How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Panel)
Quote #1
The [Scientific and Educational Film] studio might have been intended to educate the masses, but these days it’s used to attract foreign currency, most of it French. (1.42)
For a country built on some twisted Communist-Juchist ideals, North Korea has an awfully strong attraction to capitalist money.
Quote #2
“Since we’ve run out of cash they’re wrapping up production in Pyongyang.” (1.73)
Richard’s studio seems to be exploiting the relatively cheap cost of labor in North Korea in order to get their work done. Whoa, hold up. Does this sound like a good idea to you? Does this mean that when we watch cartoons, we’re supporting cheap North Korean labor? Is this how the rest of the world enables North Korea? Does this mean that cheap labor is more important to the rest of the world than the human rights of North Koreans? Oh, dear.
Quote #3
[The Yangakkdo is] a massive 50-storey [sic] tower with a revolving restaurant, built in the 1980s by a French firm. That explains the French designer toilets. (2.2-2.3)
We’re not sure if this is an example of North Korea flaunting wealth or France flaunting wealth. If it’s France, this is the equivalent of waving a hundred dollar bill around in the middle of the Mohave Desert. Honestly, we’re not impressed. We could afford to build a hotel in North Korea.
Quote #4
Marble floors, chandeliers, sculpted columns. [The subway is] a subterranean palace to the glory of public transit. Everywhere, garish murals transfigure a reality that just seems drab to me. (2.83-2.84)
Again we see North Korea pouring what little wealth it has into the complete wrong place. This time, they are literally dumping it into a hole in the ground.
Quote #5
It’s always a pleasure in these countries to pay $5 for a lousy cup of instant coffee. (3.17)
We’re not surprised that the hotel extorts the foreigners. That’s why they come to North Korea: to spend money. And Guy, dude, it’s not like you have to drink it.
Quote #6
“The lights are on... and lights mean foreign delegations, and foreign delegations mean light all day and fruit every morning.” (6.42)
North Korea will go to great lengths to flaunt the wealth it does not have to foreign delegations. How different would the country be if it focused this wealth on its own people, instead of people who are there temporarily? And by the way, do any of these foreign delegations actually believe that North Korea has this kind of wealth? Have they been living under a rock since 1948? Maybe they’re just playing along with Dear Leader because it’s good for economics.
Quote #7
“Hmm... marble walls with light switches in cheap plastic housing.” (7.27)
North Korea’s wealth is only skin-deep. It’s like buying something that’s gold plated vs. solid gold. The whole thing is artificial.
Quote #8
One Sunday, out on my own, I gave in to temptation and visited the mystery station on my own. “It’s a totally normal train station... what’s the big secret?” (9.102)
The guides go to great efforts to keep Guy from seeing a perfectly normal train station. Why? The only reason we can think of is because it’s perfectly normal. North Korea only wants to show off its most ostentatious locales to foreigners. The normal stuff is probably pretty sad.
Quote #9
It’s probably the only upside to the whole Asian subcontracting system. (10.45)
Guy doesn’t clarify what the downsides are. What could they be? The fact that the labor is being exploited by people who have enough money to pay people fairly, thereby allowing the North Korean regime to continue to abuse the human rights of its own people? It’s a scary thought.
Quote #10
The regime uses this form of promotion to thank its most zealous elements in the provinces, where denouncing neighbors is one way of getting noticed. It’s estimated that 50% of the people have, at some time or another, served as informants. (10.48-10.49)
Apparently, exploiting people for personal gain is a feature of capitalism, socialism, dictatorship, and Juchism alike. Greed and power hunger don’t seem to be limited to any single political system.