The MEANING of “SPY” – electric fence, DPRK

spy-PICKINGS from my NORTH KOREAN DIARY 11.–21. April 2011

...fence and concrete blocks...in more isolated places...

When we go to a beachfront, we have the urge to put our feet in the water and take a swim.

On closer examination...

But there were two things we hadn’t reckoned with: We were on the road in North Korea, we couldn’t stop when WE wanted…

I could not verify my suspicion...

…and the beach outside of Wonsan had a fence in more remote places and concrete blocks that made the access to or from the sea impossible. The concrete pillars were bent towards the sea, giving the impression that some hostile foreign action had to be prevented like keeping out South Korean spies from landing. But a second look at the fortification triggered the idea that it was the other way around.

Concrete blocks against a South Korean invasion - Could it be the other way around?

Could government propaganda about the imminent danger of a “barbaric invasion“ by South Korean spies not camouflage the real threat that North Koreans could flee their homeland in small boats at the dead of night? I could not verify my suspicion… . I saw soldiers repairing holes in the fence but missed to make the photo. In some areas there was a inner fence too.