COMRADES AND STRANGERS: BEHIND THE CLOSED DOORS OF NORTH KOREA

In 1986, as a young graduate looking for some adventure before settling down to life in the suburbs, Michael Harrold answered, on a whim, an advertisement to become the first Briton to live and work in North Korea. What he anticipated would be an exciting interlude in the world's most secretive country became seven years in which his initial scepticism, even cynicism, about the regime and society developed into growing empathy with the people around him. From among the ranks of the VIP guests at the major state occasions, to the paddy fields working alongside the farmers, he saw the country as no outsider has ever done. He loved, and lost, a young local girl, fell foul of the authorities and yet stood beside the people as they faced the mounting threat of US invasion.
This sensitive and entertaining memoir give a unique insight into life behind the closed doors of North Korea.

In 1987 Michael Harrold went to North Korea to work as English language adviser on translations of the speeches of the late President Kim Il Sung (the Great Leader) and his son and heir Kim Jong Il (then Dear Leader and now head of state). For seven years he lived in Pyongyang enjoying privileged access to the ruling classes and enjoying the confidence of the country's young elite. In this fascinating insight into the culture of North Korea he describes the hospitality of his hosts, how they were shaken by the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and many of the fascinating characters he met from South Korean and American GI defectors to his Korean minder and socialite friends. After seven years and having been caught passing South Korean music tapes to friends and going out without his minder to places forbidden to foreigners, he was asked to leave the country.

Idioma: INGLÉS