(Tumen River, China)

In Shenyang, I came across a Liaoning Choson Cultural Society. Peering inside, I saw a banner advertising a North Korean Art Exhibition. I walked in and was told it was on the third floor, but could not find it. The place was so secretive that the friendly lady working opposite the exhibition did not even know it existed! Eventually, we called a number written on the door of the exhibition room and someone (presumably North Korean) came to open it. The North Korean was happy to hear that I speak a smattering of Korean.

(Shenyang, China) A North Korean-run restaurant.

It was a North Korean bookstore/art store and I ended up buying a comic book. This North Korean version of the Hardy Boys tells the story of comrade Kang Yong Nam, a patriotic anti-imperialist student, who solves the mystery of dying animals in Africa. In a short 30 pages, the books managed to include the panoply of imperialist villains including an evil American capitalist, his European thuggish crony, a former Nazi Scientist and a Japanese scientist. They were drawn in the stereotypical style: big noses for Westerners, ugly Hitler-style hair for the Nazi, and buck teeth, round glasses and big mole for the Japanese.

The Imperialist Americans/Europeans were in Africa testing biological weapons developed with the help of Japanese and former Nazi scientists. The weapon was initially developed by the Nazis (tested on Jews) to cause the intestines of subjects to burst open. Kang and his professor discover this and tries to stop the Imperialists. Kang was captured but he managed to turn the tables with his North Korean Taekwondo skills. Kang manipulates the weapon and uses it on locusts, causing their intestines to burst open, ensuring a bountiful harvest.

On the way back, Comrade Kang and his team learn of a volcanic eruption on a small pacific island and divert their place to their next adventure.

Edit: Will put up scans when I find a scanner