Through the Looking Glass of North Korea
North Korea has long been a country that has drawn attention because of its dictatorship, strange rules, regulations, the poor treatment of its citizens, and its leaders who are known for their ruthlessness and mania. When I think of North Korea, I am immediately reminded of Franheit 51 by Ray Bradbury. I think about an almost dystopian community that has its citizens hypnotized and brainwashed into an almost robotic state. After reading this article, it certainly seems to have that kind of feel when in the country visiting as well. A journalist by the name of Gardiner Harris covering a delegation visit was hit by the reality of the strangeness while out for a morning job. He describes the citizens and guards as almost mechanical. He goes on to say that they were “all but invisible.” (Harris, 2018) Korean scholar and president of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, Frank Jannuzi, stated “ It’s not that the people of North Korea are abnormal, it’s that their system is.”(Harris, 2018)
Harris tells his first-hand account of the story with detail that allows the reader to paint a mental picture of what he is seeing. He also chose to use a picture of a deserted lake which exemplifies the bizarreness of the county because a lake like the one in the picture in the US would usually have a pretty decent amount of people at it, while this one is empty.
(1 image, 1 link, 2 quotations, 239 words)
Works Cited:
Harris, Gardiner. “ In North Korea, a Western Journalist Appears All But Invisible.” The New York Times. July 12th, 2018. In North Korea, a Western Journalist Appears All but Invisible - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
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