They can and it is mentioned in Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick. A lot of the factories there have been shut down during the famine so the pollution isn't what it was. It describes an (almost) romanticised depiction of walking around at night in pitch dark in areas that used to be bustling and developed. Such a strange mental image.
Highly recommend this book if you're curious about everyday life in North Korea.
A docu-drama based around Nothing to Envy, a fantastic and devestating book by Barbara Demick about six seperate people who esacpe from North Korea.
It would have to have the HBO treatment and cannot shy away from the violence, torture and emotional gravity of the situation - whilst at the same time not glorifying it.
There are six(?) escapees who are documented in the book, so a 6 - 8 episode, self contained series would be incredible
Have you ever read Nothing to Envy? It's a brilliant book that compiles the accounts of a few people that defected from North to South.
I have. I know all about the sea org, its nothing like living in NK and to suggest otherwise is an insult to north korean suffering.
For one thing, they can leave anytime they want. if they wanted to badly enough. For another, no one in sea org is eating bark to survive.
please read this book to get first hand accounts of how it was during the famine in NK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-Envy-Lives-North-Korea/dp/184708141X
Its heartbreaking. Especially the classrooms of young kids getting smaller and smaller in number as more of them die from malnutrition and the teacher being too hungry to give them any of her meagre amounts of food and feeling guilty for the rest of her life.
Standard za izolovane zemlje sa kompleksom lidera, ima dobra knjiga na temu bratske nam zemlje
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-Envy-Lives-North-Korea/dp/184708141X
Wow, he shot the cover of Nothing to Envy, an excellent book.
You can buy Nothing to Envy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-Envy-Lives-North-Korea/dp/184708141X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376391740&sr=8-1&keywords=nothing+to+envy
One of the best NK books i've read.
After watching the VBS documentary I read this, it was quite interesting.