Seoul-based ambassadors share impressions of N. Korea

Dutch Ambassador to South Korea Paul Menkveld, who also serves his country`s chief diplomat to North Korea, said Friday, “When I visited North Korea, I saw people come to the hotel in several Lexuses and go to a spa. I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

At a meeting of nine ambassadors to both Koreas hosted by the Korea Council on Foreign Relations, Menkveld said, “The road to Wonsan was bumpy and dark unlike Pyongyang, so you needed a lantern. I saw soldiers, the elderly and kids who picking up rice on the streets.”

Citing the two cases as examples, he said, “There is a problem with food aid priority.”

Slovak Ambassador Dusan Bella said, “North Koreans had very distorted information on the outside world such as Europe. Information is much more powerful than nuclear weapons. Seoul should spread information (to North Korea).”

“When I argued with North Koreans over the ideology of juche (self-reliance in Korean), saying, ‘The outside world is different. It operates on opposite principles – mutual cooperation, open society and an open economy,’ they were surprised. This shows how much they lack information.”

Hungarian Ambassador Miklos Lengyel said, “When I visited North Korea again in 2009 after spending four years there in the 1980s, I was disappointed to see no change thought two decades had passed. Though I had to go to the North for work, I didn’t want to go there again. I really want to see a change in North Korea.”

zeitung@donga.com