This year North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il (김정일) was unanimously re-elected to office. His sons were also appointed to high government posts as well. Big surprise there!
The voting system in North Korea is basically the voting system elementary schools use to pick the class president. There are two boxes, one in favor of the candidate, the other being against the candidate. Even though voting is supposed to be in secret, there are government officials watching where you cast your vote. If you place your ballot in the “no” box, you’ll be secretly carted away to a work camp.
In America, voting is not mandatory. In North Korea, it’s absolutely mandatory. If you don’t vote, you can say hi to a work camp, so everyone votes. The only way government officials can keep track of the population is to count the number of votes. If the votes don’t add up, they’ll assume the person defected and kill the family members. As a result, there’s a lot of bribing that goes on in the polls. A nice bribe can influence a government official to record the person as deceased.
It’s one of these things that makes me glad I don’t live in North Korea.
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Before I go let me tell you a little more about jajang myun (자장면). There is the instant kind, where you boil some water and mix in the black paste, but the ones at good restaurants hand make the noodles. Jajang myun (자장면) is really inexpensive. About 3-4 U.S. dollars per bowl, which includes the side dishes. The side dishes include kimchi (김치) or spicy cabbage and danmuji (단무지) or pickled radish. If you’re still hungry you can mix some rice with the black bean paste sauce. This is called jajang bap (자장밥). If you’re really hungry you can order a kopbbegi (곱빼기), which is double the portion of one bowl of jajang myun (자장면).
Did you know that before there ever was a South and North Korea, there were three large kingdoms in what is now present day Korea? It’s true. Long before the Korean nation, Korea was nothing more than a conglomerate of three strong powers. This period is called the shikgukshide (삼국시대) or the Three Kingdoms Period.
The largest of the three “states” was Goguryo (고구려). The territory of Goguryo (고구려) extended into Russia, China, all of North Korea and bits of South Korea. Goguryo (고구려) had amassed its territories through constant warfare. Although this strategy allowed Goguryo (고구려) to be feared among the other kingdoms, this came at the price of a lack of artistic development and culture. There are some cave wall paintings still left to this day, but nothing as culturally refined as the other kingdoms. Eventually Goguryo’s (고구려) downfall was acclerated by a depletion of supplies and constant warring.
The next kingdom is Bekje (백제). Although Bekje (백제) is tiny when compared to Goguryo (고구려), at its height it controlled parts of North Korea and the south western part of present day South Korea. Unlike Goguryo (고구려), the Bekje (백제) were more culturally advanced. They had knowledge of processing iron into weapons and created beautiful works of art and architecture. In fact the crowns of Bekje (백제) kings and queens are made of the finest craftsmanship for that period of time. The Bekje (백제) had trade relations with Japan. Japan’s Buddhist origins can be traced to its relations with the Bekje (백제).
Last but not least is Silla (신라). Silla (신라) occupied the southeastern part of present day South Korea. Silla (신라) had extensive relations with China’s Tang (탕) dynasty. Together with China, it was able to push into Goguryo (고구려) and Bekje (백제) territory. Silla was also a advanced society. There are burial remains of fine silk, porcelain, and gold jewelry. The picture on the left is a Silla (신라) crown. The upper crust of Silla society was divided into two lineages. The king and the royal family belonged to the sacred bone lineage (성골), while the nobles were designated into the true bone (진골) lineage. Like all great societies, the Silla (신라) civilization declined because of a conflict within these two lineages, but it left behind some great works of art that we can still see and enjoy today.
호떡 is a Korean pancake made of flour, water, sugar, yeast, milk, brown sugar and cinnamon. The batter is poured on a griddle in the shape of a circle. 호떡 tastes sweet. The filler is honey, which oozes out of the pancake when you take a bite out of it. I like American pancakes, but it’s a little hard to take the pancake on the go. The fact that the syrup needs to be poured on the outside necessitates a plate and a fork. Since the 호떡 has everything inside, all you need are your hands and maybe a cardboard to hold the scalding hot 호떡.
붕어빵 are kind of like waffle cakes. The batter is poured into a mold that looks like a fish and 팥 or red bean paste is spread over the batter, which is then covered up with some more batter. 붕어빵 is soft and crunchy (if you make it right). Sometimes 붕어빵 is sold frozen with an ice cream filling. These 붕어빵 are sold in convenience stores and not on the street. For the cost of about one U.S. dollar you can get at least three 붕어빵. 
호빵 is made of rice flour with sweet bean paste. The sweet bean paste. They look like white, round dumplings. My favorite are the sweet ones, but there are different kinds of 호빵. Some have vegetables inside, while others are more creative with meat and cheese. You can also get these at retail stores in pre-packaged cases, but I prefer them fresh off the street. Unlike the other street food, which are fried, 호빵 is steamed with boiling water.