North Korean women going to give flowers to the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Pyongyang = Yonhap News
“It was very surprising that North Korean women were frustrated with the men’s women’s ideology, and they yearned for modern women outside.”
Lindsay Miller, the wife of a British diplomat in Pyongyang, who lived in North Korea for two years from 2017, said this in an interview with Voice of the United States (VOA) ahead of the publication of the book “North Korea, A Place Like Anywhere” from 2017. .
Miller introduced the conversations he had with North Korean women and explained that “North Korean women wanted jobs and social success rather than having children.”
He said, “I was also interested in my life of getting a job and getting married without children.”
In particular, he explained, “North Korea is a place that cannot even be compared to any other country in the world.” “I always felt that someone was watching me while living in North Korea, and that was the case.”
He also commented on the control and surveillance experienced in North Korea, saying, “I realized how blessed it is to be able to move at will.”
“I was able to meet the residents on the street and chat easily, but I could also be monitored,” he said. “Because of such pressure, there were times when they (North Koreans) were uncomfortable with me. I also had to worry about what to do when they became dangerous,” he recalled.
Miller’s book contains 16 essays and more than 200 photos, including the streets of Pyongyang, people’s appearances, and landscapes he took while staying in North Korea. He explained, “It is not the scenes that the North Korean regime wants to show to the outside, but the North Korea that I saw and felt in a book.”
Reporter Han Young-hye [email protected]
