Last year, Dutch stamp dealer Willem van der Bijl was arrested and imprisoned during a trip to buy posters and stamps in North Korea, alarming relatives in the Netherlands. Perhaps even more alarming was when he appeared in the pages of a state-run newspaper extolling the virtues of the DPRK's elections. Now, one year…
Stamp collector Willem van der Bijl, who disappeared in North Korea only to re-appear with a praiseful op-ed in the state-run Pyongyang Times, has returned home. Turns out he'd been arrested! So, take his column with a grain of salt.
Hey, has anyone seen Dutch stamp collector Willem van der Bijl? He went to North Korea in July to buy some of the country's stamps, and his family hasn't heard from him since. Oh! There he is! In the Pyongyang Times, extensively praising North Korean elections in a personal essay!
