By Bradley J. Fikes
I’m at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual convention, held this year in sunny San Diego.
Below are some remarkable observations about North Korea and Cuba made by Peter Agre, AAAS president, in his Thursday night speech to the AAAS convention.
This is what Agre said about North Korea, which he visited as part of a delegation last December:
“North Korea has been very isolated from the rest of the world for the last 60 years. They have a sense of self-reliance,” Agre said, narrating a slide show. He showed a slide of the Juche Monument, explaining that juche is their word for self-reliance.
“They live under fear they will be attacked because of adversarial nations. Science goes on in North Korea, with some limitations due to lack of resources,” Agre said, showing more slides, including a plant biotechnology center. Nevertheless, Agre said his group “had a very warm-hearted reception,” by the Korean scientists.
Agre showed a slide of one of the scientists, nothing that the scientist is wearing a pin. “This pin shows a picture of their Great Leader, Kim Il-Sung. For the people in this country, Kim Il-Sung is the equivalent of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln all together. He’s the founder of their country, he’s much beloved . . . He also has left a spirit of service to the state.”
Agre showed a picture showing of a scientist hold a “well-thumbed” copy of Science magazine.
“So they’re very interested in science, and I think we have a great opportunity,” Agre said. He followed with the familiar observation that “crisis” in Chinese means dangerous opportunity, and that scientists can bridge gaps between nations.
Agre described his visit to Cuba in November as part of a delegation that went “with the idea that we could make contact and create bonds with Cuban scientific officials.”
“There’s still evidence in Cuba, even though the revolution occured 50 years ago, that this is very much alive,” Agre said, displaying a slide of a mural with a quotation from Che Guevara.
Agre described Cubans as, like North Koreans, also committed to science, but suffering under the U.S. embargo, describing visits to institutes such as a vaccine factory.
The younger Cuban scientists are much like young American scientists, Agre said, “they’re not involved in politics and this embargo. They want to do science. They’d like to partner with us. I think this is an opportunity.”
From what Agre said, it appears life can be pretty good in North Korea and Cuba — at least if you’re a scientist and obey your rulers.
He sounds like he might be a bit naive, as well. I remember a guy named Potemkin that he should study.
I was thinking along the same lines. Now in a symposium about Climategate. I’ll write that one up later today.