North Korea. The Wizard of Oz
In the summer of 1989, the world stood on the brink of enormous change. As Eastern Europe anticipated the end of an era,
North Korea welcomes thousands of young people to the World Youth Festival in Pyongyang.
This is a personal memory of a closed
a country seen in the last months before the collapse of the socialist world.
Summer of 1989 and the anticipation of change
Summer of 1989.
The last months in the socialist countries, when the air was clear and the sun warmed our bodies, but the abundant summer beauty could not truly bring us joy. We felt that a storm was brewing somewhere. We wanted it to come, the rains to flood the thirsty earth, the rivers to overflow their banks, leaving lightning-scorched trees along their shores, the smell of ozone to fill the air, and hailstones to shower down with leaves broken.
If only this tension from the long wait would end.
We didn't even realize what we were wishing for.
In Bulgaria, the fields are heavy with unharvested crops. On the other hand, the roads are clogged with departing Bulgarian Turks. Having quickly sold their properties, gathered meager belongings, and frightened children, they bid farewell to their neighbors and their old homeland, setting off in sad columns towards the border.
They didn't know what awaited them beyond, but they believed they were no longer welcome here.
Far in the East, thousands of young people had gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. They wanted more freedom and a better life, like all young people around the world.
In response, they received tanks.
To the west and to the east, small groups of well-dressed men and a handful of adventurers were calculating what they could gain from the upcoming turmoil.
Some of them actually succeeded.
Precisely in this divisive summer, North Korea hosted the World Youth Festival.
Here is the badge from the International Festival of Youth and Students.
A souvenir equivalent to modern magnets.
The World Youth Festival in Pyongyang
The idea behind this event, which arose after the end of World War II, was to bring together young people with communist and socialist ideas to celebrate, get to know each other, and discuss their views on the world.
A beautiful political tool – songs, dances, wine, love, and endless night conversations, enveloped by the soft silk of the red party flag.
The Bulgarian delegation left then on several planes. We were impatient and a little confused because we felt it wasn't the time for a celebration, nor for an attempt to revive international solidarity, nor even for pointless chatter and quick flirtations.
We flew for about 14 hours, most of the time over Siberia. Only then did I truly realize the vast expanse of this space – hours of forests, rivers, lakes, and only here and there a settlement.
Unfathomable, untamed, and unmanageable.
Next, China. The contrast was unexpected. Villages, cities, roads were teeming with life. Even from thousands of kilometers high, the human bustle was palpable.
Two opposite worlds. One half-asleep in its green tranquility, without a past and without a future, as if eternal in the marvelous power of nature.
The other – human, tense, hurried, and chaotic.
The lazy giant and the hardworking servant.
North Korea welcomed us warmly.
At that time, they had decided to show the world their smiling face, their achievements, and their hopes for understanding and cooperation. We, consumed by anxiety and prejudice, were not ready for this.
North Korea is a country that few would want to visit.
This is a destination for adventurers and thrill-seekers.
Two classic landscapes, reinterpreted many times by Korean artists. The originals are in the Pyongyang Art Gallery.
Naturally, their expectations are predetermined by all the clichés the media creates…
North Korea Between Myths and Reality
The Juche Idea and the Korean Way
Contemporary inspiration for artists should be this house –
Kim Il Sung's birthplace.
The picture shows a hand-embroidered silk tapestry by skilled Korean women.
The Emerald Glasses of Oz
The last evening, it started raining. It was a peculiar, non-Bulgarian, tropical downpour, a wall of water that suddenly appeared and disappeared just as suddenly.
The rainy season had come earlier than expected.
We landed in Sofia around midnight. I went inside, left my suitcase, and told my family:
„Socialism is over.“
See more Author Darina Vankova here
A few contemporary photos from North Korea, nowadays
