... EXCEPT, OF COURSE, FOR OFF THE GUIDED TOUR

Thumbing through old copies of National Geographic magazine is always a fine way to pass the time while waiting for the Missus to get made up. A photo caption from an August 1974 issue (article: "A Rare Look at North Korea" by Edward H. Kim) reads as follows:

City dwellers enjoy another amenity - stores located within their apartment complexes. Here, Pyongyang shoppers survey an array of fresh vegetables. The selection does not include imported foods, but the supply is plentiful and hunger is unknown in North Korea

Naturally, I do not suggest that famine was rife in North Korea thirty years ago, a PDRK kept on life support with Soviet largesse. It cannot be overlooked that the North Korean destitution and famine of today had its genesis in the lauded North Korean economic "achievements" cited in Mr. Kim's article. The caption really grabbed me.

"Hunger is unknown in North Korea"

Well, it's known now.