North Korea: A nation in the dark

Barbara Demick’s "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" is looked at in this Sunday’s Book Review by Art Winslow, who calls it "a piercing account" that weaves together "life stories of half a dozen defectors that credibly suggest a human rights tragedy of enormous proportion is taking place relatively out of Western public view."

Even if she weren't one of ours -- Demick is the Beijing bureau chief for the Times -- I’d recommend the book for its harrowing glimpse of life as it’s being lived right now north of the DMZ.

If you don’t have time, though, this may be one of those instances when a proverbial picture is worth 1,000 words (or, in the case of Demick's book, 320 pages). In fact, Demick supplies that picture right at the beginning of her very first chapter. It is a NASA satellite image showing the Korean peninsula at night.

"South Korea, Japan, and now China fairly gleam with prosperity," she writes. "Then in the middle of it all, an expanse of blackness nearly as large as England. It is baffling how a nation of 23 million people can appear as vacant as the oceans. North Korea is simply a blank."

-- Nick Owchar

Photo: Satellite photo of North and South Korea by night. Credit: NASA

Comments

[rox108]

that's neat how the countries' borders are lit up also.
=) >_<

[Greg]

And in some respects I do wonder from this image whether they see all the stars at night? Do they have less pollution? Do they suffer from over-illumination? There are some advantages to the darkness.

[Rory L. Aronsky]

Great, total darkness. Much, much less pollution, and no over-illumination. They see all the stars, though it's not a benefit, at least from this American perspective. There's quite a story in the book about the relationship between a teenaged girl, Mi-ran, and a boy, Jun-sang, and because of their disparate social statuses, could only meet at night.

I'm about a quarter of the way through it, and there are many stunning stories and facts to be found here.

[Sarah McCoy]

Great post! It stopped me in my tracks. Demick's book sounds truly inspirational. The genuine voice of a people is always influential. I'm glad to see their stories spotlighted on the world stage.

This post sparked a thought, and I had to say more: www.sarahmccoy.wordpress.com.

Yours truly, Sarah