“Cholhun, Wake up! We want to go to Moranbong today!”, I shout from the corridor of the dormitory. Cholhun grumbles an inaudible answer but eventually ends up waking up from his traditional daily “after-lunch nap.” It’s 2PM; we had classes this morning at Kim Il Sung University and decided to go to Moranbong; a popular park in the middle of Pyongyang.

Moranbong Park

I must admit, before coming to North Korea, I don’t know why, but I had this image of Pyongyang being a very cold city, grey and without green areas. I couldn’t even picture it with blue skies and sunshine. I guess it was because of all the media coverage focusing on the political regime and its nuclear program.

Contrary to popular belief, the sky is blue, the houses are colorful (yellow, blue, pink…) and there are lots of parks in Pyongyang! One of the most famous ones is Moranbong. Maybe some of you are now thinking “Moranbong… I know this name”. Well that’s probably because you’ve heard of the Moranbong band with its twenty female members singing patriotic songs and playing drums, electric guitars, etc. They are the most famous musical band in North Korea and play for the Kim family during official events. They have also recently become known outside the country. If you don’t know them, check them out; they are also known by the nickname the “DPRK spice girls”. I guess their band name refers to the hill “Moran” in Pyongyang.

Anyway, after taking the metro from our dormitory and accompanied by three North Korean students, Cholhun, Hyona and Hanhyok, we arrive at one of the entrances of the Moranbong park. There are lots of stairs because, as its name indicates, the park is located on a hill. As we climb up, I realize how much the environment suddenly changed; we’re completely in a forest! I cannot believe we are in the middle of Pyongyang. I can barely hear the cars from here. Just before arriving at the top we pass an old gate. We stop to take a break and eat “jogaebap”, clams stuffed with rice. Delicious!

Old Gate

Gate details

And finally, we arrive at the top of Moran hill. In front of us we can see the entire view of the city up until the stadium. I take my camera to immortalize this view. Cholhun comes near me and says: “Delphine, maybe don’t take pictures of the bridges.” I smile thinking that now with satellites everyone can know where any bridge in the world is. I walk around and meet a painter who is taking a break and eating his lunch. We exchange a few words and, again, I take a picture. A little further away, I see a group of students and their teacher sitting in circle on the grass and singing by turns. Some women are dancing to traditional music, elders are playing cards and kids are fooling around.

Kids playing

Students drawing by the river

We then head down the hill towards the exit. On that path, there is a little river going through the park. A lot of students are sitting next to it, drawing or painting the natural scenery. Others are playing football. Arriving at the exit, we decide to separate into two groups. One will go to the supermarket to buy a few things, and the second group – which I’m part of – will head back to the dormitory to play volleyball. Hanhyok comes with us. Once we are in the metro, chatting about this and that, Hanhyok, out of the blue asks me: “Delphine, you took a picture of a painter, right?” I look at him surprised while having an idea about what is coming to his mind. Desperately trying to find a way to stop the conversation, I reply: “Yes, I did, I really liked his work… oh the metro is coming, let’s not miss it!”, while rushing into the metro. The questioning stopped. I thought I had successfully escaped it. Unfortunately, when we were walking back from the metro towards the dormitory, Hanhyok asks me again: “Could I see the pictures you took this afternoon?” Damn…. I lend him my camera, starting to get frustrated. He rushed to the picture that interested him: the painter.

“You know, in Korea, it’s very impolite to take a picture of someone who is eating,” he says.

“Ah I see… well I promise I will not take pictures of people eating anymore,” I reply.

“I will delete this picture you took,” he declares while trying to find the right button in order to do so.

“I will do it. Give me back my camera before you delete all the pictures. It’s in French and when you click the button you have the choice between removing one or all the pictures!”, I reply angrily taking back my camera and deleting the picture. “See? it’s done, I deleted it. Can I go now?” Without waiting for his answer, I rush back to the dormitory quite pissed off.

The afternoon passes by, we play volleyball, then play cards with the Chinese students and go for dinner. After coming back from the sauna, I see Hanhyok waiting in front of my room.

“Can I talk to you?” he asks.

“What? Is there another picture you want to delete?” I ask ironically.

“No, I just want to talk to you.”

Imagine my surprise when Hanhyok starts to apologize profusely! He says that he did not want me to be upset. He also gives me food: grapes and clams. I’m still a bit angry but I accept his apology and tell him I’m ready to understand that he did so because taking a picture of someone eating isn’t considered good manners in North Korean culture (I’m still not convinced though).

Anyway, after this episode, I couldn’t imagine that Hanhyok would eventuallybecome one of my best friends in North Korea!