the country is surely in trouble? If the virus took hold there then things would be very serious indeed. Their health system is, from what accounts are available, not exactly world class.
One of the rare bits of television I have watched over the past year was the Michael Palin program on North Korea. It was interesting but I knew he was being very cautious and barely scratching the surface of the country.
I have also read a little about the country but again I have felt that the writers were being cautious - even those who are being critical of what goes on there. They strike me as afraid of what might happen if they speak out.
I have only met one North Korean. He had very little to say indeed. He spoke almost no English when I met him. He had escaped the regime and eventually found his way to another country where he was spending long hours being "interviewed" by others. I don't think anyone was being unkind to him but he was still afraid. The other thing that struck me was his bewilderment about things like the amount of food available in a supermarket - which is where I met him. His "carer" or "minder" was trying to find food he might be familiar with and show him how to recognise it there. I was asked to show them where the noodles ratherAfterwards I found them sitting on a bench outside the shopping centre eating ice cream from a certain chain of ice cream providers. I don't know what that ice cream is like. I have never tried it but this bewildered man was enjoying it. When I asked him, "Good?" he raised his thumb in that gesture so many of us understand. I wonder what North Korean ice cream is like? Is it made from real milk or is it plant based? What else do they really have to eat there? We hear stories of them eating grass but most people must have some food. I suspect their diet is monotonous.
There are all sorts of other things I wonder about North Korea. Perhaps I should try and read some more. How accurate would it be? (If you have suggestions please let me know.)
But Middle Cat has just rung to say that she will pick me up so that we can go and see the Senior Cat together. The weather is not good. We had a little hail earlier and I do not like pedalling out in hail. So, a trip in her vehicle? Yes. It is something that almost certainly would not happen in North Korea.
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I know virtually nothing about North Korea - like you. But I have often wondered if the secret of the government's control over the mass of the people might be helped by the fact that they are pretty much permanently malnourished. Rather like the way the mediaeval peasantry would have been on a diet of porridge and very little else. It is interesting how many humble weeds in this country have names the show they were a welcome addition to the diet when they appeared each spring. It is one thing to have a full belly, but more than that is needed to keep things running at their best.
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