PrintFebruary 12, 2011
The Dear Leader wishes you a safe and pleasant flight
North Korea, easily the most bizarre regime on earth, invests huge resources in erecting a facade to appear to foreigners like a normal, reasonably prosperous country. But one doesn't have to be terribly observant to notice the small details revealing the insanity animating the regime. Little snippets observed by foreign visitors make their way to the internet.
For instance, the person who stood and watched "passengers" taking the escalator down
to the platform of a showplace Pyongyang subway station, only to reverse course, and take the escalator back up, walk a little way, turn around, and take the escalator back down. All to create the impression that this is an actual functioning subway system. It is claimed that two lines exist, but only two stations are open to foreigners, and they may be the entire extent of the system. All apparently for the purpose of impressing a few foreign visitors to the capital. For the record, Pyongyang is a city of broad, empty boulevards featuring trolley busses, very few private cars, and no traffic congestion.
Then there is the 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel, planned to be the tallest hotel in the world when construction started in 1987. It is still not finished, though it is claimed it will open soon. Meanwhile, Dubai -- which actually gets substantial numbers of foreign visitors -- has constructed an even taller hotel. For the record, Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport receives three flights a week from Air China, in addition to Air Koryo's handful of flights to international destinations. Meanwhile Pyongyang boasts at least two other large skyscraper hotels, the Koryo (left below) and the Yanggakdo (right):
The latest little view of the mad regime's show of normalcy to foreigners is the passenger safety video of the North Korean airline, Air Koryo, recently posted on YouTube. The airline has taken delivery of a contemporary Russian airliner model, the Tupolev 204, which features video screens -- a first for Air Koryo. Naturally, the airline featured thanks to the Dear Leader in the video, which makes for interesting viewing.
Hat tip: Airliners.net
