Wednesday, February 05, 2003
IF THE THREAT OF A U.S.-LED ATTACK WEREN'T ENOUGH: The DPRK is complaining about the perils of cultural imperialism as well:
There's hope yet.
Reuters ("INFLUX OF WESTERN CULTURE WORRYING NORTH KOREA," Tokyo, 02/05/03) reported that bibles, pornography, mini-skirts and women wearing "very strange make-up" and artifacts of western culture has found its way to the DPRK, and DPRK government officials aren't happy about it, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday. Citing internal DPRK documents, the Sankei Shimbun daily said DPRK citizens who travel overseas on business were bringing home some unwelcome souvenirs. The result: a decline in morals, a growing divorce rate and rising popularity of fortune tellers. "This is a harsh situation and the impact is significant," the conservative newspaper quoted the document as saying. The 16-page document, which Sankei said was issued by a DPRK ruling party publisher and given to senior officials last year, contains ideas to be drawn upon in public speeches. "Women are using very strange make-up, putting foreign-style make-up on their lips and eyelashes," the document said, adding that women were also wearing "short skirts." "Divorce is increasing among the people...fortune-tellers are becoming popular," Sankei quoted the document as saying. The document also said those who own television sets and radios were listening to broadcasts from the ROK and other neighboring countries, and that young people in particular were memorizing ROK songs and bragging about it. Recent visitors to the DPRK, however, have seen no evidence of Western fads, even in the capital of Pyongyang.
There's hope yet.
