(group claps and sings a happy song)
- "The Army of Beauties," that's a phrase
the Western media concocted because
I'd never heard that in South Korea.
In South Korea, they're just called
cheerleaders or beautiful cheerleaders.
So this business of beauty,
or cheerleaders, or army.
First of all, they are not an army
and they are not cheerleaders.
They're actually college
students who've been rounded up
by the government to be sent
overseas to look pretty.
So these young women are just
citizens who, they've been
chosen because the regime put
some selection criteria which
has to do with young age,
looking pretty-- whatever
they consider, from a good
family, having loyalty to the
party, and of a certain height--
about 5 foot 3 at least.
It's almost like a beauty
contest, but except
it's not a beauty contest 'cause you've
been forced to take this position.
And you don't have an option
as a North Korean citizen.
So when we're seeing these
young women cheering,
they're not like
cheerleaders that you see.
They didn't come there on their own will.
They've been ordered by their regime.
So they'll go back to their lives
and it's as if these past few
days never happened for them
because they're not allowed to
discuss any of it back home.
But you know, this is not
that unusual-- in North Korea,
citizens are rounded up
for a different purpose.
If you go to North Korean restaurants,
there are about over a hundred of them.
A lot of them in China,
Cambodia, Malaysia, these
restaurants are served
by North Korean women.
They're not waitresses,
they're just young women who
also have been selected to
serve there and sing and
pour drinks for foreign
men and raise cash.
Somehow, this has been turned into
one of North Korea's
greatest propaganda successes
despite the fact that
this is the second time
South Korea has hosted the Olympics.
The first time was back in
'88, which was marred by
North Korea's terrorist
attack against South Korea
by bombing an airplane which
killed over 100 civilians.
This time, it just looks
to be almost hijacked by
North Korea, and the moment having
been used for legitimizing North Korea.
And what we're seeing in
the media is all about
all the positive aspects of
North Korea which is astounding.
North Korea is one of the
biggest gulags in the world
and they conducted a sixth
nuclear test last September.
That's merely five months ago.
So the turnaround of North Korea
in the world's eye has just
changed overnight it seems.
It's really an odd phenomenon.
There's an amnesia in
the world about actually
what's really going on with North Korea.
That country has really
nothing to do with either
cheerleaders or Olympics,
which actually is
about the world coming together.
North Korea's the one place the
world is not allowed to enter.
And its citizens cannot
actually come out of
their country to see their world.
(uneasy music)
