June 10, 2018, 05:01 AM 
Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan is suitably impressed with North Korea.
This was after he made a trip to the hermetic kingdom in preparation for the June 12 Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
Five days, two states
His remarks praising North Korea were made on Saturday, June 9, after a five-day trip that saw him visit Washington and Pyongyang.
Singapore's foreign affairs minister had gone on a working visit to Washington on Tuesday, where he met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton. He was in Pyongyang from Thursday to Saturday morning.
Balakrishnan was invited to the country by his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho.
Following his trip, Balakrishnan shared photos of North Korea in a Facebook post:
A view of Pyongyang’s skyline from the top of the Juche Tower. The city is built-up and well maintained, with clean roads and waterways. I found it well-organised and green, with tree-lined boulevards too! The colourful apartment blocks and other high-rise buildings make for a distinctive and appealing view.
Visited Mangyongdae, a humble thatched traditional rural house which has been carefully restored and is commemorated in the DPRK as the birthplace of DPRK founding President Kim Il Sung.
The iconic Juche Tower, on the east bank of the Taedong River which flows through Pyongyang. “Juche” is the official state ideology of the DPRK, and translates to “self reliance”. It was built in 1982 to celebrate the 70th birthday of the DPRK’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung. In front of the tower is a bronze statue of three symbolic figures each holding a tool - a hammer (the worker), a sickle (the peasant), and a writing brush (the working intellectual).
Interesting visit to the Korean Revolution Museum, where our guide showed us around the exhibits on the life and ideology of DPRK founding President Kim Il Sung.
We had the opportunity to ride the Pyongyang Metro, which was built in the 1960s, two decades before Singapore’s MRT! It is one of the deepest underground train networks in the world. The Metro is so deep underground that it naturally maintains a constant cool temperature throughout the year, even in the hot summer months.
Our hosts arranged for me to visit the Ryugyong General Ophthalmic Hospital (류경안과종합병원), in a nod to my background as an eye surgeon and continued interest in the field. The hospital is equipped with the latest equipment, and in fact uses much of the same technology that we use in Singapore. An interesting walk down memory lane for me to find myself back in an eye hospital! :)
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This was what Balakrishnan said following his North Korea visit:
North Korea's resilience and progress
"If you go to Pyongyang today, what you will see is a clean, green, modern, beautiful city. I saw construction cranes, I saw buildings being constructed. Clearly, the government has been hard at work all these decades to upgrade their infrastructure."
"But beyond the hardware that I saw, I also got to experience a rugged, disciplined, determined, self-reliant society. They know that they have had enormous challenges over the year, in fact, well nigh over a century. But they are proud of themselves, of their identity and I can see that there is that determination to move on, to get ahead, and to progress. So, society itself, is very impressive -- society as well as very impressive city in its own right."
Singapore picking up the tab for summit
"There will certainly be costs. Major costs because this is a major security operation. For the journalists they have to pay their way, we'll manage that. For the North Koreans, obviously we are extending hospitality the way we would for any state visit or any major delegation that is arriving. They have to pay some of their own costs as well."
How busy MFA has been
"We have all had sleepless nights answering messages from all over the world, addressing very specific requests. This goes far beyond serving coffee and tea."
Singapore playing a small role for world peace
"We did not put up our hand and volunteer for this. Both sides asked us and we said, "Well, this is a worthwhile, worthy cause for peace, we'll do our small part in our way to make this possible. If a breakthrough is achieved, if peace comes, there will be a bountiful harvest. Primarily, of course, within the Korean peninsula but indeed for the rest of us, including Singapore as well. But again I want to emphasise this is, at this point, strictly between the United States of America and North Korea. But what both sides have also told me is that, if and when they arrive at an agreement, it will by necessity have to involve the other key stakeholders as well. So, that will be in the next stage."
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