They used to sell imported goods like TVs, bicycles, cameras, typewriters etc etc, but only in exchange for American Dollars.
You couldn't legally buy American Dollars in Poland - the only way to legally obtain them was to have them sent over from abroad by a relative(you could buy them from the national bank for business, but it was a massive pain to get the necessary permissions).
I just think it's interesting, as the experience looks similar, except that the korean store takes korean won. On the other hand, I imagine only members of the korean elite are allowed in that store, while anyone could at least enter a PEWEX and marvel at the imported goods.
- The environment seems depressingly spartan and utilitarian. Everything is drab. And yet this it he capital city.
- Virtually no one is walking with anyone else. There are a few exceptions, but it looks as if conversation is essentially absent when out and about.
- In a manner, it's boggling to consider where all of these people are coming from and going to. With no commerce, every building looks like it might as well be an apartment building. The feeling I get is like watching the rote movement you would see in a computer simulation of a city. A lot of movement, but with what purpose?
- Even though there is only very minimal traffic, it seems like crosswalks are not common, so the Youtuber keeps using pedestrian underpasses.
The cigarettes section of the "Privileged Store" [1]. At least Kim Jong-un cares about your lungs. (Also, the electricity goes off and nobody bats an eye [2]. They must have the POS computer on a battery.)
The photo and caption about the spectacular paintings in North Korea remind me of how much I regret going into the country without a good amount of cash. On the tour, we visited several galleries and artist studios stocked full of large and exquisite paintings—most not propaganda—at what I remember being very reasonable prices.
Obviously, they were unable to accept Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
It strikes me how expensive these visits must be for NK. It seems that every tourist gets a dedicated guide, while someone (or multiple people) is probably also monitoring them remotely. Then, consider the little details like that empty restaurant they cleared for the sake of a tourist. In terms of manpower it's probably a factor > 1 relative to the number of visitors.
Imagine every visitor to the US was escorted by a government employee, with background surveillance attached. It would cost a fortune!
NK is not exactly resource-constrained on labour. As others have pointed out, the visits are a valuable source of foreign currency. (And propaganda - the number of people in this thread uttering variations of "that doesn't look too bad" is staggering).
I had already read a couple of blogposts relating travels in North Korea, but this is the first one that made it feel like a gleeful adventure. The corn fields, the countryside cities, the small picnic and barbecue parties with food and soju... It reminds me of good times that I had in South Korea. Of course, it always has to be considered that it's also NK's propaganda machine/tourism industry in action, but some of those pictures warmed my heart up.
There is an element of adventure to these pictures. Some of his pictures are clearly illegal, disallowed, or uncomfortable in the North Korean context. There are examples of these especially in the second instalment [1]. Having spent some time in small-town Russia, I could almost taste the soulless architecture. The sense of adventure is further heightened when watching vlogs from Jaka Parker (noted elsewhere here), including this one video of him travelling almost 200km outside of Pyongyang along North Korea’s major highway [2]. There are remarkably few cars on the road and at several points, it felt like B-roll footage from a movie set a-la The Walking Dead: the desertion in the roads of this nuclear power is simply astonishing.
On a related note, several tour companies across Africa offer overland tours including a 73-day journey across 10 countries in Eastern and Southern African countries [3] and a terrifying 27-day trip across the western edges of the Sahara Desert [4, 5, 6].
Did you read the first few lines of the page? Or pretty much any of the captions?
> Most tourists only experience the political smokescreen of Pyongyang; I had the privilege in visiting all corners on one of the longest tours ever executed (no pun intended) for foreigners into the hermit kingdom.
Photos from an officially supervised tour, yes, but limited to Pyongyang, definitely not.
It's immoral to visit such a country. It has concentration camps. It tortures on a large scale. It's citizens suffer and visiting the country gives money to an evil regime.
We've had a strategy of isolationism towards them for 50+ years, and it doesn't seem to have worked. If you wanted North Korea to be as free as possible in 20 years, what would you do today to help enable that? I think visiting might in fact be a net positive. Also, Jimmy Carter went there, so maybe you should too!
That said, I struggle with this question. In some ways you're absolutely correct. My personal struggle: North Korea has a chain of restaurants abroad, and I walked by one quite often while I was in Bangkok. Out of (morbid) curiosity, I would have loved to dine there and talk to the (very attractive) North Korean waitresses. I couldn't stomach giving the regime the $3 for the meal though.
In some ways, going to the NK restaurants supports the quazi-slavery of the workers in the restaurant. But in other ways, that spending enables the restaurant workers to live in Thailand and not North Korea. In the end, I decided not to visit, as I couldn't help but think of how I would feel about someone dining at a Nazi restaurant in the 40s. Difficult ethical questions though.
I am in agreement. Especially considering they put up a front and try to show visitors a fake / happy version of the country.
People often boycott and don't like visiting circuses or shows that generally abuse and exploit animals (elephant shows in Thailand come to mind). I can't see why visiting NK is any different.
This is absolutely a valid criticism and should be debated rather than down-voted.
EDIT> Is it moral to give money to a regime that has killed millions of its own citizens? I mean, unless you're secretly giving medical supplies to the poor, your money is only benefiting the elite.
There's a very recent and pretty interesting series of interviews with Thae Yong-ho on Arirang. He's the highest ranking North Korean to ever defect (he was the Deputy Ambassador to England and defected last year). He provides some pretty fascinating insights into life in North Korea from a North Korean perspective.
I also recommend to check out this one [1]. It's about someone who has traveled to North Korea for 8 days. His travel documentation is awesome because he told us from start to finish. Beside that, he attached photos inside it.
No they won't. These are the views every tourist gets shown. Some are nearly the same as pictures I took on my visits. These are the parts of the country for show.
[+] [-] nchammas|9 years ago|reply
Couple of random examples:
* Walking around Pyongyang in the winter. [1]
* Going to a computer store in Pyongyang. [2]
[0] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvCf_q10UZkUJE0lOav0ag
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2ZkXz_1U8
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtDWYzwwuUs
[+] [-] gambiting|9 years ago|reply
They used to sell imported goods like TVs, bicycles, cameras, typewriters etc etc, but only in exchange for American Dollars.
You couldn't legally buy American Dollars in Poland - the only way to legally obtain them was to have them sent over from abroad by a relative(you could buy them from the national bank for business, but it was a massive pain to get the necessary permissions).
I just think it's interesting, as the experience looks similar, except that the korean store takes korean won. On the other hand, I imagine only members of the korean elite are allowed in that store, while anyone could at least enter a PEWEX and marvel at the imported goods.
[+] [-] bhauer|9 years ago|reply
In the winter video, a few things jump out at me:
- The environment seems depressingly spartan and utilitarian. Everything is drab. And yet this it he capital city.
- Virtually no one is walking with anyone else. There are a few exceptions, but it looks as if conversation is essentially absent when out and about.
- In a manner, it's boggling to consider where all of these people are coming from and going to. With no commerce, every building looks like it might as well be an apartment building. The feeling I get is like watching the rote movement you would see in a computer simulation of a city. A lot of movement, but with what purpose?
- Even though there is only very minimal traffic, it seems like crosswalks are not common, so the Youtuber keeps using pedestrian underpasses.
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blhack|9 years ago|reply
Any idea what's up with that? Am I interpreting the price wrong?
[+] [-] Mindless2112|9 years ago|reply
[1] https://youtu.be/uLvJgOgW4hk?t=245 [2] https://youtu.be/uLvJgOgW4hk?t=505
[+] [-] orblivion|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Keyframe|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dominotw|9 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csI1EoMOXXk
Secret footage shot by an activist inside north korea.
eg:
markets inside a north korean town https://youtu.be/csI1EoMOXXk?t=1366
dead bodies of people who tried to escape in the yalu river
https://youtu.be/csI1EoMOXXk?t=1145
[+] [-] iamjeff|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brianshaler|9 years ago|reply
Obviously, they were unable to accept Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
[+] [-] idlewords|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] foobarian|9 years ago|reply
Imagine every visitor to the US was escorted by a government employee, with background surveillance attached. It would cost a fortune!
[+] [-] mseebach|9 years ago|reply
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/04/03/176121772/...
NK is not exactly resource-constrained on labour. As others have pointed out, the visits are a valuable source of foreign currency. (And propaganda - the number of people in this thread uttering variations of "that doesn't look too bad" is staggering).
[+] [-] toomanybeersies|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ajdlinux|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] egourlao|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iamjeff|9 years ago|reply
On a related note, several tour companies across Africa offer overland tours including a 73-day journey across 10 countries in Eastern and Southern African countries [3] and a terrifying 27-day trip across the western edges of the Sahara Desert [4, 5, 6].
[1] 100 Photos Inside North Korea – Part 2 (http://www.earthnutshell.com/100-photos-from-north-korea-par...)
[2] 100kms outside Pyongyang - North Korea (https://youtu.be/zCjpxZDTyqs)
[3] Nairobi to Cape Town Overland Tours (https://www.absoluteafrica.com/The-Absolute-Safari/AS71)
[4] (http://www.overlandingwestafrica.com/trip-overview-availabil...)
[5] Mauritania 2013. Exploring West Africa by expedition truck (https://www.flickr.com/photos/128667255@N04/sets/72157649867...)
[6] Overland West Africa - MAURITANIA - 2013-2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRHiAXjyHTk)
[+] [-] idlewords|9 years ago|reply
There's a fascinating photoset from 2008 by some Europeans who through a bureaucratic miracle were allowed to enter and cross North Korea by train: http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/2008/09/khabarovsk-khas...
[+] [-] waqf|9 years ago|reply
> Most tourists only experience the political smokescreen of Pyongyang; I had the privilege in visiting all corners on one of the longest tours ever executed (no pun intended) for foreigners into the hermit kingdom.
Photos from an officially supervised tour, yes, but limited to Pyongyang, definitely not.
[+] [-] kough|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jpatokal|9 years ago|reply
But still fascinating!
[+] [-] yequalsx|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tuna-piano|9 years ago|reply
That said, I struggle with this question. In some ways you're absolutely correct. My personal struggle: North Korea has a chain of restaurants abroad, and I walked by one quite often while I was in Bangkok. Out of (morbid) curiosity, I would have loved to dine there and talk to the (very attractive) North Korean waitresses. I couldn't stomach giving the regime the $3 for the meal though.
In some ways, going to the NK restaurants supports the quazi-slavery of the workers in the restaurant. But in other ways, that spending enables the restaurant workers to live in Thailand and not North Korea. In the end, I decided not to visit, as I couldn't help but think of how I would feel about someone dining at a Nazi restaurant in the 40s. Difficult ethical questions though.
[+] [-] Zombieball|9 years ago|reply
People often boycott and don't like visiting circuses or shows that generally abuse and exploit animals (elephant shows in Thailand come to mind). I can't see why visiting NK is any different.
[+] [-] JabavuAdams|9 years ago|reply
EDIT> Is it moral to give money to a regime that has killed millions of its own citizens? I mean, unless you're secretly giving medical supplies to the poor, your money is only benefiting the elite.
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bane|9 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Thae+Yong+Ho+Sp...
[+] [-] rgerganov|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thewhitetulip|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] FTA|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] palerdot|9 years ago|reply
This is really fascinating, albeit being an unintended consequence of disproportionate wealth distribution.
[+] [-] 0x54MUR41|9 years ago|reply
[1]: https://medium.com/swlh/8-days-in-north-korea-5c651c3883de
[+] [-] ionised|9 years ago|reply
Though I suppose that is all for show and another word could be sterile.
[+] [-] United857|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spodek|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elastic_church|9 years ago|reply
of course why do you ask!
[+] [-] dimitar9909|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] icantdrive55|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] mproud|9 years ago|reply