Shock over Korean beauties' rage

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- For the most part, North Korea's cheering squad for the University Games in South Korea last month lived up to their reputation as "the army of beauties."

Singing and smiling, the women became the center of attention wherever they appeared.

But one incident, captured by South Korean media, has shocked many South Koreans.

It involved a busload of the North Korean cheerleaders who became extremely upset over, what some onlookers said, a very trivial matter.

The cause of the emotional distress was a banner with the picture of what North Koreans they call their "dear leader", North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, which was hung crooked and left out in the rain.

For those North Koreans, it was considered sacrilege.

"How could you place our general in such a place?" a cheerleader said. "He deserves only respect. We cannot stand for this."

Choi Dong-ho, a sports reporter for South Korea's YTN TV was with the cheerleaders at the time, but he said it took him a long time to understand what got them so charged.

The sense of disbelief was not limited to those who witnessed the incident.

The same feeling was expressed by many South Koreans on Seoul's affluent Rodeo Drive where the divide between the capitalist South and the communist North may be at its widest.

"I felt I didn't understand these people," said a woman who was outside a McDonalds restaurant there.


The "army of beauties" hard at work during the student games.
A high school student told CNN that she was afraid of the scene she saw on TV and does not want to be unified with the North.

Choi, who followed the North Koreans during their stay in the South, is not that pessimistic.

He said there were times when he felt the North Koreans made true friends with Southerners.

But he does admit the banner incident opened his eyes to just how different the two Koreas had become.

The strangest part of the whole thing was, he said, that just an hour after the expressions of outrage, the North Korean cheerleaders were back performing -- an army of beauties once again.

Weird, to anyone who lives outside NK you can clearly see how odd it is. But that is the mass indroctronation of 22 million ppl. Juche ideology, Kim Il Sung thought has truly changed the two Korea's forever. Through this NK's leaders have seemingly created a new ethnic ppl's on NK lands. The religion of the leader, the extremist view of the world, and defiance against the most powerful nation on earth. It's almost second nature to them. What worried me about the article is the pessimism that hit the SK ppl's. They are pro- reunification, for the most part. Actually in 2000 Kimmie Kins was actually a little popular with southerns by opening up. Now has this attitude changed? I cannot say with any legitimacy since i have no numbers. I am certain that most SK's want the Americans gone from her soil. What do the SK's want?

P.S today was NK's independance day, and it was celebrated in Pyongyang with a military parade (what a shock)

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/09/09/nkorea.cheerleaders/story.nkorea.beauties.afp.jpg

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/09/09/nkorea.parade/story.march.flags.aptn.jpg http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0309/gallery.nkorea.parade/03.jpg

Orwellian me thinks so!

that reminds me of the parades in St. Petersburg (Leningrad back then) when i was a little boy my parents took me to see the "great Soviet war machine"

oh, the memories :)

it does give the people a sense of security and pride in their nation, however misguided it might be. so Orwellian or not, it's working.

and now, of all times, with the crisis escalating and all that, to pull out the US forces wold be the worst thing to do.

Sweet! Nationalist parades really bring out the ancient spirit of unity through aesthetic overload. I wish our nation had such sweet parades, but all we get is a bunch of people eating burgers and waving tiny US flags. Come on Bush, if you're a dictator, act like one.

Oh dear. CNN.

Obviously what this is all about is painting the North Koreans as poor, simple, even hysterical folk sorely in need of saving. It takes a tiny incident during succesful and amicable Games well out of proportion, and similarly seeks to depict South Koreans as feeling that hopes for unification efforts are ultimately hopeless... Crude, crude, crude, especially for such a well-practised mind-bending outfit.

Let's face it, this isn't "news". It's anti-North Korea propaganda.

Here's a more balanced report of the incident from The Washington Post (or at least an alternative). In this one you'll have to read right through to the end to find any mention of the "incident" at all.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/963215.asp?cp1=1#BODY

I was personally shocked! We always get the impression that NK’s hunger themselves to death
and deprivations thanks to their own idol Kim Jong Il San, but the bodies and faces of those beauties have the looks and shine of a great nutrition…. Don’t tell me that they have cannibalism in NK??

They all looked so well fed!
;)

Oh yes they are so backwards for being blinded by patirotism and deriding any slur or representation of their leader that doesnt fit in with their indoctrinated image of him as evil and wrong.

But then of course no American would never end up like that would they now...oh wait.......nvm....

I liked the parade actually. Beautifully orchestrated. I'm rather suprised that they didn't display any of their weapons.

Well it is obvious that those NK's are from Pyongyang, the centre of the universe (sorry no Kim il sungs birthplace is). But Kim keeps the Pyongyangers nice and well fed, they live as normal lives as can be lived in NK. Meanwhile outside the city... well that is the story. NK is truly a facade, a strong exterior, weak interior, yet within that interior another strong central core. The one's inbtwn are stuck and can't do anything.

airavata

Funny, I didn't see it live :( if you have a link so I can see video. But about the weapons they did have there new missile ready to go on parade apparantly but they didn't show it? I think the reason why is because of the talks they didn't want too seem to forceful and jeopardize the talks.

Why can't America have parades like that? I think they're pretty cool.

My thoughts exactly.