The red band and how you never know the truth
Volunteer with red armband, Pyongyang, North Korea, February 2017.
The red armband this elderly person is wearing means most likely that this is a “Public Security Volunteer". Such volunteers are usually elderly people, who help people in need or the police with "safety inspections". But I am not sure. This image symbolizes for me how difficult it was to really understand what was going on around me. My research after returning led to nothing. I can’t find a definitive answer to my assumption.
According to a defector interviewed by @nknewsorg there is no government support for the elderly or the disabled in North Korea. “It’s getting so cold these days and it must be a lot colder up there in North Korea. I wonder if they’re still working such long hours. I would like to get a job as soon as possible so that I can give help to my grandparents, even if it’s a small amount. When the unification of Korea comes, I hope all elderly people in North Korea can benefit from same welfare system as the elderly in South Korea.”
“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
