My Brothers and Sisters in the North

Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was occupied by Japan.

After Japan lost the war,

the victorious powers divided the Korean people

into two irreconcilable political camps,

Communist North Korea and Capitalist South Korea.

To this day the two countries face each other in hostility.

People from North and South are forbidden from setting foot on the other side,

or even from meeting people from the other side.

And while by now even American tourists travel to the North,

Koreans from the South may not.

The director, South Korean by birth,

only managed to enter North Korea

by way of her German passport.

My home country has been divided for over 70 years.

The landscape was split,

countless families were torn apart.

For over half a century, people didn't even know

if their relatives were even still alive.

In the West, we always see the same pictures of the North:

military parades, rockets, soldiers, famine, well-trained children,

and a leader, cheered by the frenetic masses.

But what will I get to see?

After all, destinations and protagonists will not be chosen by me alone,

they will be presented to me by the local partners.

Will I even find out more

about the kind of life people here really lead?

How will the people in the North see me, who was born in the South?

Will I be welcomed, or will they be afraid of the encounter with me?

The first destination proposed to us was the holy mountain Baekdu,

according to mythology the birthplace of the Korean people.

Legend has it that the Ruler of Heaven sent his son to this place.

Here he fathered Dangun, the first Korean King.

This mountain is also said to be the birthplace of General Kim Jong Il,

who in his country is called the Sun of the 21st Century.

Ah, this is nice.

Our Great Leader fought to the east, west and north of Baekdu Mountain,

and wrote the history of our liberation.

This is the birthplace of the great General Kim Jong Il.

It was built in June 1941.

Our Mother Kim Jong Suk lived here until spring 1943.

From here she organized the revolutionary actions at home and abroad.

General Kim Jong Il was born on February 16th 1942

in this modest hut.

There was much hardship and poverty when he was born,

there was not even a blanket to wrap him in.

The soldiers pulled threads out of their uniforms

and collected scraps of cloth from their backpacks

to make a blanket for him.

It is stored in this house.

Because life was so hard,

Mother Kim Jung Suk ate dried grass and raw corn.

A few months after his birth, General Kim Jong Il had to eat

flour mixed with water and grains of corn off the soldiers' plates as well.

But most days he went hungry.

Despite these harsh living conditions, Mother Kim Jong Suk did her best

to educate General Kim Jong Il

to become the son of the Holy Mountain Baekdu.

The things she once used are exhibited in this place of his birth.

The stream of visitors to the General's birthplace does not end.

The visitors come continuously throughout the year.

There is another group coming up now.

You must be tired of doing the same thing 12 times a day.

It is hard, but I'm full of energy because I have the honor

to look after the birthplace of the General.

I'd like more people to visit.

Come back anytime. - Yes, I will come back.

And you I hope you become a mother soon.

At my age?

When the year and the day Come to an end

Then the light shines Within the Party

For the destiny Of the fatherland and the people

Comrade Kim Jong Un Will stay awake this night as well

Until the end of time

We will look after his well-being

With immutable hearts

We will all follow him as one

FOLLOWING THE GREAT COMRADE KIM JONG UN FORWARD TO ULTIMATE VICTORY

The Great Marshal Kim Jong Un taught us the following:

Youth, no matter where you work,

you will do your best to make our socialistic fatherland stronger.

You should continue the Party's revolutionary economic politics.

In June last year, the Jagangdo combat unit took over

the construction of a sports park.

It is meant to be a sports park for the people and the youth.

As there was not enough petrol for the machines,

the combat unit worked with their bare hands

and filled the swamp with soil and stones.

The soldiers slept less than three hours a day.

They slept at the construction site to save the time of going to work.

With this willpower they managed to finish the sports park

after six months instead of one year. They performed a real miracle.

Such an exemplary combat unit!

The great Marshal was pleased when he heard about its completion,

and named it "People's Amusement Park".

When the soldiers heard about this,

they embraced each other and cried tears of joy.

So much for today.

There was a request from the service center

for promotional material and photos. Can we deliver this?

Please do so quickly.

Sundays and Mondays it is crowded with people here.

It is hard to move.

Today is Saturday, which is "Political Day".

We provide a service, so we are working today.

But today is "Political Day" for everybody else,

so we have fewer visitors today. - What is "Political Day"?

A day for political education.

What is it about?

There are lectures...

...and we learn about texts of the Great Leader.

In addition there is instruction on general knowledge, too.

In other countries most people go to public swimming pools on Saturdays.

From Friday afternoon until Sunday, right?

Yes, on the weekend.

How many visitors do you usually have during the week?

You mean not Saturday, but during the week?

About twenty thousand visitors.

That many people? Really?

We have to change the water very often on days like that.

Saturdays are good days for foreigners. It is open for them on Saturdays.

Our people come on all other days.

On Saturdays foreigners and natives are here together.

On Saturdays they are here together? - Yes.

The color and the design are very cute.

Who designed it?

Marshal Kim Jong Un supervised the whole progress

from the design to the completion.

You can see his attention to detail

if you look closely at it.

He reviewed everything many times. Extensions are planned, too.

The women here

are all wearing swimsuits, but not bikinis.

Bikinis? - Yes, the two-piece swimsuits.

We are not allowed to wear bikinis.

It doesn't fit to our customs.

The enemies try to overthrow our country,

the last remaining socialistic country,

by using cultural influences of their ideological strategies.

We are protecting ourselves.

That's why it isn't allowed to wear bikinis here.

What are you doing at the moment?

This is our planning software. We've only finished one section by now.

We are here.

Here.

The swimming pool is very big and it has air conditioning inside.

You surely need a lot of energy for it. - That's right.

What about the energy supply?

This is the source of the geothermal energy.

There are six containers.

The geothermal waters are driven from the pump station.

There are many machines underground.

If we regulated the water temperature

using conventional energy,

we would need a lot more energy.

As it's better for the environment, we use geothermal energy here.

The advantage of this method is that the temperature is always constant.

The geothermal temperature... We've dug very deep.

About 50 metres?

Not that deep. - Not that deep.

The soldiers undertook a lot of effort during construction.

The Marshal visited us here very often.

One day he was here at three o'clock in the morning.

Three in the morning?

Yes, it was around two or three o'clock.

My colleagues told me the next morning that he had been here.

Construction was going on everywhere at the time,

so it was very hot and dusty.

Welding work was being done underground,

and I wondered why he was visiting such a place.

The fact that he is active day and night for the people,

also while everybody else is sleeping,

that made me cry.

I was there at two o'clock the next day and did a round.

It's quieter during the night,

because the soldiers need a rest.

As I remembered that the Marshal had been here,

I was so proud of my workplace and I decided to work even harder.

Here, where you can feel the love and care of the Marshal,

people can enjoy a better cultural life.

The Marshal makes it possible for us.

I think I've found my place here. When I look back at that time...

It must be cooked in a large pot. - What?

Rice cake soup.

Does it still have to cook? - Yes, I think so.

Mhmm, it smells of vinegar. - Do you like that?

Yes, I do.

Leave it for now.

We should have brought something.

Oh no. You are our guests. Why should a guest bring something?

We are the hosts. I'm very pleased you have come to meet us.

Unfortunately, we cannot travel to the South.

Therefore I am happy you are visiting us here in the North.

Your character is a little bit masculine. - Yes, I'm very active.

Is your blood type 0? - Yes, that's right.

Mine, too. - Ah, really?

We are a little bit similar, aren't we? - Yes, we are.

We're both very tough.

Don't you drink any alcohol? - No, I can't drink much.

Do I look like I can drink a lot?

No, how could we know that?