A Paranoid Nation

The difference is perspective.

- Justin Ong

It was quite a strange position to be in, to have a streak of nervousness coursing through me when really I had no idea what I was nervous about. I found myself on a plane, and seated beside me was the Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Sir Richard J. Roberts – or Rich as I later know him – and we were headed into the dark zone.

Like most, I have had many unremarkable conversations on the phone but I do remember one that Uwe Morawetz and I had a couple of months ago. An old friend and the Chairman of the International Peace Foundation (IPF), Uwe requested that I join him on a trip to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), otherwise known as North Korea. I responded as I usually do with old friends, and a few months later we were having dinner in Beijing while the team awaited for our visas to be processed.

As the plane descended onto North Korean soil, it swayed and buckled in the turbulence, adding to the tension. This was no ordinary place, though it was not like there was ordinary company with us on the plane. Our ChinaAir plan taxied in, and as Sir Richard and I peered suspiciously out of the cabin window to survey the newly-built Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, we noticed the three gates serving the airport.

“Why would they need three? One should suffice with this traffic,” said Sir Richard as he looked out onto the vacant runway and plane-less sky.