According to South Korean sources, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is probably suffering from pancreatic cancer and doesn't have long to live. Some analysts believe the death of the North Korean Stalinist leader will result in changes in the isolated country but foreign influences are trickling in already...

as this tale – and video - of a typical touristic trip through the country shows...

The tourist’s tale:
Almost everybody on the tour bus has drifted into sleep. We're travelling along a country road, far from the capital Pyongyang. The only people still awake are myself, the driver and Mr Jun the youngest of our two North Korean guides. He's sitting in the seat behind me, listening to his MP3 player. It's a normal, everyday occurrence in the rest of the world, but this is North Korea. Where did he buy it? And more importantly, what is he listening to? So far, I haven't heard pop music anywhere in this country.
 
Where asking if I can listen along with him, Mr Jun looks around to make sure that the other guide, who is actually his boss, is asleep. Only when he's convinced that his boss is asleep, does he give me the earpiece. "It's Westlife, an Irish boy band," he whispers, obviously afraid of waking anyone up. "Are they popular in the Netherlands?"

Britney versus Coldplay
I listen along with him for a while and try not to look as amazed as I feel. I ask him where he got the music, "Can you buy that in an ordinary shop?" He shakes his head, "No, but at the university there are lots of illegal copies of Western, Chinese and South Korean pop music available," he says in a whisper. He continues, "Britney Spears is really popular with students studying English, but I like Coldplay better."
 
I ask him whether listening to Western pop music is allowed, but Mr Jun diplomatically refuses to answer. He avoids the question by asking me where I've been. I shorten the list a bit, but do tell him that I visited South Korea once. He suddenly appears a bit hesitant and suspiciously looks around before whispering so quietly that he is almost unintelligible, "I also visited South Korea once, during a friendship exchange."

Dyed hair
I try and conceal my amazement as he continues, "Young people in South Korea look very different, with dyed hair and everything. But in spite of that, I think we're very similar. They eat kimchi with every meal as well."
 
I want to know more about his remarkable trip but Mr Jun puts the earpiece back in and leans back in his seat. The message is clear: our conversation is over. He has said enough, perhaps too much. I start staring out of the window again at the barren landscape and all the people walking past. I really hope that he can get the new Coldplay CD. It's called Viva la Vida (long live life), and I really hope that this young guide can have a life with a bit more joy in it than is now possible in North Korea.

RNW translation/subtitling (jc/tpf)