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A review by carriedoodledoo
Passcode to the Third Floor: An Insider's Account of Life Among North Korea's Political Elite by Thae Yong-Ho
5.0
I have received a copy via NetGalley. This is my voluntary, honest review.
This was a phenomenal read. It was not difficult, but it took me a while just because I wanted to process what I was hearing. While I have read about North Korea from perspectives of the common people, this is my first time reading in the voice of a former cadre-a diplomat. (The "Third Floor" in the title refers to the offices of the Kim leaders.)
The lives the DPRK elite lead are truly bizarre--it is a world where you can be shot on a moment's notice, or your family exiled to the provinces (or just you, and your wife will divorce you to stay in Pyongyang because conditions are that much worse anywhere outside the capital city). Any error, even the smallest, committed how long ago, by a child perhaps, could end up in family disgrace for literally generations. The cultural aesthetic is a whole new level of strange, beyond the usual East/West divide we Americans experience when viewing South Korean, Japanese or even Chinese culture. It was also really interesting to read his family history through the three generations of Kim power, and to see how the DPRK has degraded from the optimistic "socialist paradise" of its early years to the pervasive fear that has permeated all echelons of living today.
In a European Indie comic film called "Iron Sky" (Nazis invade from a secret base on the dark side of the moon, give it a chance) there is a question broached during a world leadership meeting of "where did these ships come from?". Upon a hasty confab, the North Korean delegates take responsibility, claiming their "beloved leader" made them with his own hands. The rest of the room dissolved into laughter, of course. After reading this book, I can kinda see how that might be plausible though--how some diplomats (responsible for the upkeep of their own embassy building, encouraged to donate their salaries), certain that whatever awaits them out here in the world, or in space, cannot possibly be more deadly than what awaits them and their families at home, came up with the answer that would hopefully please their Beloved Leader the most.
I definitely would recommend this book. Although the chapters might be long, they are subdivided into headings that allow you to pick up and set down this book whenever needed. A great way for me to start my year!
This was a phenomenal read. It was not difficult, but it took me a while just because I wanted to process what I was hearing. While I have read about North Korea from perspectives of the common people, this is my first time reading in the voice of a former cadre-a diplomat. (The "Third Floor" in the title refers to the offices of the Kim leaders.)
The lives the DPRK elite lead are truly bizarre--it is a world where you can be shot on a moment's notice, or your family exiled to the provinces (or just you, and your wife will divorce you to stay in Pyongyang because conditions are that much worse anywhere outside the capital city). Any error, even the smallest, committed how long ago, by a child perhaps, could end up in family disgrace for literally generations. The cultural aesthetic is a whole new level of strange, beyond the usual East/West divide we Americans experience when viewing South Korean, Japanese or even Chinese culture. It was also really interesting to read his family history through the three generations of Kim power, and to see how the DPRK has degraded from the optimistic "socialist paradise" of its early years to the pervasive fear that has permeated all echelons of living today.
In a European Indie comic film called "Iron Sky" (Nazis invade from a secret base on the dark side of the moon, give it a chance) there is a question broached during a world leadership meeting of "where did these ships come from?". Upon a hasty confab, the North Korean delegates take responsibility, claiming their "beloved leader" made them with his own hands. The rest of the room dissolved into laughter, of course. After reading this book, I can kinda see how that might be plausible though--how some diplomats (responsible for the upkeep of their own embassy building, encouraged to donate their salaries), certain that whatever awaits them out here in the world, or in space, cannot possibly be more deadly than what awaits them and their families at home, came up with the answer that would hopefully please their Beloved Leader the most.
I definitely would recommend this book. Although the chapters might be long, they are subdivided into headings that allow you to pick up and set down this book whenever needed. A great way for me to start my year!