So I read in Mike Kim's new book Escaping North Korea . Used by permission, I quote several other examples of propagandized minds... men, women, and children whose brain has been stolen by their government.

"When visiting North Korea, at every turn you will find some sort of propaganda posted on the streets...signs... 'Hail Great Kim Il Sung!' 'If the Communist party decides it, we will do it,' 'Let's beat America with a big iron stick.' "

I remember similar smatterings of poison when I visited Communist Romania in the 80's. No surer way to befoul a scenic drive...

I have shared with you in this blog some of the outlandish stories that are passed along as truth. Mike adds to my collection...

This first one is via a tour guide in Chongjin: "Shortly after winning our independence from Japan, Kim Jong Suk came to this spot [where the tour is standing] when she was 30 years old, two years before she died. All the people gathered and said, 'We have heard that you are a good shot. Will you please demonstrate for us?' Do you see that big memorial stone over there? If you take a close look you will see a hole in the rock made from a bullet. Kim Jong Suk once came to this spot when she was thirty years old and shot five bullets at that stone. There is only one bullet mark because the first one hit the stone and the other four bullets hit the same exact spot."

A member of the group, not quite convinced, suggested that another way to look at it was that she missed four shots. The group enjoyed that one. The tour guide didn't.

My favorite story in this chapter concerns a meeting in Seoul between two diplomats, one from the North, the other from the South. As the two were riding into Seoul, the NK diplomat noticed "the city bustling with construction and traffic."

His astute observation: "We're not stupid, you know. It's obvious you've ordered all the cars in the country to be brought into Seoul to fool us." His South Korean counterpart, known for his sense of humor, replied, "Well... that was the easy part. The hard part was moving in all the buildings."