Skip to main content

‘Kim’s sister hovers like the lady of the house’: RT reporter visits N.Korea's inner sanctum

‘Kim’s sister hovers like the lady of the house’: RT reporter visits N.Korea's inner sanctum
The private Pyongyang residence that the RT crew was allowed into. / RT
Few foreign journalists have had the chance to cover Kim Jong-un firsthand, but RT’s Ilya Petrenko became one of them, when he accompanied Russian FM Sergey Lavrov for a visit to the North Korean leader’s private palace.
Hours before the Russian foreign minister was due to meet Kim on Thursday, the traveling journalists, who had not been handed a schedule of the meeting, were assembled in a room of “what is by North Korean standards a luxury hotel” in Pyongyang and searched, before all their communication devices were taken away by security officials. The RT crew was then directed to an unmarked minibus, and driven through the Korean capital.
“We had no idea where we were going, and the driver spoke neither English nor Russian,” says Petrenko. “The further we traveled, the fewer people were visible on the streets outside, until the roads were drove on were altogether empty, though there was no police cortege.”
A wooden door opened, and a female figure appeared. In a moment, Petrenko recognized the person in front of him: the leader’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, who has been credited with softening North Korea’s image abroad during the Olympics and recent negotiations with Seoul.Finally, a massive building stone decorated with two giant posters of Kim’s grandfather and father, the two previous rulers of North Korea, drifted in view, and a little later in a more secluded part of the sprawling complex, another, smaller, luxurious villa. This, the journalists realized, was the Pavilion of the Hundred Gardens, the leadership’s personal reception palace.
“Dressed in a gray skirt suit she was hovering around the entrance, like the lady of the house. I greeted her in English, and she smiled back and said ‘Hello!’” recalls Petrenko.
Then Kim Jong-un himself came out. “Wearing an expensive watch,” and “as tanned as his sister was pale,” the North Korean leader seemed “relaxed and in control,” nodding to acknowledge the press.
Throughout the afternoon Yo-jong served as a close personal aide to her brother, “helping him with nuances of protocol.”“He did not appear like a man out of touch with reality,” notes Petrenko.
But once the talks began, Lavrov sat with a team of seven negotiators and interpreters. Kim, on the other side of the table, sat alone, with only a single interpreter to help him.
Soon the photo call was over, and the journalists were ushered away, as Lavrov and Kim talked confidentially for an hour. At the end, both emerged, apparently satisfied and smiling, for the Russian diplomat to gift the North Korean a traditional Russian box, with a lockable compartment “to keep his secrets in.”
Then at once, as quickly as it began, the surreal spell dissipated. The journalists were hastily seated in vehicles, handed back their phones, and whisked off in a motorcade directly to the airport and out of the country.
“I have no words. I imagine most North Korean journalists do not have a chance to set foot in the places where we have been. It’s an unforgettable experience,” says Petrenko.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mona Farouk reveals scenes of "scandalous video"Egyptian actress Mona Farouk appeared on

Mona Farouk reveals scenes of "scandalous video"Egyptian actress Mona Farouk appeared on Monday in a video clip to discuss the details of the case she is currently facing. She recorded the first video and audio statements about the scandalous video that she brings together with Khaled Youssef.Farouk detonated several surprises, on the sidelines of her summons to the Egyptian prosecution, that Khalid Youssef was a friend of her father years ago, when she was a young age, and then collected a love relationship with him when she grew up, and married him in secret with the knowledge of her parents and her father and brother because his social status was not allowed to declare marriage .Muna Farouk revealed that the video was filmed in a drunken state. She and her colleague Shima al-Hajj said that on the same day the video was filmed, she was at odds with Shima, and Khaled Yusuf repaired them and then drank alcohol.She confirmed that Youssef was the one who filmed the clips whil

الحلقة 20 هنادي المطلقة والمحلل (ماذا قال كتاب العرب في هنادي)-----------Khalid Babiker

• الجنس شعور فوضوي يتحكم في الذات والعقل . وله قوة ذاتية لا تتصالح إلا مع نفسها . هكذا قال أنصار المحلل الحلقة 20 هنادي المطلقة والمحلل (ماذا قال كتاب العرب في هنادي) أول طريق عبره الإنسان هو طريق الذكر . بعدها شهق وصرخ . تمرغ في الزيت المقدس . وجرب نشوة الأرغوس . عاجلا أم آجلا سيبحث عن هذا الطريق ( كالأسماك تعود إلى أرض ميلادها لتبيض وتموت ) . وسيعبره . سيعبره بحثا عن الديمومة . وسيشهق وسيضحك . لقد جاء إليه غريبا . سيظل بين جدرانه الدافئة غريبا . وحالما يدفع تلك الكائنات الحية الصغيرة المضطربة في الهاوية الملعونة سيخرج فقيرا مدحورا يشعر بخيانة ما ( ..... ) . لن ينسى الإنسان أبدا طريق الذكر الذي عبره في البدء . سيتذكره ليس بالذاكرة وإنما بالذكر . سيعود إليه بعد البلوغ أكثر شوقا وتولعا . ولن يدخل فيه بجميع بدنه كما فعل في تلك السنوات التي مضت وإنما سيدخل برأسه . بعد ذلك سيندفع غير مبال بالخطر والفضيحة والقانون والدين . الله هناك خلف الأشياء الصغيرة . خلف كل شهقة . كل صرخة مندفعا في الظلام كالثور في قاعة المسلخ . الله لا يوجد في الأشياء الكبيرة . في الشرانق . في المح . ينشق فمه . تن

Trusting Liar (#5) Leave a reply

Trusting Liar (#5) Leave a reply Gertruida is the first to recover.  “Klasie… ?” “Ag drop the pretence, Gertruida. You all call me ‘Liar’ behind my back, so why stop now? Might as well be on the same page, yes?” Liar’s face is flushed with anger; the muscles in his thin neck prominently bulging. “That diamond belongs to me. Hand it over.” “What are you doing? Put away the gun…” “No! This…,” Liar sweeps his one hand towards the horizon, “…is my place.  Mine!   I earned it! And you…you have no right to be here!” “Listen, Liar, we’re not the enemy. Whoever is looking for you with the aeroplane and the chopper….well, it isn’t us. In fact, we were worried about you and that’s why we followed you. We’re here to help, man!” Vetfaan’s voice is pleading as he takes a step closer to the distraught man. “Now, put down the gun and let’s chat about all this.” Liar hesitates, taken aback after clearly being convinced that the group  had hostile intentions. “I…I’m not sure I believe