No country in the world provokes a similar reaction to North Korea, a communist state that is now on its third hereditary ruler. How the regime runs their country through communism seems like a good deal for their citizens at first glance: Free housing, free health care, free education, free transportation, and every citizen gets a job assigned directly by the regime based on individual skillset. For those of us who live in capitalist countries, especially those who reside in expensive cities with high cost of living, may look at this and question whether capitalism is the only way to go. But here is the question – Does communism actually work? I hope to find out by traveling to North Korea.
While many might not know that it is possible to travel to North Korea, the compromises required to do so are quite significant: You are accompanied by two government minders at all times. You are not allowed to wander off on your own. You only hear one-sided history and only see what the regime wants you to see. You are in for a structured, hour-by-hour tour. For 12 hours a day, you go from site to site, activity to activity. Those who are looking for a relaxing vacation might not be willing to accept this, but those who are willing will have a chance to embark on this psychological journey and have a mind-blowing, paradigm-shifting experience.
North Korea’s visa, a.k.a. tourist card.
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Earlier this year, North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese president Xi Jinping in 3 different occasions within a three-month period. As diplomatic relations improve between North Korea and China, the number of Chinese tourists visiting North Korea has skyrocketed: After the Kim-Xi meetings, there have been almost 2,000 Chinese tourists visiting North Korea everyday – This number is significant, given that only about 5,000 Western visitors visit North Korea every year; to avoid the potential complications of having a US passport in North Korea, I purposely left my US passport in Beijing, while using my HKSAR passport to enter North Korea.
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Unless you travel with a US or South Korean passport, obtaining a North Korean visa is surprisingly easy. A visa is usually granted within a week and your passport will not be stamped at the customs. Instead, the stamp will be placed on this separate tourist card.
@Pyongyang平壤
North Korea can be reached either by train or by plane: To travel by train, there is a direct train that goes from Beijing to the border city of Dandong. In Dandong you would go through the North Korean customs before arriving in the border city of Sinuiju on the North Korea side. From there you would take a train to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The entire journey takes about 22 hours; to travel by plane, there is a direct flight that goes from Beijing to Pyongyang operated by Air Koryo, the only North Korean national airline. Flight time is about 2 hours.
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Independent travel is not allowed in North Korea. The only way to visit North Korea is to join a guided tour. For Westerners, Koryo Group, Uri Tours, and Young Pioneer Tours are the common ones; for Chinese tourists, there are many Chinese tour groups that offer weekly tours to Pyongyang.
@Pyongyang平壤
萬壽台大記念碑 Mansu Hill Grand Monument. The iconic monument was built to celebrate Kim II Sung’s 60th birthday. At the center are two bronze statues of the deceased supreme leaders Kim II Sung and Kim Jong Il. On each side are monuments commemorating the history of the revolutionary struggle of the Korean people.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤地鐡 Pyongyang Metro. At 110 meters, the Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. It takes 3.5 minutes to take the escalator to go from ground level to the underground platform. There are 17 stations in the Pyongyang metro system, but tourists are only allowed to go between Puhung yok 復興站 and Yonggwang yok 榮光站, as these are the best decorated stations; at each station, people gathered to read and discuss the daily news. Newspapers must be carefully disposed of by special handlers since it is illegal to throw away or mistreat images of party leaders.
@Pyongyang平壤
Portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Kim Il Sung was the first Supreme Leader of North Korea. He spent his teen years joining the Chinese Communist Party to fight against Japanese rule, and later became a guerrilla leader. Due to his teen years spent in China, his Korean language was not fluent when he became the Supreme Leader in 1948. Kim Il Sung ruled North Korea for 45 years before passing away in 1994 at the age of 82. His son, Kim Jong Il, took over. Portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il can be found in every room in every building in Pyongyang. Chest pins of their portraits are being worn by every North Korean.
@Pyongyang平壤
@Pyongyang平壤
@Pyongyang平壤
柳京酒店 The Ryugyong Hotel. A 105-story pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang. Construction began 30 years ago but was halted due to economic crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union. Construction resumed in 2008 and the exterior was completed in 2011. It remains unopened as of 2018.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤六九高中 Pyongyang 69 High School. Typically, tourists are not allowed to wander around on their own, and North Koreans are not allowed to have physical contact with tourists. Physical interactions between locals and tourists only happen in controlled environments, such as this scheduled school tour.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤六九高中 Pyongyang 69 High School. Typically, tourists are not allowed to wander around on their own, and North Koreans are not allowed to have physical contact with tourists. Physical interactions between locals and tourists only happen in controlled environments, such as this scheduled school tour.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤六九高中 Pyongyang 69 High School. Typically, tourists are not allowed to wander around on their own, and North Koreans are not allowed to have physical contact with tourists. Physical interactions between locals and tourists only happen in controlled environments, such as this scheduled school tour.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤六九高中 Pyongyang 69 High School. Typically, tourists are not allowed to wander around on their own, and North Koreans are not allowed to have physical contact with tourists. Physical interactions between locals and tourists only happen in controlled environments, such as this scheduled school tour.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤六九高中 Pyongyang 69 High School. Typically, tourists are not allowed to wander around on their own, and North Koreans are not allowed to have physical contact with tourists. Physical interactions between locals and tourists only happen in controlled environments, such as this scheduled school tour.
@Pyongyang平壤
平壤六九高中 Pyongyang 69 High School. Typically, tourists are not allowed to wander around on their own, and North Koreans are not allowed to have physical contact with tourists. Physical interactions between locals and tourists only happen in controlled environments, such as this scheduled school tour.
@Pyongyang平壤
人民大學習堂 Grand People’s Study House. North Korea’s national library, located next to Kim Il Sung Square.
@Pyongyang平壤
人民大學習堂 Grand People’s Study House. North Korea’s national library, located next to Kim Il Sung Square.
@Pyongyang平壤
@Pyongyang平壤
Independent travel is not allowed in North Korea. The only way to visit North Korea is to join a guided tour. For various reasons, I decided to join a Chinese tour group; 95% of tourists visiting North Korea are from mainland China. The North Korean government is very accustomed to having Chinese tourists entering their country, and most North Koreans who work at the customs speak basic Mandarin Chinese. Joining a Chinese tour group means less scrutinization at the customs.
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The tour group that I was in had 48 members, of which 45 of them were from mainland China, 2 were from Taiwan, and I was the only one from Hong Kong – Technically I am from the US, but I traveled with a HKSAR passport and no one knew that I am American, except for the few new friends that I met in the group.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
阿里郎 Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games, is an annual gymnastics and dance performance at Pyongyang’s iconic May Day Stadium. It features a giant human LCD screen, in which the pixels are represented by thousands of school children holding up posters that flicker on and off harmoniously in honor of the supreme leaders and to depict the 70-year history of North Korea in a work. The show features over 100,000 performers (in comparison, that is about the size of last Super Bowl’s attendance) and is registered in the Guinness World Records. In order to prepare for the festival and to mobilize the massive number of performers, all tours coming from other countries were halted for a month. To mark North Korea’s 70th anniversary, the theme this year is “The Glorious Country 光輝的祖國”.
@Pyongyang平壤
Wang, our Chinese tour guide; Park and Kim, our two North Korean minders. They were with us every single day the entire time. Since I traveled solo, I even shared hotel room with Wang, which is totally fine as I normally stay in hostels with roommates anyway.
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Interesting fact: In North Korea, women have equal rights with men, and have free rights of marriage and divorce. In the rest of the world, it is not uncommon for women to look for men who meet certain subjective criteria (e.g. owns a house / car, has a good job, looks like Brad Pitt, yada yada yada); in North Korea, women look for men who meet three criteria: 1. College graduate 2. Been in the military 3. Been a party member. Owning a house is not a factor because housing is provided by the state. No one owns car in North Korea and everyone takes public transportation; one of my two female North Korean minders married a journalist and has two kids. Being minders and journalists are considered good professions in North Korea, and enjoy relatively good benefits.
@Pyongyang平壤
Wang, our Chinese tour guide; Park and Kim, our two North Korean minders. They were with us every single day the entire time. Since I traveled solo, I even shared hotel room with Wang, which is totally fine as I normally stay in hostels with roommates anyway.
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Interesting fact: In North Korea, women have equal rights with men, and have free rights of marriage and divorce. In the rest of the world, it is not uncommon for women to look for men who meet certain subjective criteria (e.g. owns a house / car, has a good job, looks like Brad Pitt, yada yada yada); in North Korea, women look for men who meet three criteria: 1. College graduate 2. Been in the military 3. Been a party member. Owning a house is not a factor because housing is provided by the state. No one owns car in North Korea and everyone takes public transportation; one of my two female North Korean minders married a journalist and has two kids. Being minders and journalists are considered good professions in North Korea, and enjoy relatively good benefits.
@Pyongyang平壤
Wang, our Chinese tour guide; Park and Kim, our two North Korean minders. They were with us every single day the entire time. Since I traveled solo, I even shared hotel room with Wang, which is totally fine as I normally stay in hostels with roommates anyway.
//
Interesting fact: In North Korea, women have equal rights with men, and have free rights of marriage and divorce. In the rest of the world, it is not uncommon for women to look for men who meet certain subjective criteria (e.g. owns a house / car, has a good job, looks like Brad Pitt, yada yada yada); in North Korea, women look for men who meet three criteria: 1. College graduate 2. Been in the military 3. Been a party member. Owning a house is not a factor because housing is provided by the state. No one owns car in North Korea and everyone takes public transportation; one of my two female North Korean minders married a journalist and has two kids. Being minders and journalists are considered good professions in North Korea, and enjoy relatively good benefits.
@Pyongyang平壤
萬壽台大記念碑 Mansu Hill Grand Monument. The iconic monument was built to celebrate Kim II Sung’s 60th birthday. At the center are two bronze statues of the deceased supreme leaders Kim II Sung and Kim Jong Il. On each side are monuments commemorating the history of the revolutionary struggle of the Korean people.
@Pyongyang平壤
The Pyongyang Times.
@Pyongyang平壤
There is no internet in North Korea (they have their own intranet), but the GPS satellite signal on my phone knows that I am in Pyongyang; Panmunjom is the only spot in North Korea where international roaming is available – Using South Korea’s network.
@Kaesong開城
今日城廣場 Kim II Sung Square, the place for military parades, celebrations, and important political events. @Pyongyang平壤
今日城廣場 Kim II Sung Square, the place for military parades, celebrations, and important political events.
@Pyongyang平壤
西海水閘 Nampo Dam, or West Sea Dam, is an 8-km-long system of dams that closes the Taedong River off from the Yellow Sea. This beautiful North Korean lady was the host / presenter.
@Pyongyang平壤
祖國解放歷史戰爭勝利紀念館 Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War Memorial, which displays the history of the Korean War, from North Korea’s perspectives. This 3-story building has a massive collection of well-displayed exhibits, and is probably the biggest war memorial I have ever seen: The red-carpeted stairs at the center leads to a 15-meter tall, glowing statue of Kim Il Sung, and everyone has to bow as we enter; no photo is allowed inside, but the interior looks so grand that it looks more like a palace – It almost feels like the regime wants to register in the viewers’ heads that they did indeed win the war, and uses the memorial as an opportunity to showcase their victory in the biggest way possible. It is up to the viewers to decide its historical accuracy (definitely different from the version I know), but nonetheless this war memorial is one of the top few things I experienced in North Korea that totally blew my mind.
@Pyongyang平壤
祖國解放歷史戰爭勝利紀念館 Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War Memorial, which displays the history of the Korean War, from North Korea’s perspectives. This 3-story building has a massive collection of well-displayed exhibits, and is probably the biggest war memorial I have ever seen: The red-carpeted stairs at the center leads to a 15-meter tall, glowing statue of Kim Il Sung, and everyone has to bow as we enter; no photo is allowed inside, but the interior looks so grand that it looks more like a palace – It almost feels like the regime wants to register in the viewers’ heads that they did indeed win the war, and uses the memorial as an opportunity to showcase their victory in the biggest way possible. It is up to the viewers to decide its historical accuracy (definitely different from the version I know), but nonetheless this war memorial is one of the top few things I experienced in North Korea that totally blew my mind.
@Pyongyang平壤
祖國解放歷史戰爭勝利紀念館 Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War Memorial, which displays the history of the Korean War, from North Korea’s perspectives. This 3-story building has a massive collection of well-displayed exhibits, and is probably the biggest war memorial I have ever seen: The red-carpeted stairs at the center leads to a 15-meter tall, glowing statue of Kim Il Sung, and everyone has to bow as we enter; no photo is allowed inside, but the interior looks so grand that it looks more like a palace – It almost feels like the regime wants to register in the viewers’ heads that they did indeed win the war, and uses the memorial as an opportunity to showcase their victory in the biggest way possible. It is up to the viewers to decide its historical accuracy (definitely different from the version I know), but nonetheless this war memorial is one of the top few things I experienced in North Korea that totally blew my mind.
@Pyongyang平壤
中朝友誼塔 China-DPRK Friendship Tower, a monument to honor those in the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army who died while helping North Korea fight South Korea/US during the Korean War in the 1950s.
@Pyongyang平壤
中朝友誼塔 China-DPRK Friendship Tower, a monument to honor those in the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army who died while helping North Korea fight South Korea/US during the Korean War in the 1950s.
@Pyongyang平壤
Independent travel is not allowed in North Korea. The only way to visit North Korea is to join a guided tour. For various reasons, I decided to join a Chinese tour group; 95% of tourists visiting North Korea are from mainland China. The North Korean government is very accustomed to having Chinese tourists entering their country, and most North Koreans who work at the customs speak basic Mandarin Chinese. Joining a Chinese tour group means less scrutinization at the customs.
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The tour group that I was in had 48 members, of which 45 of them were from mainland China, 2 were from Taiwan, and I was the only one from Hong Kong – Technically I am from the US, but I traveled with a HKSAR passport and no one knew that I am American, except for the few new friends that I met in the group.
@Pyongyang平壤
普賢寺 Pohyonsa, the oldest Korean Buddhist temple, found in the Koryo dynasty in 1024. The sign was written in traditional Chinese characters (Hanja), as the Korean alphabet (Hangul) did not come into widespread official use until the late 19th century.
@Myohyangsan妙香山
主體思想塔 Juche Tower, named after North Korea’s self-sufficient Juche ideology introduced by Kim Il Sung.
@Pyongyang平壤
凱旋門 Arc de Triumph, a monument honoring the military resistance for Korean independence from Japan in 1945.
@Pyongyang平壤
柳京酒店 The Ryugyong Hotel. A 105-story pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang. Construction began 30 years ago but was halted due to economic crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union. Construction resumed in 2008 and the exterior was completed in 2011. It remains unopened as of 2018.
@Pyongyang平壤
千里馬銅像 Chollima Statue, statue of a mythical flying horse of the Korean Peninsula.
@Pyongyang平壤
國際友誼展覽館 International Friendship Exhibition Center. On exhibit are gifts received by North Korean leaders over the years, as well as many photos of Kim II Sung / Kim Jong Il taken with the world’s top leaders when those gifts were received. No photo is allowed inside, but this place is one of the top few things I experienced in North Korea that made me rethink my perspectives on North Korea: Who would have thought that a country that seems to isolate itself would have these relations with the rest of the world?
@Pyongyang平壤
三八軍事分界線 38th Parallel North. During the Korean War in 1950, Kim Il Sung’s North Korea fought with South Korea. North Korea had China and the Soviet Union as its alliances, while South Korea had the US as its alliance. At the end of the Korean War in 1953, the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was established as a strip of land that runs across the Korean Peninsula. The 38th Parallel North divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half. Within the DMZ is a meeting point between North Korea and South Korea in the small Joint Security Area (JSA), where a temporary ceasefire was signed. Since a permanent peace agreement was never signed, North Korea and South Korea is technically still at war, and there have been occasional conflicts between the two countries at the DMZ over the years. @Kaesong開城
三八軍事分界線 38th Parallel North. During the Korean War in 1950, Kim Il Sung’s North Korea fought with South Korea. North Korea had China and the Soviet Union as its alliances, while South Korea had the US as its alliance. At the end of the Korean War in 1953, the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was established as a strip of land that runs across the Korean Peninsula. The 38th Parallel North divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half. Within the DMZ is a meeting point between North Korea and South Korea in the small Joint Security Area (JSA), where a temporary ceasefire was signed. Since a permanent peace agreement was never signed, North Korea and South Korea is technically still at war, and there have been occasional conflicts between the two countries at the DMZ over the years. @Kaesong開城
板門店 Panmunjom, a village just north of the North/South Korean border, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. The building where the armistice was signed still stands.
@Kaesong開城
@Pyongyang平壤
建黨記念塔 Founding Party Monument, symbolizing the 50-year anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea. The hammer, sickle, and calligraphy brush symbolize the workers, farmers, and interllectuals.
@Pyongyang平壤
建黨記念塔 Founding Party Monument, symbolizing the 50-year anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea. The hammer, sickle, and calligraphy brush symbolize the workers, farmers, and interllectuals.
@Pyongyang平壤
Hyangsan Hotel.
@Myohyangsan妙香山
@Pyongyang平壤
@Pyongyang平壤
@Pyongyang平壤
Pyongyang positions itself as a self-sufficient communist economy.
@Pyongyang平壤
Koryo ginseng.
@Pyongyang平壤
Ever since the Korean War, North Korea and the US have not been getting along too well. There used to be anti-American posters and postcards all over Pyongyang. With the recent improvement of US-DPRK relations, those aggressive posters and postcards are nowhere to be seen.
@Pyongyang平壤
I am a light packer and don’t usually buy souvenirs, but these books are only available in Pyongyang so I will make an exception to lug these around in my backpack for the next couple of weeks.
@Pyongyang平壤
** Re-post from May 2018 **
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A lot has happened in North Korea during the past two months: In March, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un made his first foreign trip since assuming power in 2011 to meet China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. A month later, Kim Jong Un met with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in at the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea. But why? Why does North Korea suddenly become friendly? And what do these summit meetings mean to China, South Korea, and the United States?
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Being a curious person, I began to look for explanations. This book, “The Real North Korea”, seems to provide some insights on what is going on and where do China, South Korea, and the United States stand in this situation.
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To an outside observer, the behavior of the North Korean leadership often appears irrational. At any given moment, North Korea is either in “total assault mode”, threatening to hit the US mainland with inter-continental ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads, or in “total charm mode”, shaking hands with the world’s major powers. Although seemingly irrational, what the North Korea regime does is a very rational, calculated survival strategy: North Korea, a small country with few resources and an unsustainable economic model that depends on constant infusions of foreign aid, is able to survive against all odds and manipulate the world’s major powers to paying a hefty ransom. But while the North Korean regime has been successful in holding on to power, the old system is slowly falling apart. In the long run, the regime will go bankrupt without reforms. But reforms, if attempted, will likely trigger a dramatic implosion of the regime.
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NORTH KOREA
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Usual tactics: First generate a crisis, then escalate tensions, and finally, extract payments and concessions for the restoration of the pre-crisis status quo – For many times in the past, this strategy has worked wonders. The nuclear card is North Korea’s single most important negotiating tool: The thought of denuclearizing North Korea is so attractive that the world will do anything for the slightest chance to get it. Therefore, North Korea has no intention or a valid reason to surrender its nuclear weapons, especially having seen the fate of Iraq and Libya. There may be no alternative to its current policy, if survival is what the North Korean regime wants.
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SOUTH KOREA
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South Korea wants peace. Their strategy, such as the Sunshine Policy, aims at encouraging the gradual evolution of North Korea through unilateral aids and political concessions – It is safer to pay North Korea off than to suffer the trouble it is capable of creating; meanwhile, many in Seoul are skeptical about unification – They are totally fine with retaining two states, but encourage North Korea to get on better.
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CHINA
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China needs to keep North Korea as a stable, strategically useful buffer zone protecting China’s North East against the US military presence in Japan and South Korea. For Chinese policymakers, a nuclear-armed North Korea is less an evil than an unstable or collapsing North Korea, and perhaps even less an evil than a Korea unified under a US-friendly Seoul government on China’s borders. China is not in the same boat as the US on matters related to Pyongyang – and never will be.
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UNITED STATES
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The US has taken an approach often described as “strategic patience”, meaning that the US will not do anything of significant until North Korea demonstrates its sincere commitment to denuclearization by taking certain measures that will clearly and irreversibly diminish its nuclear capabilities. The soft-liners believe that if the Pyongyang regime is given sufficient monetary rewards, political concessions, and security guarantees, it will ultimately abandon its nuclear ambitions; the hard-liners believe that pressure will eventually either cause Pyongyang to denuclearize or push it to extinction (or both); the more reasonable hard-liners understand this peculiar situation well and thus are left only with financial sanctions, such as a ban on the activity of North Korean banks. Ultimately, the US wants two things: First, to denuclearize North Korea; second, it will eventually lead to the emergence of a Seoul-dominated Korean state.
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Clearly, there is no easy solution to this. It would be interesting to see how this story continues to unfold during the possible Trump-Kim summit next month in Singapore.
