We were not allowed to stop

(CBS News) PYONGYANG, North Korea — Saturday marks 60 years since the guns went silent in the Korean War. There was no winner, though North Korea calls July 27 “Victory Day,” and it’s a national holiday.

The North rarely allows foreign journalists inside the country, but CBS News was allowed into Pyongyang to report on what we saw — or at least, what the North Koreans want us to see.

It wasn’t long after CBS News landed that the government assigned us a minder who would accompany us everywhere we went.

North Korea stops work at long-range rocket launch facility, but why?North Korea: Stories of escapeNorth Korea proposes talks with Washington

Our crew was carted from place to place. Real life passed by the bus window. We were not allowed to stop.

The North Koreans call their capital the “Showcase City” and indeed, much of what we saw appeared staged.

Our first stop was the grand opening of a veteran’s cemetery.

Kim Jong Un, 부산출장안마 North Korea’s “supreme leader” made a surprise visit to lay a memorial wreath and mark almost 60 years since the end of the Korean War.

Tom Hudner, a retired U.S. Navy pilot, traveled to North Korea this week on a personal mission to search for the remains of his wingman, killed during the Korean War. Hudner crash-landed his plane in order to save him. President Harry Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor that he still wears today.

Hudner said it was “emotional” to watch the ceremony in a land that was once the other side of enemy lines.

CBS News was then brought to yet another choreographed event. This time, groups of school kids have come to a mausoleum to pay their respects. Inside the mausoleum is the founder of this country and his son, Kim Jong Il.

One 12-year-old said he’d come to pay tribute to the leaders. But before we spoke with him, our minder did.

It was the same with Kim Hea Na. The 11 year old told us what she knew about Americans — that they were imperialists who invaded her country. When asked how she felt about talking to an American, she replied, “You don’t look like an American!”

Although the minder kept his eye on us at all times, some things did appear genuine. When remarking on some buildings behind a bridge that were lighted up last night, someone said that earlier in the week there were no lights at all. It’s clear the country was putting on a show.

Related Posts

The Department of Justice is keeping the charges against the suspect, Libyan militia leader Ahmed Abu Khattalah, under seal, but CBS News’ Margaret Brennan reports that the suspect has been living openly in Benghazi since the September, 2012 attack. Khattalah admitted to CBS News last fall that he was at the scene on the night of the attack, but denied a personal role in the violence. “I went to help four men who were trapped inside,” Boukhatala told CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer. When he arrived, though, the men were gone, according to the Islamist militant. At the time, Libya’s government had told CBS News that Boukhatala was a “prime suspect” in the attack on the U.S. offices, but asked about that accusation by Palmer, the militant smiled and said, “if that’s what the President is saying, then he should come to my house and arrest me.” But that’s something Libya’s government security forces wouldn’t have dared to do. Khattalah is the chief of a ferocious militia in Benghazi, the Abu Ubaidah Brigades – a sub-group of the larger Ansar al Shariah militia. Palmer reported that the militia — armed to the teeth with weapons looted from deposed dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s arsenals — acted at the time of the attack as both military and police in parts of Benghazi. The government’s security forces, the official police and army, are simply too weak to push them out. Khattalah told Palmer that the attackers were merely ordinary people armed with rocket-propelled grenades and added that he expected a fight should the government move to arrest Islamist militia members suspected in the attack. It remains unclear whether the U.S. has now asked Libyan authorities to arrest Khattalah or whether the FBI has identified the other suspects, pictured alongside Khattalah in a series of photos taken from the security cameras at the consulate. The other men are thought to be members of Khattalah’s militia. Neither the militia nor Khattalah have been specifically identified by the U.S. government as terrorists, according to Brennan. “The investigation is ongoing. It has been and remains, a top priority,” Justice Department spokesman Andrew C. Ames said Tuesday. However, the FBI has not made any arrests in the 11 months since the attack and the Obama Administration faces mounting pressure to take action. Last week, a small but vocal group of eight Republican congressmen sent a message to the newly-confirmed FBI Director James Comey, pressing him to take action. In the letter, initiated by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-U.T.), the legislators called the administration’s investigation thus far “unacceptable” and called for an “aggressive” investigation.”
The most amazing book…
“It was pure joy, that’s all I can say.” The Bergmans first met Streisand in New York in the early ’60s

No comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *