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Thursday 2006-09-07 - Namp’o, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Taming the waters
In the Netherlands we’re used to large dykes like the Afsluitdijk and the great barrages that are part of the Delta works. So the West Sea Barrage we’re driving to this morning from our nice hotel in Namp’o should not be all that impressive for us Dutch visitors — but it holds a surprise. Not only is it big, with its length of 8km and 36 locks of which three are shipping locks of various sizes and a revolving bridge, with 5 gates set in a group normally open, and passages for the migration of fish; not only was it built in just 5 years with locally-developed building techniques; and it does not just tame the sea like we do in the Netherlands: it also — and mostly — tames the river to make it useful.
The Taedong river which flows through P’yŏngyang flows out into the Korean West Sea here. By holding the river waters back, it is possible to irrigate a huge area with the river water. But at the same time the barrage prevents too much sea water backing up during high water which would make the water too brackish for agriculture.
When we drive away over the 8km long dyke, the effect can be clearly seen in the landscape: near the barrage, the water is still slightly brackish, and there are large areas here devoted to salt farming; the salt farms produce (not: mine) salt by evaporation of the brackish water in shallow ponds. Farther on there is a landscape with endless rice paddies, with beans grown on the edges between the fields, interspersed with maize. The land is mostly flat, all of it devoted to agriculture, with the houses built on the sides of the hills sticking up through the flat land: this way the area devoted to agriculture is maximized.
Mr. Pak tells us that in the North they grow mainly potatoes though in Korean cuisine these are used mostly for side dishes, not as a staple food. As a result of the famines, the president has started a program to teach the people how to use potatoes as a staple food as well.
