Vignettes of the World
By Paul French “Even the Albanians described North Korea as an ‘unbelievably closed society.’”[i] Famine, credit default, constant blackouts, economic collapse, failed piecemeal reforms, nuclear weapons, repression – the indicators of a failed state are no longer hidden from the world now, despite North …
We arrived at the infiltration tunnels as our last stop on the tour. There was to be no cameras on this part of thetour. We watched a film about the specific history of the infiltration tunnels. All was good and well, and I enjoyed the …
Military subsistence at the DMZ was supported by the Panmunjom Village. Villagers did not pay any taxes to the Korean government as it did not come under its administration. They grew food in their fields, and one important crop was ginseng. The area being off-bounds …
Although in principle the soldiers in the DMZ did not bear arms (therefore they were all black belts in martial arts) there had been armed confrontations at the DMZ. There was the Axe Incident, where 2 UN commanders were killed when the UN side tried …
“There ain’t no D in the DMZ.”[1] It was a privilege for those from the West to be able to see the DMZ and Panmunjom via a U.S. tour organized by the USO. If I kept my Hong Kong identity, I could not have gone. …