European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes monday tuesday december 25/26,1989 n. Korea s Paradise is far from heaven Pyongyang. North Korea a the Hermit of Asia is emerging and what is seen is a regimented society that in contrast to More Liberal communism elsewhere trains its 20 million people to obey every command of the state. North Korea claims to have achieved Paradise on Earth. Its leaders declare with Pride that the nation hat no taxes no prisons no want no social unrest. Well informed outsiders however say the country has trouble feeding itself is burdened with foreign debts and is rapidly falling behind the vibrant capitalist Economy of rival South Korea. Western journalists got a rare glimpse of a closed society during the world festival of youth and students held last summer in Pyongyang. The meeting of 15,000 Young people most of them from left leaning organizations was the first major International event in the North korean capital an the cily was carefully prepared As a show Case. Pyongyang had a Well scrubbed look of Prosperity. Tree lined avenues were festooned with banners and flags and balconies of Well kept apartment build Ings were draped with Flowers. Stores in the capital which foreign residents said usually were poorly locked bulged with goods and shop pcs. Visitors were Given Tours of kindergartens with chandeliers and indoor swim Ming pools of hospitals outfitted with new japanese and West German equip ment of Homes with color television Sand refrigerators. They found another jarring Clement everywhere Tola control of the populace and the pervasive personality cult of president Kim ii Sung the 77-year-old"great Leader and dear Leader Kim Jong ii. His son and presumed Suc Cessor. Billboards and monuments recite an depict heroic deeds of the Man who has led the North since the korean Peninsula was divided in 1945, after the defeat of Japan in world War ii. This is our Happy land and it s allude to the great Leader and the dear Leader said Kim Hosok manager of a collective farm outside Pyongyang. Some people Call this Paradise  visitors heard the same statement again and again from other North koreans. In Pyongyang the National showcase visitors Sec neat apartments of three or four rooms with Central heating hot water and Basic appliances. The average factory worker is paid Only about 100 won a month. $45 at the official rate but enjoys free housing education and medi Cal care. Life is harder in the Countryside. Many cottages do not have running water or private toilets but in area around the capital stucco apartment buildings of two or three stories arc being built to replace them. Several foreigners with extensive knowledge of North Korea said it has enormous problems. Many Basic foods arc rationed and the foreigners said the government often cannot Supply the average monthly meat allotment of 4.4 pounds per family. The said no fruit and few vegetables arc available in Winter. Kim Byong Hun an economist at Kim ii Sung University denied food was in Short Supply. He said the reason for a sea of Japan won san 100 Milesh Kaeson North Korea Chicago to bunk for North koreans regimentation is Normal Pyongyang North Korea a expert precision singing or dancing by Lens of thousands is no trick for North koreans because regimentation to them is the Story of life. An International youth festival this year opened with ceremonies involving 70,000 youngsters from the Host coun try including a Darling display of rapidly changing pictures by 50,000 card flashers. Most of the 20 million wifi ens were mobilized to make sure communist North Korea s first major International event would be a Success. Nearly everyone in Pyongyang helped build Tkv Angok Street a High Rise apartment Complex for 25,000 families which was finished in two years and housed festival delegates. Office workers Volunteer for pub Lic service work once a week. Kindergarten teachers initiate a life Long course in patriotism absolute Loy Alty to the system and reverence for president Kim ii Sung. Ideological training and service o the stale dominate the education sys tem. Workers have political study ses Sions at least once a week. Toning Rice was to build up reserves to feed South Korea after reunification. A foreigner who has made 18 visits to North Korea said the government forces people to donate from their savings forthe purpose it says of helping poor peo ple in South Korea. Some of the rules Are difficult to fathom. Bicycles Are banned in Pyongyang even though can Are Seldom seen on the Broad boulevards. The few traffic Light sat intersections were turned off. North koreans said vehicles Are scarce because the nation lacks Petroleum de posits. This country s Creed has become Jumche a philosophy of self Reliance. Tens of thousands were mobilized to help build stadiums and apartment when the North tried in vain to become co Host with the South of the 1988 sum Mer olympics. The facilities were use for the youth festival. Where a person lives and works is not his business but the state s. Although Many Homes have televisions few have radios apparently to prevent people from listening to foreign broadcasts. Several Rural Homes visited had Wall loudspeakers used by local officials to broadcast instructions and ideological teachings. North Korea has almost no private telephones. I Choi sin vice chairman of the committee for cultural relations wit foreign countries denied claims by am Nesty International and other human rights groups that North Korea is a major abuser of human rights. In North Korea everyone has hous ing and free medical Cere and there s no unemployment he said. How can countries with unemployment criticizes for human rights the regimen appears to accomplish its aim. Several students stopped randomly at Kim ii Sung University said they never would question government policy. Economists said North Korea wit no follow other communist nations in experimenting with capitalist style Reform even though the growth rate is Only 2 percent to 3 percent a year compared to about 11 percent in South Korea. He said workers receive some extra pay for exceeding quotas and Farmers May grow vegetables in private plots around their Homes but he main re wards for hard work remain political citations As Model workers or appoint ments As deputies in local Legislatures. Foreign debt has accumulated de spite Jumche to somewhere Between $5 billion and $8 billion according to foreign observers. Dealing with North Korea is a Gamble one foreign businessman said because the government sometimes pays Bills promptly and sometimes neglects  said his company accepts Only barter deals or Cash in  its hesitant opening to the outside world the government has enacted joint venture Law and begun several projects mainly with communist countries or overseas koreans. Greaf Leader is near deity in land of obedience Pyongyang North Korea a he is the great Leader whose deeds arc praised whose portrait and words arc everywhere. Kim ii Sung has nearly deified himself in his self made world of regimentation and mass obedience. President Kim who is 77 and has ruled North Korea since the Peninsula was divided in 1945, has crafted an unmatched cult of personality. Four year Olds at Chang Gwang kindergarten in Pyongyang sit around a de tailed Model of his Birthplace singing and chanting of his exploits. Children in another room Carol we wish Good health and Long life to Comrade marshal Kim ii  at a nearby Middle school a 15-year-old recites to her English class thanks to the great Leader and the dear Lead has crafted an unmatched cult of personality since 1945. Kim ii Sung or we have no worries about food or housing and we All Lead Nappy  the dear Leader is the president s Sonand heir apparent Kim Jong urn. At the main Entrance of every school institution stoic office and factory is a larger than life portrait of Kim ii Sung in appropriate context. Visitors to a factory or school Are told How Kim stood on a nearby Hill to order it built then provided on the spot guid Ance now and then. Nearly every room of every Home has a portrait of the great Leader often accompanied by one of the dear Leader. Adults Wear badges with Kim ii Sung picture just above the heart. More than 40,000 people a Day visit he shrine of Mang Yangdae the thatch roofed farmhouse on Pyongyang s out skirts where Kim was born in 1912.equal numbers go to the korean revolution museum which has 100 rooms and140,000 items relating to his revolution Ary accomplishments. Accounts in the museum say Kim great Grandfather helped sink a . Pirate ship that was scouting possible in Vasion routes in 1866. They say his father was a Leader in righting the japanese who ruled Korea from 1910 to1945, and died in prison. The great Leader himself it is said left Home at 13 to join the resistance and founded Korea s first communist organization a year later