Thursday, July 17- After our regular breakfast at the Koryo Hotel we went straight to the Academy to resume our discussions. What we’re working on is truly significant, and will require both sides to dig deep. We’ll have to adapt our model to meet the North Korean realities—there is no private ownership there, for example, so our homeownership approach won’t quite fit. On their side the concepts of voluntarism and charitable giving are not well understood. But the remarkable thing is that Americans and North Koreans are sitting down to discuss ways of working together to get something good done. This is how peace happens.
There’s a lot left to work through, and decisions have to be made on both sides. But we are moving forward and left the meetings today feeling very positive. We broke for lunch and went to a small restaurant near the Academy for another delicious meal. We were introduced to soju, a vodka-like Korean liquor made of rice. I confess that in the spirit of international cooperation I hoisted a glass or two. They drink it warm, but it would probably be great icy cold.
After a short break we were taken to the Manyongdae Children’s Palace, a truly remarkable piece of architecture where children engage in a wide variety of extracurricular activities—music, sports, dance, taekwondo and who knows what else. The place is huge and is truly a palace, rich with marble, brass and chandeliers. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were VIP guests for the weekly performance given by students of music and dance. We were ushered into the theater and given great seats, right next to the Cuban ambassador and in front of a group of 150 South Korean Christians who were in town, quite remarkably, for a church event.
The next hour and a half were filled with one spectacular performance after another. There were choirs, dancers, flautists, hoop acrobats, jump rope acrobats, accordionists, traditional musicians and a full orchestra (which was in the pit in front of the stage—I didn’t realize that we weren’t listening to recorded accompaniment until half way through the show when I noticed the conductor’s baton). The singing was outstanding, the instrumentals equally impressive and the dance numbers lovely. The kids, none of whom looked older than 14, were remarkably well rehearsed and looked like they were having a great time. Had the rest of our trip not been so productive that one event would have made the whole stay worthwhile.
Speaking of kids, North Korea is getting ready to celebrate its 60th birthday, and in every square of any size we saw kids practicing for the event. Dressed alike in blue slacks, white shirts and red scarves, they were an impressive force. I’d like to be there when they all come together in September to show their stuff.
A full day, another great meal, and it time again for bed. The week is going by much too quickly.
There’s a lot left to work through, and decisions have to be made on both sides. But we are moving forward and left the meetings today feeling very positive. We broke for lunch and went to a small restaurant near the Academy for another delicious meal. We were introduced to soju, a vodka-like Korean liquor made of rice. I confess that in the spirit of international cooperation I hoisted a glass or two. They drink it warm, but it would probably be great icy cold.
After a short break we were taken to the Manyongdae Children’s Palace, a truly remarkable piece of architecture where children engage in a wide variety of extracurricular activities—music, sports, dance, taekwondo and who knows what else. The place is huge and is truly a palace, rich with marble, brass and chandeliers. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were VIP guests for the weekly performance given by students of music and dance. We were ushered into the theater and given great seats, right next to the Cuban ambassador and in front of a group of 150 South Korean Christians who were in town, quite remarkably, for a church event.
The next hour and a half were filled with one spectacular performance after another. There were choirs, dancers, flautists, hoop acrobats, jump rope acrobats, accordionists, traditional musicians and a full orchestra (which was in the pit in front of the stage—I didn’t realize that we weren’t listening to recorded accompaniment until half way through the show when I noticed the conductor’s baton). The singing was outstanding, the instrumentals equally impressive and the dance numbers lovely. The kids, none of whom looked older than 14, were remarkably well rehearsed and looked like they were having a great time. Had the rest of our trip not been so productive that one event would have made the whole stay worthwhile.
Speaking of kids, North Korea is getting ready to celebrate its 60th birthday, and in every square of any size we saw kids practicing for the event. Dressed alike in blue slacks, white shirts and red scarves, they were an impressive force. I’d like to be there when they all come together in September to show their stuff.
A full day, another great meal, and it time again for bed. The week is going by much too quickly.
[The photo is of the kids at the Children's Palace-- this one needs to be shown full size to show the beam in all those little faces.]
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