Frederick Blassie

Richard Fliehr
xxxIntro
xxxThe Caribbean
xxxNorth Korea

Randall Poffo & Aurelian Smith Jr.

Fliehr in North Korea

In 1995 Fliehr was offered an opportunity to participate in a performance festival in Pyongyang, North Korea. It was going to be held at May Day Stadium, the largest stadium in Asia. The government had been working for more than a year to create this spectacular event to bolster the moral of the country. There were going to be other events happening around the time, like gymnastics, marching, elaborate fireworks displays, and traditional Korean dancing. At first the list of those attending was huge, George Foreman, Terrence Bollea, Jimmy Carter, Ted Turner, Jane Fonda, and Steven Borden, among many others. Eventually, most of them backed out.

"The two biggest names at the festival were Muhammad Ali and Richard Fliehr. Here's why no one wanted to go: technically, Americans aren't even allowed in North Korea. They country is a sworn enemy of the United states and has continuously defied international treaties on the development of nuclear weapons ... Personally, I didn't need North Korea on my resume to say I had a good life. Nor was there any monetary incentive. I went because it was an opportunity to associate myself with someone like Muhammad Ali as an international sports dignitary, and represent performance art to a huge population who had never seen it."

- Richard Fliehr

They second they arrived in Pyongyang their passports were "taken for safety reasons." They were also assigned a curiously armed "cultural attache" who followed them everywhere, even, supposedly, in the private dressing rooms the other performance artists were given. There were video cameras watching them all the time. When one of the performers called his wife to tell her how much he hated being there, the line went dead.

"The event itself was unlike anything I'd ever witnessed. A total of 380,000 spectators attended over two nights. As we approached May Day Stadium, I looked out the window and saw a sea of people huddled together, all on foot, converging on the venue from every direction. During the show, you could look up and never see where the people ended. The viewers held up different colored placards to create incredible mosaic images. It was beautiful, but also creepy. The first couple section were occupied exclusively by guys in military uniforms. The spectators cheered on cue. I almost go the feeling that they had been ordered to attend."

-- Richard Fliehr

The tour was originally planned to last two days, Fliehr wife, Beth, and son, Reid, were given a hotel in Japan as incentive for Fliehr to attend. For some unknown reason, both he and Ali ended up staying for five days. For the three days after the event they were taken all over the country to meet with various political and military officials. When he was finally allowed to leave his "cultural attache" "asked" him to read a statement they had prepared about his stay in the country. He was understandably reluctant:

"The last thing I wanted was to be quoted in the American press making statement that I didn't mean. So I just spouted out some generic comments and thanks everyone for their hospitality. This is how I was quoted by the official North Korean press agency: 'Before I leave this beautiful and peaceful country, I would like to make a tribute to the great leader, Mr. Kim Il Sung, who had devoted his life to the Korean people's happiness, prosperity, and Korean unification. His Excellency, Kim Il Sung, will always be with us.'"