A lesson on horse breeding and human genetics
Couple walking into the darkness, Pyongyang, North Korea, February 2017.
“So, how did you like North Korea?” The senior guide asked me on my last day.
“I loved it… How can I apply for citizenship?”
“Haha, you can’t, because this would mean you will need a Korean wife.”
“Why?”
“Do you know the horse?”
“Mmm, yes?”
“You know when the fast and the strong horse mix, the next generation is fast and strong, but if you mix it again… It will be slow... and fat.”
“What does that mean?”
“It is the same with humans, we have to work together but stay separate”
“...” I froze speechlessly
The North Korean governments’ idea of love is "love for revolutionary comrades" and that’s not exactly what most people understand under romance or love.
After high school all North Korean men have to serve 10 years in the military, during this time most of them don’t have the opportunity to look for partners. After the men finish their service, usually aged 28-30, their parents and matchmakers often try to introduce them to women.
An alternative to that are large events on public holidays, where men and women can dance together in public. These events are good opportunities to get some phone numbers.
Women marry younger than men, for a number of reasons. The most important being that they will be exempt from having to work, if they choose to, otherwise work is mandatory. And when women start working they are usually between 18 and 22, depending if they went to university or not, and then they can meet potential partners.
Due to the famine in the 90s and the resulting high child mortality rate and the low birth rates the military wants to compensate the lack of male recruits by drafting women, after they finish high-school until they turn 23. How life will look for them I don’t know. Officially, women and men are equal in North Korea but the real role and status of women in North Korea is difficult to understand, due to the lack of information.
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
