This Wednesday, someone told me that he's never taken a step outside of this country, and some of what he knows about the outside world (especially the United States) is based on the movies that they release. It really surprised me to hear that, being a person whose time outside the country exceeds the time I spent within.
This reminded me of - not pejoratively, though - North Korea. One of the most reclusive countries in the world - thus its nickname the Hermit Kingdom - North Korea has a very controlled economy and few supply lines.
Yet, I've heard stories of pirated movies and soap operas from South Korea being smuggled over the Chinese border and sold in black markets in Pyongyang. Although the price of being found with such Western media is a public execution, defectors say that this underground culture is blooming all over the northern part of the peninsula.
I wonder what people like that - those who've never strayed out of the country - think about the outside world. What do they think of the bustling business districts, with towering concrete and glass behemoths? What do they think of the people talking to each other in some unknown tongue? Are our dramas and comedy shows enough to prove that we're not savages?
