Some of the soldiers aren't wearing boots.
How is it that North Korea can build nuclear weapons but can’t put boots on the feet of its soldiers?
On Saturday, I stood at a spot, Yibukua, right on the China-North Korea border. It is about 12 or 13 miles northeast of Dandong, the largest city on the border.
The Yalu River along the border there is barely 10 yards across at the site.
North Korean soldiers were working on a bridge over a creek on the other side. I snapped photos. The soldiers then marched away. One carried a North Korean flag.
It wasn’t till later when I studied the photos that I realized some of the soldiers wore no shoes. The area where they were working appears to be rocky, so shoes would have been useful. Our taxi driver insisted they were soldiers. I wondered if they were some youth paramilitary group, not soldiers. In any case, it was a pitiful scene.
As I perused the three photos closely, I counted at least five soldiers in the squad of 20 or so who were not wearing shoes.
Curiously, earlier in the day, we took a boat cruise in Dandong over to near the North Korean side of the river near to where dozens of school kids were bathing. There, I had the exact opposite reaction from seeing the unshod soldiers. Many of the school kids played with plastic flotation rings. You can see one with goggles in the photo below. The adults wore life preservers. At that spot, the North Koreans seemed better off than I would’ve thought.
Hey, where did you get those fun-looking rings?
I was in DRPK a couple of months ago, and the town on the border Sinuju seemed pretty nice compared with some of the other places. I guess they've got to make a bit of an effort what with Dandong building loads of huge, shiny, middle-finger shaped buildings along the Yalu River.
Posted by: Charlie | August 12, 2006 at 01:21 PM
Perhaps the North Korean soldiers were just trying to save money by not buying shoes. Chinese soldiers aren't exactly fitted out with great footwear either - camouflage canvas sneakers. And probably it's too hot to wear boots as well, perhaps their boots are more for winter.
Posted by: Xiao Zhu | August 09, 2006 at 04:29 AM
I have never been to Dandong (though I very much want to go -- actually I want to go to NK too, but that's a different story), but from those who have gone, I hear there are a number of NK restaurants there with NK waitresses who work on the Chinese side and live on the NK side. Assuming these waitresses get to keep at least some of their wages, this would probably leave them with enough to buy the floatation devices and there are probably other N. Koreans with jobs on the Chinese side as well.
Posted by: China Law Blog | August 07, 2006 at 10:31 PM
No, I don't think the swimming group was planted. Those flotation devices probably cost just pennies across the river in China. So if the Pyongyang regime can buy them and keep hungry people a little happier, it probably is willing to do so.
Posted by: Tim J | August 07, 2006 at 10:33 AM
Do you think the swimming group was planted there by the government? NK would have an interest in leading outsiders to believe that it is a "normal" country. The great number of plastic flotation devices is especially suspect in a country where most people would not have much, if any, disposable income. However, this greatly contrasts with the shoeless soldiers of course.
Posted by: Jen | August 07, 2006 at 04:25 AM
Found you via the China law Blog. They gave you a well deserved recommendation.
I added you to my blogroll today. I will be tracking back to your N. Korea story.
Best of luck. Glad you are posting.
Posted by: Lonnie | August 06, 2006 at 09:04 AM