Word: pyongyang
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...Korea has long been closed to even the faintest whisper of an alien idea. Yet when a British passport holder recently went to the North Korean embassy in Beijing and expressed a desire to visit the Hermit Kingdom, he was warmly received. London does not have diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, he was reminded, but he was more than welcome to come in. Not only would the authorities take care of his visa; they would also confirm plane tickets, provide him with a hotel and meals, set him up with a guide. And since so many countries regard a North Korean...
...shift by the Soviet Union. While Moscow continues to provide arms, relations between the two nations began cooling well before Gorbachev's summit with Roh. In April Radio Moscow broadcasts criticized North Koreans as "completely brainwashed." Soviet officials accompanying Gorbachev to the summit could barely conceal their impatience with Pyongyang...
...Japan's occupation of the peninsula, the ruling government naturalized all Koreans, forcing them to speak Japanese and take Japanese names. In 1965 Japan gave Koreans claiming allegiance to Seoul and their children a special permanent-resident status. The government later extended a similar status to Koreans loyal to Pyongyang. But most banks refused loans to these permanent visitors, and companies were reluctant to hire them. The government did not extend full social-welfare benefits to Koreans until the 1980s...
...proliferation to worry the West: the prospect of the unpredictable Kim Il Sung with an A-bomb. Fears that North Korea might build one have escalated recently since U.S. spy satellites detected construction of what may be a nuclear reprocessing plant in Yongbyon, 56 miles north of the capital, Pyongyang. Such a unit would enable North Korea to produce plutonium, the raw ingredient for nuclear weapons...
...Pyongyang has signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, but so far Kim's government has refused to fulfill its obligation to allow inspections. Washington has repeatedly asked Moscow to use its relationship with Kim to bring him around; U.S. officials say the Soviets promise to keep pushing Pyongyang to comply but reportedly add that their influence over the eccentric Kim is strictly limited...