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This week, I'm going to recommend Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara

D'Mick.

I'm putting this forward for two reasons.

First, on a practical level, one of the people who appears in the work is the descendant

of resident North Koreans in Japan, a topic of interest to us on the show.

Second, D'emick's portrayal of life in the 21st century Hermit Kingdom

is fascinating and heart-wrenching in its honesty about the regime.

Go to audibletrial.com slash Japan to claim your copy.

Thank you. Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast. Episode 161, Best of Frenemones, Part 7.

Before we get into things today, just a quick correction, I've been reading up on my North

Korean propaganda, and I realized that I told you something untrue.

You see, in a previous podcast, I said that North Korea claims today that Kim Il-sung was born on the

slopes of Mount Bekdu, the mountain where, supposedly, the very first king of Korea descended

from heaven.

In fact, that's not right.

Today, the North Korean government correctly places Kim Il-sung's birthplace in Pyongyang.

However, the North Korean government does claim that Kim Jong-il, his son and successor, was born on the slopes of Mount Bektu.

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