Western journalists tell of travel to North Korea

A small group of Western journalists have had the rare opportunity to visit secretive North Korea, the Stalinist-style country that is all but closed to foreigners. Normally, journalists are not granted entry to the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK) and only a small handful of officially sanctioned travel agencies are permitted to arrange carefully monitored trips to Pyongyang, the country’s capital, for western tourists. On these trips, tourists may stay at specifically sanctioned hotels, which they may not leave, unless accompanied by an official tour guide.

Tim Johnson, of US-based McClatchy Newspapers, was one of the lucky few who gained entry to the DPRK. Johnson observed that tour guides in North Korea serve a very different role than those in the West. Rather than being there to provide pertinent information and directions, their main purpose apparently is keep foreigners in line and ensure that none of them stray away from the group, or take photographs in prohibited areas. They also confiscate all mobile phones and other electronic devices that a tourist may have on his/her person upon arrival in the DPRK. As such, Johnson felt that tour guides in the DPRK behave more like drill sergeants than anything else. Johnson recounts how his tour guide commanded one of his peers to delete photos from his digital camera, which were not approved of, or else the device would be confiscated.

The group of western journalists also noticed the unusually high level of cleanliness in the areas of the DPRK that they visited. Yet the lack of litter on the streets speaks volumes about the abject poverty that people live in and the fact that since there are so few commodities and minimal amounts of food, there is precious little to dispose of. While much of the country’s infrastructure is very dated and appears to be crumbling, the countryside has not been pillaged in the way that many western countries have, and forests, as well as wildlife abound.