My brush with North Korea and what it taught me

Kim Jong-il – the North Korean Leader died yesterday.

This is my brief brush with his country (North Korea).

I first visited Seoul in 2001 (don’t forget to read the second part of this blog for a fascinating story on how I was held up at the Seoul airport). 

Since I was there over the weekend, I decided to visit the ‘DMZ’ or ‘Demilitarized Zone’ that is a very thin strip that separates North and South Korea.

I took a coach tour and reached the spot in a couple of hours.

The first attraction (and let me admit HORROR) was a visit to the ‘Underground Tunnel’ that some North Korean soldiers had dug to enter and threaten South Korea.

To get into the tunnel, we boarded a very small bucket seat train (like the ones in an amusement park) and were also advised to wear hard yellow helmets.

I had no clue where I was going.

To my shock, the train began to move backwards and steeply tilted in the same direction too. 

Immediately, we were in a tunnel where the roof was so low, it scraped my helmet a couple of times.

I am very claustrophobic and this was a very very terrifying experience.

After a never-ending journey, we landed up inside the actual tunnel. It was very sad. We could barely move freely and I thought I was going to die. The tunnel represented the ultimate depravity of human existence to me.

Finally we surfaced. And I lived to tell this tale!

Post the tunnel, I went to a tower on the South Korea side and saw something shocking there as well:

From the large observatory type windows I saw this lush green area that was South Korea and then a geometric straight divider of tall bush and barbed wire that separated South from North Korea.

The North Korean land looked completely devastated, brown, dusty and barren.

It was bewildering – seeing 2 lands – one completely lush and green and the other very brown and dirty. Separated by one thin line.

The commentator sadly told us that the North Korean side was impoverished and that its citizens sometimes had to EAT THE BARK of trees to survive.

I vamoosed from there quickly.

What those 2 hours taught me (not then but now … looking back after 10 years and of course considering how badly North Korea has fared compared to its neighbor and the world)

No one needs motivation to be better off. Hence ‘curating lives’ for people is a very bad idea.

In India, I think the way our parents and elders behave with youngsters is almost the same. They assume that they should tell their dependents what they should do for the rest of their lives.

The things they preach:

– Only STUDY (else you will fail)

There is this OBSESSION to make kids study and get good marks. That’s all that Parents seem to be bothered about. I have seen kids who would make fine artists or singers being forced to do ‘Science’ because thats what their Parents WANTED to be!! 

A large portion of the older generation do not realize that in a global, thriving and connected world economy, people with PASSION get rewarded handsomely – be it for being a Mannequin Decorator!  

– Find a JOB (Business is bad)

There is a robust side economy that is fast developing globally. Kids as young as 13 and 14 are becoming reputed bloggers in the subjects they feel passionate about!

Why is it so difficult to imagine that the next 100 ANGRY Bird Ideas CAN come from India??!!!

Vishal Gondal – India’s leading gaming entrepreneur who recently sold his Company to Disney was not good at academics! Yet he has managed to create not just wealth for himself but also employment and PRIDE amongst hundreds of his young employees!  

– Get MARRIED (you won’t find a husband later)

Most Marriages are made in Utopia and lived in HELL. Lots of women I know personally can’t get out of terrible abusive, unexciting, inconsiderate, marriages because they can’t support themselves.

The LEAST we should do is let our daughters get an education and a means of livelihood AND THEN RECOMMEND (not FORCE) them to marry. 

All this preaching as well as telling dependent, impressionable kids & young adults what to do, is North Korean in attitude. These kind of Parents and Elders are the Kim Jong to their young.

We need to encourage our children to do what they WANT to do – not what we THINK is good for them.

The world will leave you behind

The stark difference between North and South Korea visible just from a Tower taught me that life moves very fast. If you are a professional or an entrepreneur or even a homemaker and seem STUCK in something, then CHANGE. Change Now. Be Brave. Escape. Fight. Get thrown out of what you are doing. Rebel. Shout. Scream. BUT DO SOMETHING.

DON’T assume that ‘Things will become better on their own’.

THEY WON’T.

The world will move on and leave you as poor and shattered as North Korea. And when your Kim Jong dies, you will have no clue what is going to happen to you. 

***** 

The incident at Seoul International Airport! 

I landed in Seoul just after 9/11 and thanks to my brown skin landed in the interview room at the airport. The officer wanted to know why I was there and who all I was meeting. I promptly produced my meeting list of game companies and the agreed meeting dates and time slots. What the officer did next is something I have never experienced before – he started calling the companies to actually verify if I indeed had these appointments. 

The day I had landed was Sunday, and so no one picked up the phone. It was quite frustrating – It had taken me over 16 hours to reach Seoul, and here was someone calling up corporate offices knowing very well that the operators didn’t work on Sundays and neither are their bosses at their desks.

Was he just testing my patience? After another 30 minutes, I decided he was not. That’s when it struck me that I had a mobile number of one of the business managers of the companies I was supposed to be meeting ( I had my phone but not a connection thanks to CDMA in South Korea). The officer promptly called up the lady, and spoke to her for a good 10 minutes. 

Immediately after the call, his demeanor became very friendly. He smiled, and waved me off.

Now comes the real story:

Later when I met the lady at that Company, she first spent 20 minutes apologizing on behalf of her country, her airport officer and the telephone operator (for not picking up on Sunday – she had already made suggestions for a voice answering machine). She also told me that post our meeting she would call the airport officer, and de-brief him on our meeting! ( I was just envisioning someone in India calling up those immigration officers at Mumbai Airport and doing this).

When I landed in South Korea the second time, I understood the purpose of that call. I think I was ‘slotted’ as ‘no problem’ guy – I passed in less than 30 seconds. 

This exemplifies South Korea – so efficient and good at what they do. Isn’t this what diligence, scrutiny, feedback and improvement is really all about? 

 

*****