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The late Mr. Sean Lemass has been described as Ireland's greatest Taoiseach (or Prime Minister) - an office he held from 1959 - 1966. Personally I would agree with that as I came know him quite well. I had the honour of working under his personal guidance on a couple of projects in the early 1960's and he taught me many things that were incredibly useful to me in the following years.
People who know me, may find it hard to understand that walking into a room where there are a lot of people - many of whom I might not know - makes me very nervous and usually I feel quite out of my depth as I enter. That is a feeling I have had all my life. My mother on the other hand, was quite the opposite. She entered a room with a dramatic flare in full control of the situation and conversation just stopped when she entered. Whereas Mr. Lemass could not cure me of that insecure feeling, he did show me how to overcome it. One day there was a State Reception at Dublin Castle I had to attend. Mr. Lemass knew how I felt about going and said to me "When you enter the Reception don't just stand by the door. Make straight for the furthest point in the room and then slowly work your way back again. You can be sure in the course of your return journey, somebody will speak with you". He was quite right and I have followed his advice ever since. Another piece of advice was to never completely judge a person until you have actually dealt with that person face to face. Unfortunately, I have to admit I have not always followed that one, but I do try.
What has all of the above got to do with the headline of this piece? Nothing really apart from the fact that there is so much uncertainty in the world today with one leader throwing barbs at another, that many times I wonder if some people are really seriously intent on having a peaceful world rather than just enjoying throwing their weight around
I have been fortunate in my time to have met many world leaders - most of whom I liked but some I did not - President Ceausescu of Romania being one and I have a hard time understanding their philosophy.
These days it is North Korea that is hitting the news full blast because of its nuclear programme and the fact that it says it is planning to launch a missile in April. It is a country that has always interested me and I have said many times I would like to go there and see it for myself. I would love to have the opportunity of meeting the present young Great Leader and talk with him and see what he really is like. I don't expect I will ever get that opportunity - but who knows?
This morning I was watching CNN and saw a fascinating segment of their Talk Asia programme. The person being interviewed was Mr. Song Byeok - a young artist from North Korea who had defected to the South and was now having his first art exhibition in the United States.
Mr. Song is a very articulate young man. Some years ago he was commanded by the North Korean authorities to paint propaganda posters for that Government. He could not use any artistic ideas of his own but had to copy exactly the designs he was given. Any deviation would have meant instant punishment. I found his comments very interesting. In due course Mr. Song could take it no longer and with his father decided to cross the river that divides North Korea from China and defect. It so happened that the heavy rains had made the current in the river very strong at that time and his father was unable to hold on to the rope joining them and he was swept away and drowned. Mr. Song returned to the North Korean side and asked some of the guards there to help him find his father. The answer he got was "Why didn't you just die with him?" He was immediately arrested and sent to a prison camp from which he somehow managed to escape after some decidedly unpleasant experiences.
Mr. Song Byeok's story has increased my interest in North Korea. Since living in Cambodia I have followed events there with interest which has been fanned partly because our king - King Norodom Sihamoni received some of his education there, and our King Father, King Norodom Sihanouk was given a home there by the Dear Leader when King Sihanouk was ousted in 1970 by an American backed coup.
To people who are not au fait with things in that State, Mr. Song's story would seem almost unbelievable as something that could not happen in this day and age. But I had an interesting encounter almost a year ago which backs up everything he said.
I am not "into" these chat forums that crop up all over the place on the internet. I am not a Facebook fan as people put up some totally nonsensical stuff there. Having said that, though, a friend of mine persuaded me to sign up on another chat forum which I would check from time to time. One day I found that someone sent me a message that said "I would like to talk and be friend" and with it was a North Korean flag. Interesting, I thought so I replied.
It turned out this was a North Korean soldier who was stationed at a post guarding a bridge across the river separating that State from China. I will call him Kim but that is not his real name. We communicated for several months and I was appalled at some of the things Kim told me.
Kim could not write every day because he was forbidden to use computers, telephones or any other communication, other than for military purposes. A couple of times a week he had to cross the bridge into China on military business for a couple of hours. He had a friend who was a Chinese guard and if no one was near then his friend allowed him to use a computer there which was when he could write to me, but he had to delete everything immediately.
I saved some of Kim's messages. One time he did manage to send me a photo which showed him being very serious and brandishing a sub-machine gun. In one message he wrote - and I quote - "It is forbidden us to show emotion, smile, laugh, joke or to have fun any time. My training says I must not talk on any subject except military and must not have close friend. My Commander say we must always have serious face. To smile or show happiness is to show weakness and must therefore be punished." That explains why on the big parades the army there is fierce looking.
Kim joined the army voluntarily because his mother said it would make her proud to have him serving his country. So he joined. Six months later he asked to go home to visit them and he was refused permission. It was a year later before he was allowed to go. When he got home he found no one there. His parents and siblings had been removed and sent to a labour camp. The neighbours told him they had been taken late at night some four months earlier because the police said he (Kim) might reveal some military secrets to them. He has never heard from or of them since and has no idea of they are still alive.
In another post Kim told me that he was crying because he had been given instructions that morning to shoot a mother and her two children who were sitting by the river washing clothes. He said his Commander told him they were just waiting to cross into China so they must be shot. When his Commander left, he went down and shot three times into the air allowing the woman and her children to run away. He told the Commander the bodies had floated down the river and no more was said.
His last message to me said that his instructions were to "destroy all land connections with foreigners, deploy and always carry weapons and detain all foreigners." Then he went on to say "It is wrong of me to say I have been happy talking to you, because it says so in my training. I have never talked to foreigner before. But I have been happy and smile at some things you say. My Commander would tell me I am bad to feel like this. For giving this information and being happy and smile I can be arrested and shot. It is called treason."
I never heard from Kim again after that message even though I log on to that chat site regularly just hoping he might turn up again. I only hope he was not arrested.
All this, plus what Mr. Song Byeok said on TV this morning makes me wonder just what makes people like the leaders of North Korea tick. These are not uneducated people. The present Dear Leader was educated in Switzerland and it is well documented that he lived a normal lifestyle there and mixed with the other students. How can someone with that background growing up, carry on a policy like this with their people. Although Mr. Song Byeok said the people are now programmed to believe the Government is working for their protection. To change that thinking will take quite a bit of time. It cannot be done overnight.
A question does arise in my mind frequently. Does total isolation of the country help the situation? Mr. Lemass once told me to get on a plane and go to Paris from Dublin and to talk to a certain gentleman with whom we were going to do business. I was surprised because back then a junior like me would not normally just "hop on a plane". He said once you meet face to face, you may not become close friends but you can then write to him starting "Dear Francois" instead of "Dear Sir". That way discussions and understanding will progress much easier. He was totally correct in that.
Of course not everyone is the same. In Myanmar the visits by the leaders of free countries in both the East and the West have done wonders in opening up that country. It took time - but it is happening. Where North Korea is concerned, the leaders of China seem to be the only ones willing to visit and North Korea often - though not always - follows their advice, or at least listens.
I would still like to visit that country and I hope one day I will. Now that there is a new leader there, I could be wrong, but I imagine it would be a good opportunity to have a meeting between him and other leaders and withhold a lot of anger in remarks. It is a well known fact that if you walk up to a person and hold out your hand and smile, the chances are 99% that the person will smile back and shake your hand even if they are not your best friend.
Can this not be tried? Do people really think that cutting off all aid so the people there starve is a better solution? Personally I don't think so. Let's try the "smile and handshake" method even just once and see what happens.
