Guest Speaker

 

Our Guest speaker today was our very own Graham Burmeister affectionately known as Burmo.

His subject was North Korea.

Burmo and his friend and former guest speaker Paul Dempsey, traveled to North Korea to see first hand this closed country which is slowly opening up to investment from outside. Burmo is an intrepid traveler in Asia and somewhat of an expert having been involved in Viet Nam for many years. His two main words to describe North Korea are Control and Propaganda.

 

Burmo told us that visitors are shown only specific parts of the country and are never allowed to travel where ordinary citizens live. In the photos he showed us there were massive highways with no vehicles, squares empty except for uniformed personnel, large monuments with no visitors etc.,

The Propaganda centres around the leader Kim Jong Un and against America. The people are given a very edited and untrue account of Nth Korean History in regard to the war with the South and their part in WW11.

 

Burmo visited the tombs of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung and the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. It was very orchestrated visit and took 3 hours to complete. The whole time all the visitors were watched closely so that no one smiled or made any comment. Each visitor was required to bow to the feet and to the side of each body. 

 

The War Museum showing victories (false) over Japan and America was very impressive. The War of Liberation (over Japan) speaks about the great victory engineered by Kim Il Sung with no mention of the part played by the Chinese PLA.

 

Burmo and Paul were given prime seats for a celebration of Nth Korea's wonderful feats of arms. They were wined and dined and were used in Burmo's opinion in camera footage for the next propaganda film to show how Westerners viewed the feats of the great leader.

 

Burmo also went to the DMZ. He had been there before but of on the South Korean side. He said that this is regarded as one of the most tense spots on earth where the slightest wrong move could result in a military incident. 

 

Burmo and Paul exited North Korea by train to Beijing. At the border crossing three guards came to the carriage. They inspected the bags of three dutch tourists but left Burmo and Paul alone.

 

Burmo has been asked many times why go to North Korea? His answer was that it could be the next country of opportunity in Asia. Viet Nam had been similar after the war back in the early seventies.

 

After answering many questions from the interested audience Burmo was thanked by David Benn who described Burmo as a great orator and one of the best guest speakers we experience. He said Burmo and John Gray are off to Cambodia for another adventure in a few weeks so we can look forward to another informative and entertaining talk. Members supported the vote of thanks with applause.