Drawing by Jang Gil-su
Defected NKorea poet writes of hunger, desperation Via
Associated Press/Google By SYLVIA HUI July 1, 2012
LONDON (AP) — He says he was one of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's favorite propaganda artists, singing the praises of the Dear Leader in dozens of poems. But these days Jang Jin-sung says he prefers to tell the truth about North Korea.
The former state poet, who defected to South Korea in 2004, now writes to tell the world about what he calls the brutality of everyday life in the North.
"North Korea has nuclear programs, but South Korea has the media," said Jang, who is in London for a global poetry festival involving poets from countries competing in the July 27 to Aug. 12 London Olympics. "Truth is the strongest weapon." Continued...
"Executioner" - By Jang Jin-sung
Wherever people are gathered
there are gunshots to be heard.
Today, as the crowd looks on
a man is executed.
‘You are not to feel any sympathy!
Even when he’s dead, we must kill him again!’
The loudspeakers’ words are interrupted.
Bang! Bang!
The rest of the message is delivered.
Why is it that today
the crowd is silent?
His crime: to steal a bag of rice.
His sentence: ninety bullets in his heart.
His occupation: farmer.
M0AR Rhymes
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