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North Korea's Dancing Agitprop

Western visitors tell tales of propaganda-drenched state

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 3, 2007 3:07 PM CDT

(Newser) – The 2,000 Western tourists who managed to visit North Korea this year—four times as many as were allowed in 2002—offer a weirdly illuminating glimpse into the propaganda-saturated country closed to journalists, notes the Economist. Kim Jong-Il’s “Mass Games” performances—packed with synchronized dancing eggs and tens of thousands of gymnasts, make visits to the “basket-case state” unforgettable for the intrepid.

Devotion is so deeply institutionalized that all citizens are required to wear lapel pins with Kim’s face (or his father’s) at all times—and a Kim visage is affixed to every street corner. It’s inappropriate to fold the Pyonyang Times if it depicts Dear Leader. Particularly amusing to Western visitors: at an amusement park, targets in crossbow-shooting stalls feature "big-nosed American soldiers and glowering Japanese."

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

North Korean students create the shape of a gun, during the Arirang Grand Mass gymnastics and Artistic performance at the May day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea Monday Aug. 6, 2007. The North Korean... (Associated Press)

North Korean dancers perform during the Arirang Grand Mass gymnastics and Artistic performance at the May day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday Aug. 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel) (Associated Press)

North Korean dancers dressed in egg costumes perform during the Arirang grand mass gymnastics and artistic performance at the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea Monday Aug. 6, 2007. The North Korean... (Associated Press)

North Korean dancers perform during the Arirang Grand Mass gymnastics and Artistic performance at the May day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea Monday Aug. 6, 2007. The North Korean Arirang Mass Games... (Associated Press)

North Korean students hold flip cards to create the picture likeness of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung during the Arirang Grand Mass gymnastics and Artistic performance at the May day stadium in... (Associated Press)

Bowing North Korean residents are dwarfed by a giant statue of Kim Il Sung, the late founder of North Korea and father of current leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, Oct. 1, 2007. (AP... (Associated Press)

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North Korea's Dancing Agitprop