In 2013, North Korean writer Bandi reputedly smuggled seven stories, including this one, out of the country. Although unverified, the stories provide a valuable insight into the fear and repressed lives of North Korean citizens. In this one, ‘unpatriotic behavior’ by a two-year-old child results in banishment of a senior bureaucrat and his family to the countryside. Earlier, the child had suffered a fit in its mother’s arms. In most countries, she would call for a doctor. Here, we are told that had a doctor happened to be at hand, the incident might well have ended in disaster. More…