Having made several journeys to the Land of Morning Calm (principally with the UK KFA) it was with a great deal of curiosity that I read Micheal Palin’s account of his May 2018 visit to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Micheal Palin is a well-known travel writer and TV presenter, in an earlier incarnation he was part of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Mr Palin’s account of his adventures in Peoples Korea made for easy reading and envoke the reality of the DPRK (North Korea) for both those who have never been there or for the people who were lucky enough to have travelled to that North-East Asian Country. Perusing Mr Palin’s book, one gets to see behind all the negativity and mythology concerning the DPRK. The advantage of tourism and cultural exchange is that it provides the chance to break down barriers and go beyond stereotypes. Micheal Palin makes a backhanded compliment to the DPRK when he writes “Today is my 75th birthday and would have been Karl Marx’s 200th. So where more appropriate to be than somewhere where socialism is still taken seriously?”.
Overall Micheal Palin presents a positive image of the DPRK as a clean and efficient country populated by friendly and enthusiastic people. Where the book does fall down in a number of places is through Palin’s bourgeois liberal prejudices. In one instance, Micheal Palin attempts to lecture his female KITC guide on the virtues of “Western Democracy”, while on a tour of the Kumgang-san Mountains. Mr.Palin asserts “Our way of life is based on freedom of speech”, while his guide responded that Korean style socialism provides people with a sense of collectivism and self-determination. Speaking of freedom of speech and thought, there have been endeavours by sections of the British right-wing press to silence and ultimately to shut down the UK KFA, due to the fact that the Korean Friendship Association is a dissenting voice presenting an undistorted view of the DPRK to the public.
As a supplement to the writings of Micheal Palin on North Korea, may I suggest “Travels In The Land of Juche Korea 1992-2017” by Dermot Hudson. Doctor Dermot Hudson provides a very extensive travelogue of the DPRK as well as putting some sections of autobiographical detail. The two books in tandem will make for an informed and entertaining introduction to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
(North Korea Journal is published by Hutchinson)
“Travels In The Land of Juche Korea 1992-2017” can be purchased at
http://www.lulu.com/shop/dermot-hudson/travels-in-the-land-of-juche-korea-1992-2017-personal-recollections-of-visiting-the-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea-travel-notes-and-a-bit-of-autobiographical-stuff/paperback/product-23872073.html
