Cleaning the statues of the leaders: the Russian told how he went to the DPRK Pioneer camp

Russian Yuri Frolov, who is currently living in the United States, told CNN about his trip to the pioneer camp to North Korea before friendship with this country became the official policy of the Russian Federation. Frolov's interest in North Korea appeared when he watched a documentary on TV, which told how the DPRK was attacked by capitalists.

This curiosity brought him to join the Solidarity with North Korea in Vkontakte, so he went to the Songdowon International Children's Camp in Vonsan, on the eastern coast of North Korea. About $ 500 covered all costs for a 15-day trip. His parents agreed, and he went one of St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, joining other children and functionaries of the Communist Party on a trip. He recalls that in the summer of 2015, all the camp staff came out.

There were also children from Laos, Nigeria, Tanzania and China. However, communication with North Korean children was limited to the last day, which was a deliberate step to prevent any exchange of real experience. The camp offered typical summer entertainment, such as beach walks and sand construction competitions, but also included peculiar rituals.

The children were supposed to wake up at 6 am and clean the statues of the former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sen and Kim Jong Ira, although there were cleaners. Music lessons were also mandatory, which learned patriotic songs about respect for the leader, translated into Russian. One of the most amazing classes in the summer camp was a computer game, in which players, managing hamsters in tanks, had to destroy the White House.

Journalist Will Ripley, who has repeatedly visited North Korea, recalls that he was talking to two locals who played the same game. "When I asked whom they were shooting, they replied," Our sworn enemies, Americans.

"Then I asked," And what if I tell you that I am an American? Do you want to shout me too? " The reporter recalls, noting that it was a typical paradox of North Korea: people were usually friendly and polite, even when they told him that the United States had to "sink in the sea of ​​fire. " Despite its powerful propaganda, Frolov remained a skeptic. The strict schedule was upset, he was not allowed to miss morning exercise despite the ailment.

And the food was very monotonous: rice, potatoes and bread. "Many things seemed fake, especially the buildings of science and innovation. They were not convincing even for a child. It was not quite horrible experience. I was just bored. Except for the absence of the Internet, it was like any basic Russian camp for children" , - he recalls.

Despite the unpleasant and strictly controlled environment, he decided to return to the camp for the next year, partly because he was too persistently invited to give up. Frolov's story gives a rare opportunity to look into the life of foreign children in a summer camp in North Korea, emphasizing the efforts of the country to process young minds through a combination of cultural exchange and propaganda.

"This is a reminder that it is ready to go to North Korea to form perception and cultivate loyalty. His experience in the International Children's Camp of Sondowns emphasizes the use of propaganda and control to influence on the minds of young people," the journalist said. We will remind, earlier Focus wrote that for Russian tourists rebuilt a whole resort in the DPRK.