Visiting North Korea
North Korea has been a topic that has interested me for a long time. Being an avid socialist in my youth, I was interested in the cause of communism around the world. I did my research, but it was usually from a very biased view. Coming to South Korea, I had an opportunity to study the history from a unique perspective. I then decided there would be no greater possibility to know the country than to visit.
To those who don’t know much about North Korea, I will give a slight overview. North Korea is a strict Stalinist regime that has been ruling since the founder, Kim Il Sung, took over power after WW2. After a bloody civil war, which the USA was involved, the hard-line regime shut itself off from the world. Since then, it has been on a campaign to abuse human rights and close its citizens off from the – it has been said that most common North Koreans don’t even know we have landed on the moon. After his death, he passed on rule to his son, Kim Jung Il- this was incidentally the only dynastic communist succession in history. In 2011, he died and passed power to his son and now leader Kim Jung Un.
Know these Guys by any chance?
I want to make this point in the clearest of words: no amount of studying, reading books or watching documentaries can prepare you for visiting North Korea. I have traveled quite extensively and had a fair amount of experiences around the world. When I say was totally shocked out of my skin, I mean that in the most sincere, extreme way I can possible convey. The experience took me a while to get over, as I found myself suffering from vivid nightmares for weeks. I finally felt compelled to volunteer with North Korean refugees that had fled to the haven of the south.
So is it as bad as you see on TV, or read about? No, it’s worse. Here are just a few of the most disturbing elements I saw. First, the whole country was barren. All the buildings were old and falling apart, and the fields were yellow as the sun. I swear, too, I saw cows that were barely bigger than humans. I must emphasize that I am not using hyperbolic speech here. I saw humans being herded in a similar manner you would herd swine or goats, literally. Their freedoms were stripped away and they were reduced to walking between fences just like cattle. I saw disturbing propaganda all over the place. The intense colors and vivid imagery were designed to have a psyche response from its views, and it worked as I have still found myself unable to forget the fear it put in me.
As much as I would like to say that I really saw the place, I did not. I was there for approximate 30 hours and saw only a few sites. You aren’t given freedom there as a citizen, much less a tourist. When taken to certain places, a perimeter is set up consisting of military and tour guides of North and South Korea. You are not allowed to deviate outside this human perimeter or engage other civilians, both of which can get you in troubled or even fined. You are also required to wear your temporary ID and visa on you at all times. If you take off your ID you can also incur a fine, which brings me to my last point.
Been to North Korea recently?
The monies collected from the limited tourism in North Korea are used to keep the Kim regime in power. Going to the DPRK (the official title), one should be well aware of this. It was a bit of a psychological seesaw for me electing to go in the first place. I knew I would be playing a part in helping a dictator stay in power. On the other hand, I got a view of a country very few people will ever have. This experience has given insight to the level of oppression that is happening on the worlds watch. Having my heart opened up to the abuse and oppression there, was, indeed, priceless.