Entangled For Good With North Korea
A Banquet for Dear Leader
The invited participants to an international banquet celebrating the birthday of Dear Leader Kim Jong il, in February 1995 — just months after the death of his Great Leader father — hosted by a senior regime official, represented various fringe political groups from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Some represented Kim Il Sung Study Groups, others were from splinter socialist or communist parties. The “United States Delegation” was composed of a couple (one of whom was actually Filipino) representing an American humanitarian and peace organization, and their nine-year old daughter. How did we end up at such an unusual event?
But before telling that story let me describe a bit more the scene at the banquet. Actually, the U.S. NGO “delegation” had not known of the significance of the date before coming to Pyongyang as part of a humanitarian exchange program. And furthermore, we did not know about the banquet until a couple of hours before the event. Our hosts had informed us of a great honor to be bestowed upon us and encouraged us to dress accordingly. We were driven to a hidden entrance to the highly secured Party compound in the middle of Pyongyang. Automated gates parted and we entered what was clearly a rarely seen world. We waited in an ante room, accompanied by our kind senior host, Mr. Chon, apparently a semi-retired Party official who spoke fluent English, Spanish and, we were to discover, several other languages. One by one the delegations were ushered through the doors to a large banquet room and into the presence of the host of the event, Party Secretary for International Affairs, Mr. Hwang Jang-yop. (Yes, the same person who would defect to South Korea two years later. But that’s getting ahead of the story.) Our unlikely threesome was formally introduced to host Hwang as “the American delegation,” and we bowed politely as he warmly welcomed us.
Along with Mr. Chon, we were ushered to our places at a large round table, one of about fifteen in the room. We were introduced to our tablemates who included representatives from DPRK-friendly fringe groups in Mexico, Brazil, and several other Latin American countries. The banquet program included formal welcoming remarks by Mr. Hwang who emphasized the absolute loyalty of the North Korean people to the new, young Dear Leader, the ironclad unity and security of the state, and the friendship with all peace-loving peoples of the world. We all rose to toast long-life to the birthday celebrant. There followed a multi-course meal of the most exotic special dishes (I still have the menu) and a program of amazing musical and dance performances on several stages surrounding the hall. Between speeches and performances there was the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with our tablemates (assisted by Mr. Chon’s interpretation), and this included our awkward attempts to explain the organization that we represented and its relationship with our most generous hosts.
When I recall this occasion, one of the most memorable aspects is the way that our nine-year old daughter, Louise Gabriella, took her role as international peacemaker so seriously. Not only did she engage in conversation with other guests, but she also managed a large array of silverware, including metal chopsticks, without a hitch. She stayed alert throughout a long program of performances late into the evening — when I was beginning to fade. And she politely greeted Mr. Hwang when he reached our table during his circuit around the room.
Promoting Peace in Northeast Asia
It is not entirely clear to me how our unsought participation in this unusual event contributed to peace between the DPRK, the United States and other countries, but it no doubt eased the way for the dialogue and exchange program that we were encouraging, and for the humanitarian aid program that followed.
Our American NGO, the American Friends Service Committee, had been the first U.S. organization to engage North Korea for the purpose of peace promotion, beginning in the 1970s. I had made my first visit to North Korea in 1991, together with Professor Joe Elder from the University of Wisconsin. On that trip we had spent two weeks in the North and also made an extended visit to South Korea talking with senior officials as well as civil society representatives about a possible role for our organization in facilitating North-South Korea and North Korea-U.S. dialogue in the post-Cold War era. This exploration had led to the establishment of a program based in Japan, and in late 1994 my wife, Teresita, and I were appointed Quaker representatives for development of the dialogue program.
In addition to consultations with potential partner groups in Japan, our initial steps included visits to South Korea and China where we met with organizations with which our NGO had long standing cooperation. A delay in our initial visit to North Korea was understandable given that their Great Leader, Kim Il Sung, had died in July that year and the country was in a state of official mourning.
However, in early 1995 we received a formal invitation for our visit to Pyongyang. We prepared carefully for the important conversations we expected to have with various groups, including our host, the Committee for Cooperation with World Peoples, the national Women’s Union, and major educational institutions. The date for our visit was set for late January 1995. Among other preparations, we arranged for our nine-year old daughter, who was attending middle school in Kobe, to stay with the family of a classmate while we were away.
A Disaster Presents an Opportunity for Bridge-Building
Then everything changed. Early on January 17, Kobe was shaken by one of the strongest earthquakes to hit an urban area in decades. The impact on our family (including an older son who was visiting us at the time) is a story for another time. Suffice it to say that we emerged without physical injury. However, we found ourselves in the middle of a devastated city with thousands killed and tens of thousands in serious need. As the only U.S. NGO with representation in the city (and one of the few in Japan), our organization solicited and received substantial contributions to be used for relief and rehabilitation. The use of these funds was shaped by the overall purpose of our presence in Japan and Northeast Asia.
One reason that we had based our program in Kobe rather than Tokyo was that the Kansei region (including Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto) was home to the largest population of Koreans living in Japan. However, this community was split in loyalty between South and North Korea, duplicating the division on the peninsula. The two communities were led by organizations that were deeply antagonistic. However, one area that both valued highly was education for their young people, with the aim of instilling both cultural and political loyalty and maintaining national identity as a minority in Japan. This situation suggested a way to use the relief funds: We decided to make equal (relatively modest, given the level of need) contributions to the two Korean organizations for the purpose of rebuilding their damaged schools. In the two weeks following the earthquake we visited the regional headquarters of the two Korean organizations and explained our proposal. We were received warmly by both groups, and we were able to quickly begin the flow of funding based on signed agreements.
Meanwhile we had sent word to our counterpart in Pyongyang that our visit scheduled for late January would have to be postponed. One reason was that, under the circumstances, it was impossible to leave our daughter; the school had closed, and many families had left the area. To our surprise, we received a reply from Pyongyang insisting that we reschedule the trip for mid-February and that we bring our daughter with us. So that is how it happened that Louise became the youngest American citizen ever to visit North Korea (so we were told) and the youngest member of our official delegation. After arriving in Pyongyang, we were told that our organization’s prompt response to help meet the needs of their counterpart Korean organization in Japan smoothed the way for their invitation to the whole family.
Epilogue
On our flight from Beijing to Pyongyang on Air Koryo we noticed that almost every other passenger was carrying a large bouquet of flowers. Also, the Party newspaper included headlines announcing the approaching celebration of the birthday of the new, young leader to be celebrated on February 17. This was the first indication that we had that the timing of our visit was more significant than we had suspected. No problem that we arrived (thoughtlessly) without flowers. Our first stop on our way into the city was at the enormous statue of the late Kim Il Sung where we were provided with a large bouquet to be placed at the foot of the statue — taking our turn to bow and move forward along with all the others who had arrived on the same flight.
We were then conveyed to the Koryo Hotel, the finest in the city, where we were housed in a suite covering most of a floor, including a separate bedroom for our daughter, a dining room, a sitting room, and a separate kitchen with its own staff. Later, when Teresita and I went to our appointments, an adult woman companion stayed with Louise and played board games, watched movies, etc. However, Louise accompanied us on the numerous forays to visit monuments and museums as well as the DMZ. And, of course, she was included in the invitation to the international community for the celebration of the new leader’s birthday.
This article is one of a series I have written describing my work promoting peace and development on the Korean peninsula while working with several non-governmental organizations between 1990 and 2010.
