The sun tyrant

When, in the spring of 2016, Londoner JP Floru tagged along with three friends running the Pyongyang Marathon, he discovered a place second only to the Moon in other-worldliness. During their nine-day trip they were shown by two minders what the regime wanted them to see. The group was astounded when witnessing people bowing before their leaders' statues, being told not to take photos of the leader's feet, and hearing the hushed reverence with which people recite the history invented by the regime to keep itself in power. Often the group of friends did not understand what they were seeing -…