Image: Wikimedia
Last week, North Koreans near the southern border looked up from their dour toiling to find balloons filled with sweet confections headed their way. About 200 people across the border—both South Koreans and North Korean defectors—packed a substantial 770 pounds worth of “Choco Pies” into helium-filled plastic bags and sent them north-ward bound.
But it wasn’t simply an act of kindness—it was actually a political statement opposing the alleged North Korean ban on the pies.
Let Them Eat Pie
You see, a South Korean business produces the chocolate biscuit confections, which are wildly popular among their northern kin. And while products arising from foreign free-markets are largely forbidden, formerly the Choco Pies were doled out to North Korean workers at a South Korean-owned factory to supplement their wages (they take home only about 30% of their wages after North Korea takes state deductions). The workers then created a thriving black market for the much-coveted pies—which brought a glimmer of sunshine to their generally downtrodden existence.
But this small indulgence could not stand! Dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly became wary of these wantonly capitalistic products of the outside world, and banned the cookies to eliminate the potential for a Choco-fueled insurrection.
Winning Hearts and Minds
This balloon invasion is a common strategy among South Koreans. They carry a variety of objects meant to counter propaganda messages from the government (which tend to run along the lines of “You think things are bad here? Well it’s way worse everywhere else!”). Floatables include anti-North Korean leaflets, DVDs and USB sticks containing photos from places outside the country.
North Korea’s leadership responded with their typical restraint, threatening to shell the launch sites responsible for this chocolate outrage. Keep fighting the good fight, DPRK.
