Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

North Korea has always been a mystery to me (and let’s face it, most people) and I have been fascinated by this isolated land held captive by a ruthless dictator. I was intrigued, then, when my brother lent me this account of North Korean life written by a journalist who has spent years gathering first-hand accounts from escapees.

It reads like a historical saga. You cannot quite reconcile the conditions and mentality of Korean authority with modern living. While the developed world was growing and learning in the 20th Century, North Korea stayed soundly in the past. In fact, as the rest of the great communist states fell or at least acquiesced to dealing with the ‘free world’, North Korea (with their last allies, Albania) stuck to their flawed communist guns and as such suffered terribly as their sources for power were systematically cut off. Without oil for their power stations, manfacturing stopped and food became increasingly scarse.

As one leader died, hope for change died with him as the son filled the father’s shoes. Now with this son himself in ill-health, hope rises again that someone will allow this country to be revived. South Korea had a very different journey since the spilt and is now booming – a stark contrast to their starving neighbours to the north.

The title comes from a patriotic song taught to children as they start school (back when schools were all open and teachers were paid) and they are taught that their country us the pinnacle of the world; there is nothing to envy in the world, they are told, because everyone else in the world is worse off. How very sad that this could not be further from the truth.

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Follow up: I just read this article with some new photos taken by an AP photographer in North Korea.  There appear to be some staged scenes (i.e. food at an amusement park, the pool at the university) which are shown to journalists to give a favourable impression of the country.  Still it is interesting stuff.