North Korea - can you really experience it? is written by Jonas Bang Andersen
Why should you experience North Korea?
You both really can and should experience North Korea. And in fact, I've been there three times. My next trip to North Korea is also already planned. I am looking forward to experiencing North Korea again.
When I'm in the country, I experience a culture and a society that is completely different from what I'm used to or have seen elsewhere - and that's exactly why I travel again to get this completely different perspective. A perspective that is at the same time far from the one that is most often presented in the media.
My personal position is that one should always learn more about a society, learn more about a culture and learn more about other countries. It can be done in many different ways, but typically the best way is to travel there and experience it with your own eyes and on your own body.
Close to one of the world's most isolated countries
As North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, it is precisely a destination that you can only really learn more about and understand if you travel there. On a trip to North Korea, you will get very close to the North Koreans and very close to the otherwise closed society.
On my travels I have experienced an incredible number of things. Despite the fact that the trips have "only" lasted five days each time, the programs have been so tightly packed that several of those who have traveled with them had the feeling of having been away from Denmark for several months.
I believe that feeling comes because all the experiences are so diverse. There are experiences that are about Korean history, and there are experiences that are based on having fun, such as when we visit an amusement park.
Among other things, I have visited the North Korean War Museum, which tells about the Korean War. It is one of the nicest and largest museums I have been to in my life.
They tell about the war from a completely different angle than I have learned from the history books. I have been to the border zone DMZ – one of the most intense and military areas in the world. It is the only place where South and North Korea can meet on a rare occasion.
Very close to the culture
On my travels, I have also experienced the culture up close. It is a very special experience to stand at the Mansudae Grand Monument in front of two bronze statues of the two former leaders of North Korea. Two statues which, by the way, stand in every North Korean city.
For comparison, imagine that there was a statue of the queen and the Danish prime minister in every town here at home.
I have also been very close to the population. A population that you generally hear very little about. The meetings have been arranged in the same way as when we have an exchange session with primary school pupils. Or of a more random nature, like when I've been riding the Pyongyang subway.
Pyongyang subway, which is also one of the world's deepest subways.
Is not everything in North Korea just acting and lined up?
When I talk about the fact that I have been close to the population, there are many who question the population's motive for having to talk to me. The skeptics are convinced that all North Koreans are actors and that everything I have experienced in the country is staged.
Somehow I can understand them. After all, they haven't traveled with them and the country is closed, so how would they know any better?
However, I am convinced that the North Koreans I have talked to have no reason to lie about their lives. At least not when they talk about their private lives.
I had this feeling confirmed when, on the last evening of my first trip, we sit and talk with our guide. Mrs. Kang says that she used to love mathematics and solving sudoku.
She actually dreamed of becoming an accountant. She was also quite a skilled swimmer, at least if you asked her herself - she said with a twinkle in her eye. However, she did not imagine that swimming would become her career, so she focused a lot on school.
As life sometimes goes, she ended up becoming a guide. She had been for many years, and she had lots of interesting experiences to tell about tourists. Tourists who had all given her different impressions of the world – both positive and negative.
One country she would really like to visit, if she ever got the chance, was Germany. After she had met us, however, she also wanted to come to Denmark.
Ms. In addition, Kang said her son had just turned five. He had just learned to swim, and she hoped that one day they could cross the largest river in Pyongyang together. She wanted to do that because in her time she had swum over it herself and she dreamed of sharing the experience with her son.
When another person talks about his life, his dreams and his family, it proves to my ears that he or she is a person just like us.
Mrs. Kang also feels love, she also has dreams, she also feels joy and disappointment, and she laughs and cries like the rest of us. It is often forgotten when the media talk about North Korea, but it gives the biggest impression when you experience the country and get close to its people.
That is precisely why I think you should travel with us to North Korea.
But… is it not dangerous to experience North Korea?
Admittedly, North Korea is a very untraditional travel destination, but no - traveling to North Korea is not dangerous. In fact, nothing has ever happened to a tourist who has followed the rules of the land, which stands in stark contrast to travel destinations that are far more visited.
The rules are relatively simple and you will be told them over and over again so you don't forget them. If you should forget that you are not allowed to take a picture of a soldier, for example, your guide will probably tell you and ask you to delete the picture. More than that does not happen.
The North Korean guides are very interested in your travel experience being the best possible. They will also do everything for your safety.
"But what about the American who got 15 years in a labor camp as punishment?". I know the story and it's terrible what happened to Otto Warmbier and his survivors. It cannot and must not be defended.
However, one must not forget that he did not follow the rules. He went somewhere he wasn't supposed to be and stole something he wasn't supposed to touch, and he was sentenced within the North Korean criminal framework. His punishment is incredibly harsh, and harsher than it would probably be for a Dane.
But that is because he is American, and historically North Korea has and USA never really been best friends.
If, in return, you show the necessary respect and humility, you can have the experience of a lifetime in North Korea. I will almost guarantee that when you get on the train from Pyongyang back to China, you will sit with the feeling that it cannot fit that you have just been to North Korea. You will thank yourself.
Have a good trip - you deserve to experience North Korea.
This is what you need to know if you want to travel to North Korea
- There are some very clear rules for what you can and cannot do. You have to follow them.
- For example, you must not take pictures of a soldier. Your guide should probably inform you about what you may and may not photograph.
- It is safe to travel to North Korea, in fact the country has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.
- It is not allowed to travel to North Korea completely alone, but you can go on organized tours and trips to the country.
- It is important to show the necessary respect and humility – if you do, you will have the experience of a lifetime in North Korea.
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