TheRamblingWombat North Korea - General 2018

What Do North Koreans Think Of Americans?

In the introductory review on my September 2018 visit to North Korea I noted that the US President, Donald Trump, had entered into an amorous relationship with Kim Jong-un. On 29 September, 2018 at a political rally in Wheeling, West Virginia, President Trump declared that he and Kim Jong-un “fell in love” after the North Korean leader wrote him “beautiful letters”.

“I was really being tough, and so was he,” President Trump said of Marshal Kim. “And we were going back and forth, and then we fell in love, OK? No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters. And they’re great letters. We fell in love.” Continue reading “What Do North Koreans Think Of Americans?” →

TheRamblingWombat Myohyang-san

Pohyon Temple – Mt Myohyang

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Pohyon Buddhist temple, one of the few places of worship in North Korea open to foreign visitors, dates from 1042 and the Koryo dynasty. It was founded by a monk named Kwanghwak and is named after the saint that guards the morals of Buddha. The current incarnation of the temple mainly dates from post the Korean war (1951-53) when the temple complex was extensively damaged by US bombings with over half of the buildings completely destroyed. Continue reading “Pohyon Temple – Mt Myohyang” →

TheRamblingWombat Nampo

Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities

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Those who have read others of my North Korea entries will be aware of what North Korea thinks of the United States. Since 1866 when the US warship, the General Sherman, was destroyed and all its crew killed after it sailed up the Taedong River seeking to engage in trade with, and land missionaries in, the country against the expressed wishes of the Korean Imperial Court, the United States has been seen as the very devil incarnate. The US continues to be held responsible for everything negative in North Korea. Every opportunity to demean, belittle, humiliate and insult the US is availed of. Continue reading “Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities” →

TheRamblingWombat Panmunjom & DMZ

The Axe Murder Incident

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The Axe

With the signing of an Armistice Agreement in 1953 Korean War hostilities came to an end and former combatants commenced negotiations to bring about a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War, a war which gained practically nothing for either side but cost the lives of almost 3 million people.

At the time of my visit in April 2014 these peace negotiations were in their 61st year and peace between the two belligerents seemed no closer than it did when the military truce was called in 1953.
Continue reading “The Axe Murder Incident” →

TheRamblingWombat Panmunjom & DMZ

Armistice Agreement Signing Hall – Peace Museum

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After over 2 years of negotiations in the Armistice Talks Hall (see my separate review) and the death of nearly 3 million people the two combatants in the Korean War, North Korea/China and the United Nations Command or UNC (South Korea, the USA and about 10 other “minor” participants –importantly, under command of the US and not the UN) agreed on the terms of an armistice. In simple terms, the agreement to be signed would provide for an end to hostilities (a cease-fire), the creation of a demilitarised zone, the repatriation of prisoners and an agreement to continue peace negotiations. Continue reading “Armistice Agreement Signing Hall – Peace Museum” →

TheRamblingWombat Kaesong

Kaesong Old Town

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Old Town from the Kwandok Pavilion

Kaesong has a very long history and has the best preserved old town area in North Korea. While most of North Korea was razed to the ground by US bombing during the Korean War, Kaesong was spared by virtue of the fact that, until it was captured by the North Koreans, it had been on the South Korean side of the border – the 38th parallel north- as determined by Russia and the United States at the end of WWII. It is the only town that changed hands in the three year long war which cost the lives of nearly three million people. Continue reading “Kaesong Old Town” →

TheRamblingWombat Pyongyang

Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum

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Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum

This is the final of a series of five reviews on the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum Complex. If you have not already done so, please read my introductory Complex review before continuing.

This impressive museum displays the history of the Victorious Fatherland Liberation (Korean) War through the eyes of the DPRK and pulls no punches in doing so. Continue reading “Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum” →

TheRamblingWombat Pyongyang

Greatest Trophy of War – USS Pueblo

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USS – Pueblo

This is the third of a series of five reviews on the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum Complex. If you have not already done so, please read my introductory Complex review before continuing.

While unrelated to the Fatherland Liberation (Korean) War, this captured United States spy ship is moored on the river just behind the display of captured and wrecked US military hardware from the Korean War. This Cold War relic is, in terms of war trophies, North Korea’s number one. Continue reading “Greatest Trophy of War – USS Pueblo” →