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The conservative North Korean state is perhaps the only nation which received the Olympic torch and conducted the Olympic rally without any protests in the country. It was also for the first time that the nuclear empowered communist nation hosted an Olympic torch rally. During the Olympic rally in North Korea on Monday, April 28, 2008, no extra security personnel were present to guard the Olympic torch from anti-China demonstrators.
The North Korean citizens could be seen in a proper festive mood and cheered on cue as the torch passed through the streets of North Korea. Soldiers played military music, women wore traditional garbs and hundreds of North Korean performed Taekwondo as they moved along the rally route. The television telecast of the event in Pyongyang were in stark contrast with those of London, Paris and San Francisco. Here there were no protests what so ever.
North Korea, according to UN and many western countries, is one of the worse violators of Human Rights. With North Korea’s pro-Chinese stand made clear, no one could dare to protest during the Olympic rally. Human Rights groups believe that the autocratic nation kills prisoners in public with firing squad, this is the reason perhaps none of the North Korean population dared to raise their voice against what was held right by the Pyongyang leaders.
