The North Korean government heavily restricts what you can do there. Here is a short list of the main restrictions I remember facing. You may not take pictures without permission. On the other hand, if you treat your guides well and tip people, you get a lot more leeway. You may only visit sites from the list of places the government allows you to see. You can only get there[…] Keep reading →

For my last post on Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea for a while, I’ll post some far-reaching ideas, link to articles about it, and give thanks and credit. Einstein said “you cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.” And George Santayana said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Well, if you want peace, I suggest you begin with fun and games, or at least make[…] Keep reading →

Okay, you’re asking, I get the value of sport in opening communications anywhere and thawing relations with people across adversarial borders. What about the games themselves? Did you have fun? Did they? You’ll have to wait for when my posts on pictures from North Korea reach the Ultimate games, but don’t worry, I’ll post interesting stuff in between. For now I’ll say this. You can read books, search online, watch[…] Keep reading →

A friend and reader, es, commented Your posts about North Korea remind me of some parts from Amartya Sen’s “Identity and Violence” and “the Idea of Justice”. Over-generalization, exclusion, multiple identities, basic norms existing in each society and universal norms that should transcend them. Narrow views on North Korea can be attributed to people only focusing on one aspect of North Koreans’ identities through the lens of basic norms in[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday I hinted at why playing sports yourself differs from watching sports, especially the big ones. Why not promote interactions through the big sports, like basketball, soccer, Olympics, and so on? First, I don’t discourage them, but I would point out their size, scale, and corporate and government backing make everyday human interaction more difficult. All the profit available makes them easy pickings for rent-seeking government bureaucrats and corporations. As[…] Keep reading →

The one-on-one interactions between regular players I described yesterday not representing their countries led to a series of ping pong players from each nation touring the others’. With the Vietnam War raging, the press around the world covered the interactions. According to Smithsonian Magazine Soon after the U.S. team’s trip, Nixon, not wanting to lose momentum, secretly sent Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to Peking to arrange a Presidential visit[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday I suggested Nixon couldn’t have opened China since ping pong opened it a year before. If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of “ping pong diplomacy.” Or maybe you’ve heard the words together, but don’t know what they mean. I understand people who were adults at the time will all know the phrase, if perhaps from hazy memories. From Wikipedia’s page on ping pong diplomacy: Ping pong diplomacy refers[…] Keep reading →