Ryongchon Photos

There is a link to a story on the NK rejection of South Korean aid here, which contains a slide show of photos of Ryongchon. Warning: this is heartbreaking stuff, including many horribly burned children, many of whom appear to have been blinded. What’s more, you have to know that the most critical hours for medical treatment may already have passed. In other words, the paranoia and heartlessness of the government means that the chance has already been lost to save the lives and eyesight of many of those kids.

Two photos struck me in particular. One shows a pile of schoolbags next to a schoolyard wall. No North Korean kid would have just dropped them there. Another is of the only well-dressed person in the entire slideshow. He is clearly a North Korean secret policeman, and he’s gesturing at the photographer to stop taking pictures. There is much to see in the details of these photographs.