At a small Pyongyang restaurant, the karaoke girls were word-perfect, singing none other than "My Heart Will Go On." Celine Dion is apparently big in North Korea, where Western cultural influences are deemed subversive.
What's more, the video had been recut with important political monuments. Pyongyang's Arch of Triumph flashed on the screen as the singers warbled, followed by the Tower of Juche Idea, a monument to self-sufficiency, one of the core principles of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Maybe someone out there has a sneaky sense of humor; maybe the ideological controls are relaxing; or maybe, just maybe, Celine Dion is breaking down barriers.
What's more, the video had been recut with important political monuments. Pyongyang's Arch of Triumph flashed on the screen as the singers warbled, followed by the Tower of Juche Idea, a monument to self-sufficiency, one of the core principles of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Maybe someone out there has a sneaky sense of humor; maybe the ideological controls are relaxing; or maybe, just maybe, Celine Dion is breaking down barriers.
The actual radio story is funnier but I was too terrified to take note. Be afraid be very afraid.
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