Zambians are rich, Guineans are studious

April 23, 2013 2:00 PM

But the protestors only had their voices – for none of them had banners or signs to highlight their grievances. Aliou remembers, ”There were no such materials. Where could we even purchase the materials for a riot in North Korea?” -- That day in 1984 that a group of African students went on a demo in North Korea, part three of the memoirs of "Aliou Niane, a Guinean who studied at Wonsan agricultural college in North Korea from 1982-1987". Part 1, part 2.
posted by MartinWisse (5 comments total)

I'd be interested to know if the instruction was good or not. That doesn't seem to be addressed. Did they learn anything useful about agricultural economics?
posted by Jahaza at 2:51 PM on April 23, 2013

The only thing weirder than a bunch of guys from Guinea staging a protest march in North Korea is a bunch of guys from Guinea staging a successful protest march in North Korea, but that's what happened.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:30 PM on April 23, 2013

This reads like the beginnings of a slapstick comedy starring Donald Glover.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:00 PM on April 23, 2013

Wow, I had no idea North Korea hosted African foreign exchange students during the 80's - I know China did (I remember reading about foreign student riots there even), but even before the 90's I would have thought NK was still poorer and less developed than China. Awesome photos. NK must have felt a lot different back when Kim Il Sung was still around, or maybe it's just the sepia playing tricks on me.
posted by pravit at 6:09 PM on April 23, 2013

Man, fascinating. I think i may take up being a cold war history buff/nerd.
posted by latkes at 7:57 PM on April 23, 2013