SteveRohan1981

Last Sunday I visited the reclusive "Democratic" People's Republic of Korea (DPRK / North Korea). As Americans are no longer allowed to visit (though I am not sure how this can be policed as no VISA is attached to your passport and they don't stamp it either) I thought I would share my experience for anyone interested in this enigma of a country.

I had booked onto a Chinese group tour but paid extra to have an English speaking guide with me. It was a little overwhelming being the only non-Asian there and I was told we must follow a strict order throughout the day with me being last (i.e get off the bus last, enter each site last etc).

After a quick drive across the Friendship Bridge from Dandong in China we were dropped at North Korean immigration in the city of Sinuiju where are passports were collected. They would be returned at the end of the day when we were ready to go back to China.

Our first stop was at the statues to Kim Il-Sung (founding father) and his son Kim Jong-Un. I was told it is obligatory to buy flowers (20RMB/$3) and lay them at the foot of the statues before taking a bow. Those not prepared to follow the party line and do exactly as asked are strongly advised not to come to North Korea!

We then moved on to the museum behind the statues which was mainly an art gallery dedicated to the Kim dynasty (paintings of them inspecting factory production lines and wheat harvests etc).

Next we moved on to the local soap factory. A we drove out of Sinuiju and into the countryside I could see peasant farmers out in the fields harvesting by hand. There was no mechanical equipment. There were very few cars on the roads and a lot of bicycles.

After a whistle-stop tour of the factory we were then taken to a kindergarten to watch a performance put on by the children, and I must say I was impressed. The youngsters proceeded to put on a show with dancing, singing and recitals that would put many teenagers or adults to shame. It made me wonder about how strict their regime must be for them. You can see a recording I took here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1fpPtLftnA

The performance lasted an hour and then we were taken to lunch. I wouldn't say it was a restaurant, it seemed more like the tourist company's headquarters but a nice spread was laid out for us including some North Korean beer. The food was very similar to Chinese (tofu, rice, meat and fish, with the addition of Korea's national dish, Kimchi (spicy cabbage). I was still tense but enjoyed the lunch nevertheless.

After lunch we were taken to the history museum which I found fascinating. It charted Korea's history (North and South) and included archaeological finds and reconstructions of stone and bronze age villages and burial chambers.

After the museum we were taken to a local park to relax and walk about (I walked a little too far on my own and my guide/government minder came running after me to bring me back to the main group). Old people were out dancing i traditional costume and looked happy, though I still wondered how scripted/staged it all was.

By now it was 4pm and we returned to the border post to cross back over China. It was this time that I felt the most nervous. Getting in was easy enough, it was the getting out again that worried me. After a nervous half an hour I was reunited with my passport and we were soon crossing the bridge back to China.

All in all it was an experience I will never forget! You can read about my trip in more detail here:
https://www.thetripgoeson.com/single...rth-Korea-DPRK

or even see a recording of the whole thing as taken by a local cameraman (like a late 80's home video, the quality, as you might expect is not great):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFV7u_lxga8&t=5s

Maybe you think visiting such a place is a bad idea? I discuss whether it is right to visit countries with questionable governments in this article:
https://www.thetripgoeson.com/single...it-North-Korea

I hope you found my experience of interest, and if anyone has any questions I will be delighted to answer them.

Best wishes,
Steve

jacketwatch

I am glad you weren't the next Otto Warmbier.

The being said I would never set foot in that place. Some of the money you spent to do so goes towards the support of that utterly repressive regime. I hope you know that now. If you knew that ahead of time and went anyway shame on you.

Bye.

Larry.

SteveRohan1981

Hi Larry, as mentioned at the end of my report I discuss whether it is acceptable to visit countries with repressive regimes in an article I wrote (linked above), the gist of which is every government commits questionable acts so therefore every country (including the USA) should be off limits. The money I spent also went into the pockets of people who are just trying to survive (street traders, shopkeepers etc) and that is emphatically a good thing, especially for a country under heavy sanctions. If a North Korean family can eat a decent meal because of my trip then I can sleep easy.

Best wishes,

Steve

janisj

Interesting TR to a place few can travel.

But in ways I do have to agree w/ jacketwatch.

Sure every country commits 'questionable acts' -- even your own. But what NK does and how they treat their citizens is up there with some of the worst regimes anywhere. You were not on some lovely people-to-people/kumbaya holiday.

>>The money I spent also went into the pockets of people who are just trying to survive (street traders, shopkeepers etc)<<

I seriously doubt that. Your itinerary was regimented and minder was very watchful and you did not come in contact with anyone 'by accident'.

>>If a North Korean family can eat a decent meal because of my trip then I can sleep easy. <<

I'd be surprised if one penny was not totally accounted for and most likely handed in.

jacketwatch

Steve the Hennessy Cognac company reported that Kim Jong Il spent 250k USD one yr. on Cognac. How many NK families went hungry for that?

The average height and weight of a NK compared to a SK is lower due to malnutrition.

Steve wake up and smell more than the Kim chi.

jacketwatch

This whole thing reminds me of a line in the play Miss Saigon. “We use perfume to cover up the stench. This is what we learned from the French.”

SteveRohan1981

I appreciate your responses and opinions and I'm under no illusions as to the horrific regime in NK, but one has to take a more pragmatic view when travelling. I currently live in China and there is plenty here (more than plenty) that I disagree with. I appreciate that my time in NK was scripted but sometimes it's good to just ignore the media and see for yourself (however little that may be).

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree!

jacketwatch

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ar-brandy.html

My mistake. 700000£.

Steve there are numerous documentaries about NK. Frontline had one on last night in fact. Google and watch some. Do you really think your half day there is more revealing??

It’s more than disagreement Steve, it’s not like we are arguing about the best say basketball players ever or best composer. What is happening there is clear cut and there’s no ambiguity about this regime. You either get it or you don’t.

SteveRohan1981

There are also numerous documentaries telling me how many American tax dollars are spent on bombing other countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Serbia etc etc ad infinitum), but it still wouldn't stop me visiting no matter how much I disagree with it. If you write-off an entire country because of its government then I think you are wrong, and you either get that or you don't...

jacketwatch

I find it interesting that there are two recent TR’s here about NK. Both tout going there, gloss over the brutalities, rationalize by saying other countries have issues too and both used Young Pioneer Tours. And now they just show up on Fodor’s a week or so apart.

Yes we bomb the world. Next will be a sneak attack on Luxembourg. .

SteveRohan1981

Make of that what you will, I don't think it's any great conspiracy (I don't work for Young Pioneer Tours nor have they paid me to promote them). I simply visited last Sunday and shared my experience.

If you could miss the target by a few miles and hit Brussels it wouldn't be so bad

jacketwatch

We don’t miss.

Kathie

We have had a number of trip reports on North Korea over the years, including taste2travel earlier this month, and DMBTraveler, from August, and PlanetXplore from 2012. While I have no interest in visiting North Korea, I appreciate your report.

Larry, I don't see any conspiracy here - there are only a very few companies willing to take Americans into North Korea. And since North Korea is very much in the news these days, I'm not surprised to see more reports on NK.

If you go to the top of the page and choose view by country, you can see all posts about North Korea.

janisj

>>I simply visited last Sunday and shared my experience.<<

And I found it interesting -- I'm not denigrating your trip as such. Only your assumption that you did something wonderful for the 'poor peasants'.

SteveRohan1981

Janisj, I'm not saying that I went to North Korea to enrich the lives of the downtrodden and I won't pretend otherwise, but I believe that some of the money spent went into the pockets of people that could use it. Maybe its wishful thinking, maybe not.

Thanks for your post Kathie, I for one will be checking out the other posts on North Korea out of interest.

jacketwatch

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17774210

Then think of how this regime lavishes on themselves.

jacketwatch

Kathie as always thank you for your input.

Hows the shoulder?

My right one acted up, bone spur with bursitis, much better after quite a bit of PT.

Getting older. .

lcuy

I feel the same as JW and Janisj; you have to know that every second of those "interactions with the locals" was scripted as carefully as the distance you were allowed to wander in the park before being chased back to the fold.

Those cute performing kids have always been PR tools for China and many other repressive governments. You must know that A) those are not 5 year olds, and B) watching them is no more reality than the Wizard of Oz. These kids and probably the park dancers "in traditional costume" have no choice as to participation. When you spoke with them, did they say that your presence gave them hope?

I'm glad you got to see the real people of NK, had some meaningful conversations with them, and were able to pay your respects to the men in charge of it all. But please do not try to justify your visit as some sort of educational or good samaritan visit. Yes, many governments do terrible things, but satisfying your need for a 41st stamp in NK is supporting one of the truly bad ones.

BTW, this might be a place you'd like to visit to get a feel for modern Japanese culture.

http://www.toei-eigamura.com/en/

CaliforniaLady

I find it oddly suspicious that there have been, in recent weeks, three trip reports extolling the virtues of a trip to North Korea. Given the recent ban on Americans travelling to North Korea, perhaps the Chinese-sponsored tourist agencies are suffering, and are desperate to find new customers.

To the OP: Did you actually tour with Young Pioneers, as you imply? If so, then please explain why their website says that Americans are no longer allowed on their trips. Also, if you are truly an American, then use of your passport is a privilege, not a right. Having traveled to North Korea, then you are now subject to criminal prosecution. I hope you enjoy your US jail stay more than Otto Warmbier enjoyed his in the North Korean prison.

Regarding your misguided comment that the Little Rocket Man (as Trump calls him) buys "Meals On Wheels" for the peasants with your tour fees, I saw my son's pictures of hundreds of people on the street, when he LEGALLY visited North Korea three years ago. With the exception of military personnel, the average person on the street looked emaciated and starving. It was the first thing I noticed when I looked at his pictures.

So to all the young Europeans who read these reports and are eager to go, please realize that your money is going to support missiles and torture. There are many other places to see in the world.

BTW, thank you, Larry (jacketwatch) for being so supportive on these issues.

CaliforniaLady

By way of clarification, here is the posting by the US State Department clearly stating that, effective September 1, 2017, US citizens travelling to North Korea are subject to criminal prosecution:

https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...l-warning.html