This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Don’t leave Pyongyang without a visit to the Central Botanical Gardens to see two flowering plants that are so DPRK: kimilsungia and kimjongilia. Kimilsungia – or the flower of Kim Il Sung – is a type of pink orchid named for the Great Dead Leader Kim Il Sung. According to legend, President Sukarno named this flower for the Korean leader when he admired it on a trip to Indonesia. Kimjongilia, or the flower of Kim Jong Il, is a type of red tuberous begonia created by a Japanese botanist and presented to the General as a token of friendship between the two countries. It blooms every year on February 16th, the General’s birthday and is referred to in a rousing song as “The flower of our loyalty.” These flower types are called cultivars. Fitting. Cultivars for cults of personality.

From the Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.