Memoir of North Korea - Day 4

Feb 6th

We finished our time in North Korea with a visit to the beautiful mountains North of Pyongyang. We visited a museum - perhaps the only one in the world - which contains hundreds of gifts from the leaders of nations who wanted to honour the life of the late Kim Il Sung. Gifts from a list of leaders including Stalin, Tito, Mugabe, Honeker, Chairman Mao, Castro, Ceausescu were a sobering reminder of the lure of totalitarianism that defined the last century.

We took the opportunity to visit churches – Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox which are starting to emerge – and we impressed upon those we met the importance of allowing religious liberty to prevail. Some progress has been made in terms of them being able to build new buildings which was positive. The priests we did meet talked enthusiastically about their congregations though clearly allegiance to Kim Jung Il is a prerequisite for all in North Korea. It wasn't clear how easy it is for ordinary citizens to practice their faith freely.

Our last meal in North Korea was dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Koyro hotel。 It was an opportunity to thank our hosts。 I made a speech in which I admitted that I had come to the country with that attitude 'that I thought I knew what is best for North Korea'. I felt it important to express how humbled I had been by the sincerity and kindness with which we had been received. I hadn’t expected it but my comfortable preconceptions had been challenged.

I went onto say that there is a big job to do if we are to build a more peaceful and equitable world. We would all need to be willing to learn from each other.