One of the perks to working in North Korean tourism is easy access to the many publications of the DPRK, rarely read by foreigners or made available online. We’d like to begin to regularly share our favourites with you; so for you to enjoy, here is an unedited excerpt, taken from the book “Anecdotes of Kim Jong Il, Part 1”.
“It’s Quite Strange”
One May day in 2000, in a field in North Phyongan Province situated in the northwest of the country, Kim Jong Il was discussing farm work with some officials. When he spotted a tractor at the roadside, he walked towards it. He asked the tractor driver to start the engine.
The driver climbed into the tractor through the left door, and almost at once the sound of the engine starting could be heard. After listening to the engine, Kim Jong Il approached the right door of the driver’s cab. The tractor driver was embarrassed, knowing that the door was broken. Kim Jong Il took the handle and pulled. The door, which the driver had previously been unable to open however hard tried, opened easily. Kim Jong Il looked inside the cab for a moment and shut the door. He then told the driver he should keep his tractor in a good state of repair.
After he left the field, a crowd gathered around the tractor. People tried to open the cab’s right door, thinking that it would be easy now that their leader had opened it. However, they were all unable to do so. They eventually succeeded in opening the door with the help of various tools.
Everyone commented how strange it was. It seemed that even a tractor recognized the great man.
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