Pyongyang, North Korea: North Korean officials have posthumously honoured a 14-year-old girl who drowned in a flood while trying to save portraits of leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, RIA Novosti reported.
Han Hyon-Gyong, a schoolgirl from the eastern province of South Hamkyong, died on June 11 as she tried to take the portraits out of her flooded home, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said on its website.
The paper said Han's parents and school teachers also received awards.
We all make mistakes but sometimes, like this one it is such a big mistake we can never make another.
The Korean-Soviet Split was pretty much finalised in 1962 so the DPRK had 30 years in which to either find new friends or become self sufficient and I seriously doubt fingers can be pointed at the Russian Federation for weather conditions in the DPRK (where the official line was that Kim Jong-Il controls the weather).
In a "highly industrialised", "secular" nation like the DPRK is any easily reproduced piece of printed matter worth a life?
GabrielMk3 Wrote:This also ruined the image of the DPRK, when international media since the 90's says that the DPRK starves everyone for fun and so on.
I think it's safe to say the DPRK earned this reputation, verified by its defectors.
If you look at the number of people defecting to the DPRK and defecting from there is a large difference.
Defection exists "officially" too as I have had official communications on the subject and also been told not to admit to having certain DPRK items that I have obtained.
Mind you it's not like I have many DPRK items anyway. I'll have to check if I have any at all.
Nice but sad. I am always amazed how many people are willing to risk or lose their lives saving inanimate objects like flags, bridges, or portraits. Not for us to judge.
Here are a couple of DPRK state television screen shots of flood damage.
The first image is from Cheongdan County (청단군) the second may also be from that county but I'm not certain. Not even the rail line is safe.
The DPRK is not the only nation in that area that suffers heavy flooding. We frequently hear of tens or hundreds of Chinese dying in flooding but not so for the Republic Of Korea. Which poses the question what are they doing differently? What makes a hindrance into a threat?
It's been flooded here (East Riding) for well over a week now but it is a hindrance and not a threat to human life.
As for people giving their life for inanimate objects, I was once at a fire where a woman had to be physically restrained from returning to a structure for her handbag. If she'd have been allowed to return there would have been no exit as within 2 minutes the entire structure had been destroyed. No objects survived. Due to quick action, diligence and luck what could have been a major catastrophe jeopardising hundreds of lives became an event only reported in a tiny article in a local newspaper.
"It's all up to what you value
Down to where you are
It all swings on the pain you're gone through
Getting where you are"
The award for Han Hyon-Gyong (한횬굥) is the Kim Jong-Il Youth Honour Prize.
"This state citation will be awarded to the youth league organizations and their officials and young people that set examples in the sacred struggle for further developing the youth movement led by Kim Jong Il to victory, defending the country and building a thriving socialist nation.
Kim Jong-Il Youth Honour Prize is the highest prize for the Korean youth along with Kim Il-Sung Youth Honour Prize."
I have yet to find any Korean language reports of her actions.
