The Strange World of North Korea http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/05/weekinreview/05PERL.html November 5, 2000 THE WORLD By JANE PERLEZ WASHINGTON -- Reporters accompanying Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright on her recent trip to North Korea had no chance to see the rusted steelworks, the flooded mines or factories at a standstill. Nor were they able to see the small livestock markets that have sprung up in some parts of the country, testimony, apparently of farmers' abandoning their collectives and taking matters into their own hands as a matter of sheer survival. But they were able to see that a major hospital had no lights except in the foyer and to hear about operations without anesthesia. They learned of the motto "Children are king," and indeed, Dr. Albright saw and danced along with 5- and 6-year-olds who literally sang the praises of the North Korean leader, Kim Jung Il. Some 15 miles out of the capital, however, children labor on a road-building project, breaking stones by hand, a sight that recently reduced some toughened Western aid workers to tears. Even on a hasty two-day trip, it was clear there are only a few paradoxes in North Korea. The country is overwhelmingly poor, and its people are indoctrinated with a mixture of homegrown ideology focused on self- reliance and Communist beliefs from the 1920's and 30's. In contrast to the United States' engagement with the Soviet Union and China, the Clinton administration has made clear that its objectives with North Korea do not include a makeover of the totalitarian regime into a democratic government with a market economy. The major goal is simply to coax Mr. Kim to get rid of his missiles and reduce the threat of war. Mr. Kim's goals seem equally limited. His country desperately needs help, and if North Korea takes the necessary steps to get off the State Department's list of countries that support terrorism which essentially revolves around what to do with three members of a terrorist group, the Japanese Red Army, who are wanted by Japan the regime will qualify for support from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. But even given the modesty of each side's aspirations, if engagement continues, North Korea's people will inevitably come into more contact with the outside world. And that raises questions about how a nation as closed as North Korea will react. Certainly, contacts with the West will come as a shock. But for the moment, the North Korean regime most fears contact between its people and South Koreans, who enjoy a vastly more prosperous life and who in large numbers feel great emotional bonds to their Northern brethren. In the days before Dr. Albright arrived, North Korean officials forbade American officials who drove over the demilitarized zone from South Korea to bring their South Korean drivers with them. All signs in English and emblems of South Korea affixed to the American officials' cars had to be covered. But there is not the slightest hint that reunification along the model of East and West Germany is possible anytime soon. East Germany was far more porous than North Korea, where Mr. Kim has achieved an Orwellian thoroughness in keeping his people insulated all televisions and radios, which broadcast only government material, must be registered. What passes for broadcast news, largely the latest doings of the "Dear Leader," is delivered in a harsh martial voice, and often over street loudspeakers, making it hard to ignore. Because self-sufficiency has been elevated by the state as the ultimate virtue and contrasts with modern prosperity have been shut out, there is little likelihood of immediate demand for the political and social change that brought revolution in the former Soviet Union. Any kind of change is likely to come slowly. A few small ruptures in the seal around North Korea's people illustrate how glacial the pace of change may be. Five years ago, the State Department's desk officer for North Korea, Ken Quinones, accompanied by three other officials, landed in the country for an extremely delicate job: overseeing the removal of fuel rods from the Yongbyon reactor that contained enough plutonium for four or five nuclear bombs. The mission was to start the process of closing down the reactor under the terms agreed to between North Korea and the United States in 1994. The Americans, who were bunked at the top secret facility, were made to feel just what they were, Mr. Quinones said: enemies on enemy territory. They fought to get the tiniest freedom of movement. Only after agonizing negotiation did they win the right to go for a morning and evening walk to a tree, a quarter- mile outside the gate. (It helped that the tree happened to commemorate the founding leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, the current leader's father.) "Everything was gradual and incremental, with profuse explanations every step of the way," said Mr. Quinones, who is now the head of Northeast Asia projects for Mercy Corps, a nongovernmental organization specializing in medical help for poor countries, including North Korea. One of the most interesting examples of interaction between North Koreans and outsiders is a joint effort between the government and the Nautilus Institute, a group based in Berkeley, Calif. Two years ago, on a farm west of Pyongyang, Nautilus installed windmills to generate energy for household lighting, a village water pump and a refrigerator in the village kindergarten. To Peter Hayes, the director of Nautilus, the project illustrates how stereotypes can, over time, be broken down. At first, he said, it was hard for the villagers to believe that the American technicians would return after the installation of the windmills, turbines and other equipment all of it imported, together with tools for assembling. When the Americans lived up to their promise and did return, some trust was established. Even so, Mr. Hayes said, it was hard to get villagers to allow the Americans to inspect their homes to see that the light bulbs initially installed were still working. But this suspicion broke down too. Mr. Hayes says he was not surprised when one of the North Koreans on the project told him, "My mother thinks that all Americans are wolves, and we are the prey." But one North Korean showed great gratitude that his family was rescued from the darkness due to lack of oil and other energy sources that now blankets most of North Korea at night. The most rewarding words Mr. Hayes said he heard were from the man who said: "Thank you, please come back and build more." The New York Times on the Web http://www.nytimes.com