Day 10: Heading out of North Korea
By Randall Smith | November 14, 2007 | Korea
Monday
Two things happened this morning.
First, a young North Korean waitress at breakfast wanted to talk to me about where I was from. We had a small, positive conversation about America, and then she moved away abruptly, noticing one of her co-workers was observing us with disapproval. Second, our group headed out early to the centerpiece of the visit, Mount Kumgang, in another bus convoy led by a military vehicle that snaked its way up switchbacks for about 45 minutes to the trailhead.
Again, the walk was crowded. But the trail led to an incredible observation point where you could see the mountains and look down into the valley. North Korea is an absolutely gorgeous place when you can't see what's happening on the ground.
And then it was time to go.
On the way out, I assessed my feelings.
In some ways, I thought I had been in a fairyland. Not far from the resort, there is a North Korean town, visible from the hotel-room window, that looks beaten down. Roofs on some homes and businesses had collapsed. I saw no cars other than military vehicles.
The people worked in the rice fields and traveled back and forth on bicycles like they did over 50 years ago. While we ate well, I knew that food was being rationed in the country's capital and that this year's flooding had made the situation even more dire. Tuberculosis and hepatitis are stalking the land, and winter is coming.
But I also felt like the resort was a first step. Hyundai paid $1 billion for 50 years of exclusive rights and spent more than $400 million to build the complex.
There are other joint projects in the North, most notably the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korea is again fronting the money and has built large manufacturing plants that employ over 8,000 North Koreans who make everything from watches to athletic shoes.
There is also talk of new highways and freight train service.
And then, there is our forgotten war. This morning, as I was writing this update, I received news that the remains of an Iowan, Cpl. Clem R. Boody, had been positively identified.
His body, along with five others, was handed over to Governor Bill Richardson on an April visit to North Korea. Boody had gone missing with 350 other servicemen in November 1950 during combat in the battle at Unsan in North Korea.
To date, there are over 8,000 American soldiers still unaccounted for in the Korean War. South Korea believes that more economic projects will encourage a thawing of relations. Perhaps in a few years, the green mesh wire fences along the road to Mount Kumgang will be torn down. As Koreans like to note, a path is walked one step at a time.
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