I too am fascinated by North Korea, so I made sure I watched this programme.
Would just like to add my thanks to Biofield for his informative posts, and the people who recommended other reads - think I'll buy that 'Nothing to Envy' book.
If you want to read more about North Korea, a good place to start is the Wikipedia article 'human rights in North Korea'. Gives you a clear idea on what's going on in the country, the politics etc. Lots of links to other North Korea related articles as well.
I was fascinated by this documentary. I have been reading and watching everything and anything to do with North Korea since I visited there in June this year.
Needless to say the pictures I saw on the TV were nothing like the country I saw. Any visit to NK by foreign tourists is centered around Pyongyang and selected other showcase sights. The impression I got from my visit was a country which is falling to bits, but is being kept together with sticky tape. Most of the people we met were relatively well educated and informed about the outside world...probably so any questions we asked, or any conversations we had about our own lives didn't shock them. On a few occasions though the reality shone through. Our hotel staff had never heard of things like Michelangelo's David and when I showed them pictures of sights in London, Paris, Rome or the USA they just knew nothing of them. The staff in the library told us the single Madonna CD from the 1990s they had in the archive was a good example of Western Music. Their version of the internet was a kind of basic library catalogue on a 10 year old Dell PC. When we searched for several things, such as ABBA, Scotland, The Simpsons or just about any major event from the 20th Century there were no results.
At night, once our guides went to bed we were left to wander the hotel and the grounds at our leisure. This was our only time on our own and we got to speak to the staff. The younger ones seemed keen to talk with us and in broken English they told us about the country, although it was all positives. Perhaps they don't know the harsh reality as it is hard to move around the country. I got in trouble for getting some real North Korean money (we had to use Euros). I managed to get some from the exchange desk, but it was soon taken off me after the barmaids told their supervisor I had it. The manager of the hotel came to the bar we were in and took it off me again. She seemed very annoyed even though I used the exchange desk at her hotel and paid well over the going rate for it and she herself gave me it! Once we apologised (although I'm not sure what for) she thank us for being kind and then offered us free massages! We didn't take her up on it and I'm still not exactly sure what went on which caused her to change her mind, perhaps she was scared of being reported for giving out money...even though the exchange rate was posted in the hotel change desk and the safe was full of the stuff!
Another thing that got us some funny looks from the staff was asking how old Kim Jong Un was. The TV was showing a big speech by him and loads of pictures of him with children. The barmaids were telling us about how they met him at a big event and how he was a very nice man. When we asked how old he was they went quiet, again called their supervisor who then came and asked us why we wanted to know...we just explained that we had learned so much about the Kim family, including the dates of birth of pretty much everyone going back to Kim Il Sung's grand parents, but no one had every told us when Kim Jong Un was born...she said that she couldn't tell us and then just walked off! So strange.
Anyone who lives in Pyongyang is certainly privileged and can probably live a relativity good life. However, because they live there it means they are under the most watchful eyes of the state. The perfect city they want to show tourists can only remain perfect as long as everyone living there follows the rules. They may have more or less unlimited food and clean water etc, but they pay for it by not being able to talk as openly as those in the countryside might be able to.
Having said that, the facade is quite thin, even in the bits of the country we got to see. I was there for 5 days and during that time we experienced a power cut on the subway (yet strangely the music blaring through the speakers continued to play even though all the trains, escalators and lights went off), we saw children catching birds in the middle of the street, deserted highways, police check points, trams with no windows, buses running on flat tyres, government cars following our tour bus, people crossing the road to avoid our tour group (only 9 of us).
Our hotel had a great view of Pyongyang and at night we could see how only the very newest buildings were lit up, as were any statues or monuments and on every building entrance, spotlights lit up the portraits of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. The tower blocks were people lived were either in darkness or very dimly lit. Our hotel also had no lights in the corridors and very dim bulbs (think of an energy efficient bulb warming up, only never getting past that stage). There were 6 lifts but only ever 2 worked. The revolving restaurant was fully operational though...but had no staff. The hotel had 5 or 6 restaurants, but we only ever ate in one...at the same table every morning. The only link to the outside world was sending an email (not from your own account though) or a phone call, both of which cost a lot! Our own mobiles didn't work (but we could keep them with us at all times) and our guides mobiles didn't call any number other than ones in Pyongyang...not even the embassies. We did see plenty of Koreans with mobile phones though, so they are not totally stuck in the past.
I visited the department store featured in this documentary. We had to more or less beg our guides to let us visit something off the itinerary. They were reluctant, but on our last night we got to visit. While we were inside there were no Koreans and several of them didn't come in when they saw us in there. We bought some North Korean drinks and food, but a lot of it was imported Chinese and Vietnamese goods. One thing we did notice on the second floor of the store was a lot of European and American electronics. These were there for foreign diplomatic staff to buy. The store only took Euros or the North Korean credit card (no foreign cards accepted at all).
I could honestly write several posts about my visit, but I'll leave it there for now.
I agree with Howard, brilliant post. I am fascinated by North Korea and have read the book "Nothing to Envy". Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to watch the documentary. I wonder will it be repeated?
Anyway, thanks for sharing some of your impressions.
One question I've often wondered about is; were a western tourist to disobey the guides, ie, go off on their own, openly question the regime or take photos of things they shouldn't, did you get any inkling of how they might be dealt with?
I do wonder if they really would throw a westerner in the slammer for such things or would they just throw you out the country.
Firstly, my name is Blofeld, like the Bond villain.
Secondly. While the poster who said they had a friend who praise the regime in North Korea is I'm sure telling the truth, their friend is being a bit too dismissive of the documentary. If they wish to go and live in the DPRK then they would be more than welcome. The government would love nothing more than someone defecting FROM the capitalist, imperialist West. Next time they visit they should destroy their passport, renounce their citizenship and claim asylum. I am confident the North Koreans would welcome him.
My female guide herself told us that women wearing trousers was only officially permitted recently. She continued to wear skirts, but said that women wearing trousers was never something she had seen anyone get in serious trouble for, but in general women in NK preferred to look their best and wearing trousers was seen as not putting in much effort, so were often avoided.
I would certainly give the government credit where it's due. The things that worked in NK did work very well. There is very little crime or drug abuse, hardly any public disorder either. The streets were spotless, the national parks were stunning, the water was clean (not drinkable though) and the streets of Pyongyang, Kaesong and Sariwon were well maintained, although these are on the tourist trail. To visit somewhere like Chongjin, which has been heavily documented as being one of the worst affected cities in NK by the famine of the 1990s, would be interesting. The people of Chongjing are the ones mainly interviewed in the "Nothing to Envy" book. Unfortunately it is just not possible to visit any of the country which doesn't feature on the pre-selected, tourist friendly itinerary. Car hire, taking a train or intercity bus, going on a domestic flight on your own are just not possible like they are in almost every other country.
However that isn't enough to make me support the government. The overwhelming evidence of the abuse of the people in the country is too much to simply shrug it off as American or South Korean propaganda.
I don't know what would have happened had one of our group stepped out of line. Arrest is unlikely unless it was something extremely offensive to the regime, but to start spewing that kind of stuff would just be plain stupid. Deportation would come pretty quickly I'd imagine. We all held our criticism until we were in China again. The main reason being because we could then talk without our guides there and also because we felt like when we were in the country we should respect their way of life. What Earthly good would it have done if we were all to start laughing at the way they live or telling our guides about the stuff we had all read and seen on our TV screens back home. What can they do about it?
If they are caught trying to spread the word they would be punished. If we had stepped out of line then they would have been punished too for not being able to control us. They would have just written us off as ignorant Westerners, which is not at all the image we wanted to give them of the outside world. We wanted to challenge their preconceptions and show interest in how they lived.
For anyone who's wondering, I sadly, cannot officially publish anything to do with my trip. Having looked in to it, I did sign a waiver stating I would not gain financially from my visit as to do so could be related to journalism and that would affect the travel agent I went with, possibly jeapordising their relationship with the official tour agency of NK. I can however put it all up on a not for profit blog, so will probably do that soon.
While the poster who said they had a friend who praise the regime in North Korea is I'm sure telling the truth, their friend is being a bit too dismissive of the documentary. If they wish to go and live in the DPRK then they would be more than welcome. The government would love nothing more than someone defecting FROM the capitalist, imperialist West. Next time they visit they should destroy their passport, renounce their citizenship and claim asylum. I am confident the North Koreans would welcome him.
He would consider that to be a selfish act on his part. He is too busy trying to establish a North-Korean-style political system here in Britain.
One question I've often wondered about is; were a western tourist to disobey the guides, ie, go off on their own, openly question the regime or take photos of things they shouldn't, did you get any inkling of how they might be dealt with?
My understanding is that the authorities inspect all photographs taken by tourists, and require them to delete the ones they don't like. Also, tourists are warned that if they criticise the régime too much, then their guides will be the ones getting in trouble for not controlling them well enough.
My understanding is that the authorities inspect all photographs taken by tourists, and require them to delete the ones they don't like. Also, tourists are warned that if they criticise the régime too much, then their guides will be the ones getting in trouble for not controlling them well enough.
We didn't have a single picture looked at, they didn't even inspect our bags on the way in or way out.One guy on my group even had a camera lens that was way bigger than the officially allowed length but they didn't bat an eye lid. All they did was occasionally tell us not to take pictures and only on one occasion did we have to actually leave our cameras in safe deposit boxes before entering the "International Friendship Exhibition".
Firstly, my name is Blofeld, like the Bond villain.
Secondly. While the poster who said they had a friend who praise the regime in North Korea is I'm sure telling the truth, their friend is being a bit too dismissive of the documentary. If they wish to go and live in the DPRK then they would be more than welcome. The government would love nothing more than someone defecting FROM the capitalist, imperialist West. Next time they visit they should destroy their passport, renounce their citizenship and claim asylum. I am confident the North Koreans would welcome him.
My female guide herself told us that women wearing trousers was only officially permitted recently. She continued to wear skirts, but said that women wearing trousers was never something she had seen anyone get in serious trouble for, but in general women in NK preferred to look their best and wearing trousers was seen as not putting in much effort, so were often avoided.
I would certainly give the government credit where it's due. The things that worked in NK did work very well. There is very little crime or drug abuse, hardly any public disorder either. The streets were spotless, the national parks were stunning, the water was clean (not drinkable though) and the streets of Pyongyang, Kaesong and Sariwon were well maintained, although these are on the tourist trail. To visit somewhere like Chongjin, which has been heavily documented as being one of the worst affected cities in NK by the famine of the 1990s, would be interesting. The people of Chongjing are the ones mainly interviewed in the "Nothing to Envy" book. Unfortunately it is just not possible to visit any of the country which doesn't feature on the pre-selected, tourist friendly itinerary. Car hire, taking a train or intercity bus, going on a domestic flight on your own are just not possible like they are in almost every other country.
However that isn't enough to make me support the government. The overwhelming evidence of the abuse of the people in the country is too much to simply shrug it off as American or South Korean propaganda.
I don't know what would have happened had one of our group stepped out of line. Arrest is unlikely unless it was something extremely offensive to the regime, but to start spewing that kind of stuff would just be plain stupid. Deportation would come pretty quickly I'd imagine. We all held our criticism until we were in China again. The main reason being because we could then talk without our guides there and also because we felt like when we were in the country we should respect their way of life. What Earthly good would it have done if we were all to start laughing at the way they live or telling our guides about the stuff we had all read and seen on our TV screens back home. What can they do about it?
If they are caught trying to spread the word they would be punished. If we had stepped out of line then they would have been punished too for not being able to control us. They would have just written us off as ignorant Westerners, which is not at all the image we wanted to give them of the outside world. We wanted to challenge their preconceptions and show interest in how they lived.
For anyone who's wondering, I sadly, cannot officially publish anything to do with my trip. Having looked in to it, I did sign a waiver stating I would not gain financially from my visit as to do so could be related to journalism and that would affect the travel agent I went with, possibly jeapordising their relationship with the official tour agency of NK. I can however put it all up on a not for profit blog, so will probably do that soon.
While I would be interested to visit North Korea. I think I would resent having to bow to the statue of Kim il Sung, and I would be torn between wanting to take subversive photos and the fear of repercussions should I go too far, not just for myself, but as you say for the North Korean guides. Your account of the manager getting worried about the currency she had traded you would make me very anxious on her behalf.
Finally caught this on Catch Up and like everyone else found it fascinating, and in parts heart breaking at the same time. Also thanks to Blofeld for the posts which added to my understanding. I have looked at holidays in North Korea in the past, and hope to get there one day.
That Kim Jong-un's coming across as a right piece of crap! I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually trying to kill his people off or just sadistically torture them by depriving them of so much food. He's a moron if he's doing this.
I don't know what would have happened had one of our group stepped out of line. Arrest is unlikely unless it was something extremely offensive to the regime, but to start spewing that kind of stuff would just be plain stupid.
Not sure if this guy 'stepped out of line' at all but i'm sure by now most must have heard this on the News.
The guy is 85 years old so I very much doubt he's engaged in 'subversive avtivities' of any nature....but then again, with the yanks one just never knows!
We didn't have a single picture looked at, they didn't even inspect our bags on the way in or way out. One guy on my group even had a camera lens that was way bigger than the officially allowed length but they didn't bat an eye lid. All they did was occasionally tell us not to take pictures and only on one occasion did we have to actually leave our cameras in safe deposit boxes before entering the "International Friendship Exhibition".
I think this kind of thing comes about from Western propaganda distorting fact and general paranoia whipped up by right wing rag mag media.
I travel alone (motorhome) and this year toured in Albania, Serbia and Bosnia. I lost count of the folk back here in the UK who said "you must be bloody mad.....you'll get shot." I told them I would go and see for myself as that's the only way to find out.
If reunification happened then I should imagine that it would be very expensive for the south to try & bring standards of living in the north up to the levels they are in the south, surely the UN/IMF would have to be heavily involved.
One question I've often wondered about is; were a western tourist to disobey the guides, ie, go off on their own, openly question the regime or take photos of things they shouldn't, did you get any inkling of how they might be dealt with?
I do wonder if they really would throw a westerner in the slammer for such things or would they just throw you out the country.
Read about Kenneth Bae. He was a tour guide and he is now doing 15 years hard labour.
And just yesterday an American tourist called Merill Newman got arrested as he was leaving on the plane. He was a Korean War vet. It was claimed he was arrested because of that.
I travel alone (motorhome) and this year toured in Albania, Serbia and Bosnia. I lost count of the folk back here in the UK who said "you must be bloody mad.....you'll get shot." I told them I would go and see for myself as that's the only way to find out.
Saw this on catch up yesterday after the mob were all in bed. The store with nothing on sale was amazing and I was very glad the guy filming gave the small child some money to get something to eat. When we are shown hungry and starving children in TV documentaries often no-one seems to be doing anything at all to help them except film their agony. I know helping one doesn't solve the problem but I have always wondered what happens after they stop filming.
Evidently, according to OH, there was an assassination attempt on Kim whatever his name is not too long ago, so it seems things may change. I just hope the people get some freedom and not just an army run dictatorship.
I was fascinated by this documentary. I have been reading and watching everything and anything to do with North Korea since I visited there in June this year.
Needless to say the pictures I saw on the TV were nothing like the country I saw. Any visit to NK by foreign tourists is centered around Pyongyang and selected other showcase sights. The impression I got from my visit was a country which is falling to bits, but is being kept together with sticky tape. Most of the people we met were relatively well educated and informed about the outside world...probably so any questions we asked, or any conversations we had about our own lives didn't shock them. On a few occasions though the reality shone through. Our hotel staff had never heard of things like Michelangelo's David and when I showed them pictures of sights in London, Paris, Rome or the USA they just knew nothing of them. The staff in the library told us the single Madonna CD from the 1990s they had in the archive was a good example of Western Music. Their version of the internet was a kind of basic library catalogue on a 10 year old Dell PC. When we searched for several things, such as ABBA, Scotland, The Simpsons or just about any major event from the 20th Century there were no results.
At night, once our guides went to bed we were left to wander the hotel and the grounds at our leisure. This was our only time on our own and we got to speak to the staff. The younger ones seemed keen to talk with us and in broken English they told us about the country, although it was all positives. Perhaps they don't know the harsh reality as it is hard to move around the country. I got in trouble for getting some real North Korean money (we had to use Euros). I managed to get some from the exchange desk, but it was soon taken off me after the barmaids told their supervisor I had it. The manager of the hotel came to the bar we were in and took it off me again. She seemed very annoyed even though I used the exchange desk at her hotel and paid well over the going rate for it and she herself gave me it! Once we apologised (although I'm not sure what for) she thank us for being kind and then offered us free massages! We didn't take her up on it and I'm still not exactly sure what went on which caused her to change her mind, perhaps she was scared of being reported for giving out money...even though the exchange rate was posted in the hotel change desk and the safe was full of the stuff!
Another thing that got us some funny looks from the staff was asking how old Kim Jong Un was. The TV was showing a big speech by him and loads of pictures of him with children. The barmaids were telling us about how they met him at a big event and how he was a very nice man. When we asked how old he was they went quiet, again called their supervisor who then came and asked us why we wanted to know...we just explained that we had learned so much about the Kim family, including the dates of birth of pretty much everyone going back to Kim Il Sung's grand parents, but no one had every told us when Kim Jong Un was born...she said that she couldn't tell us and then just walked off! So strange.
Anyone who lives in Pyongyang is certainly privileged and can probably live a relativity good life. However, because they live there it means they are under the most watchful eyes of the state. The perfect city they want to show tourists can only remain perfect as long as everyone living there follows the rules. They may have more or less unlimited food and clean water etc, but they pay for it by not being able to talk as openly as those in the countryside might be able to.
Having said that, the facade is quite thin, even in the bits of the country we got to see. I was there for 5 days and during that time we experienced a power cut on the subway (yet strangely the music blaring through the speakers continued to play even though all the trains, escalators and lights went off), we saw children catching birds in the middle of the street, deserted highways, police check points, trams with no windows, buses running on flat tyres, government cars following our tour bus, people crossing the road to avoid our tour group (only 9 of us).
Our hotel had a great view of Pyongyang and at night we could see how only the very newest buildings were lit up, as were any statues or monuments and on every building entrance, spotlights lit up the portraits of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. The tower blocks were people lived were either in darkness or very dimly lit. Our hotel also had no lights in the corridors and very dim bulbs (think of an energy efficient bulb warming up, only never getting past that stage). There were 6 lifts but only ever 2 worked. The revolving restaurant was fully operational though...but had no staff. The hotel had 5 or 6 restaurants, but we only ever ate in one...at the same table every morning. The only link to the outside world was sending an email (not from your own account though) or a phone call, both of which cost a lot! Our own mobiles didn't work (but we could keep them with us at all times) and our guides mobiles didn't call any number other than ones in Pyongyang...not even the embassies. We did see plenty of Koreans with mobile phones though, so they are not totally stuck in the past.
I visited the department store featured in this documentary. We had to more or less beg our guides to let us visit something off the itinerary. They were reluctant, but on our last night we got to visit. While we were inside there were no Koreans and several of them didn't come in when they saw us in there. We bought some North Korean drinks and food, but a lot of it was imported Chinese and Vietnamese goods. One thing we did notice on the second floor of the store was a lot of European and American electronics. These were there for foreign diplomatic staff to buy. The store only took Euros or the North Korean credit card (no foreign cards accepted at all).
I could honestly write several posts about my visit, but I'll leave it there for now.
Do write some more I found your post fascinating. I teach History and have had a fascination with this country since last year.
I travel alone (motorhome) and this year toured in Albania, Serbia and Bosnia. I lost count of the folk back here in the UK who said "you must be bloody mad.....you'll get shot." I told them I would go and see for myself as that's the only way to find out.
I got the exact same reaction when I went to those countries last summer. I stayed in Hostels as well. They are all absolutely fine, probably safer than walking the streets of some UK cities. Yes, Albania and Kosovo are a bit behind some other Countries, but at no point did I feel unsafe or like I was in some warzone. Bosnia and Macedonia were actually more modern than I ever thought they would be and Belgrade was just like any Western European city, really.
As for this 85 year old War Veteran. It's clearly wrong what has happened to him and I am quite surprised they have arrested him and quite why they waited until literally the last minute of his trip before they did so is also confusing. I can only imagine he has said or done something or admitted to doing something decades ago which the North Koreans have considered a crime against the country. I mean had they known about his apparent crime in advance then I doubt they would have issued the visa to let him travel.
Comments
Would just like to add my thanks to Biofield for his informative posts, and the people who recommended other reads - think I'll buy that 'Nothing to Envy' book.
Thanks, I will have a look at that
I agree with Howard, brilliant post. I am fascinated by North Korea and have read the book "Nothing to Envy". Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to watch the documentary. I wonder will it be repeated?
Anyway, thanks for sharing some of your impressions.
A very good post yes, but spare the hyperbole, we're not in North Korea praising the Great Leader now.
One question I've often wondered about is; were a western tourist to disobey the guides, ie, go off on their own, openly question the regime or take photos of things they shouldn't, did you get any inkling of how they might be dealt with?
I do wonder if they really would throw a westerner in the slammer for such things or would they just throw you out the country.
Secondly. While the poster who said they had a friend who praise the regime in North Korea is I'm sure telling the truth, their friend is being a bit too dismissive of the documentary. If they wish to go and live in the DPRK then they would be more than welcome. The government would love nothing more than someone defecting FROM the capitalist, imperialist West. Next time they visit they should destroy their passport, renounce their citizenship and claim asylum. I am confident the North Koreans would welcome him.
My female guide herself told us that women wearing trousers was only officially permitted recently. She continued to wear skirts, but said that women wearing trousers was never something she had seen anyone get in serious trouble for, but in general women in NK preferred to look their best and wearing trousers was seen as not putting in much effort, so were often avoided.
I would certainly give the government credit where it's due. The things that worked in NK did work very well. There is very little crime or drug abuse, hardly any public disorder either. The streets were spotless, the national parks were stunning, the water was clean (not drinkable though) and the streets of Pyongyang, Kaesong and Sariwon were well maintained, although these are on the tourist trail. To visit somewhere like Chongjin, which has been heavily documented as being one of the worst affected cities in NK by the famine of the 1990s, would be interesting. The people of Chongjing are the ones mainly interviewed in the "Nothing to Envy" book. Unfortunately it is just not possible to visit any of the country which doesn't feature on the pre-selected, tourist friendly itinerary. Car hire, taking a train or intercity bus, going on a domestic flight on your own are just not possible like they are in almost every other country.
However that isn't enough to make me support the government. The overwhelming evidence of the abuse of the people in the country is too much to simply shrug it off as American or South Korean propaganda.
I don't know what would have happened had one of our group stepped out of line. Arrest is unlikely unless it was something extremely offensive to the regime, but to start spewing that kind of stuff would just be plain stupid. Deportation would come pretty quickly I'd imagine. We all held our criticism until we were in China again. The main reason being because we could then talk without our guides there and also because we felt like when we were in the country we should respect their way of life. What Earthly good would it have done if we were all to start laughing at the way they live or telling our guides about the stuff we had all read and seen on our TV screens back home. What can they do about it?
If they are caught trying to spread the word they would be punished. If we had stepped out of line then they would have been punished too for not being able to control us. They would have just written us off as ignorant Westerners, which is not at all the image we wanted to give them of the outside world. We wanted to challenge their preconceptions and show interest in how they lived.
For anyone who's wondering, I sadly, cannot officially publish anything to do with my trip. Having looked in to it, I did sign a waiver stating I would not gain financially from my visit as to do so could be related to journalism and that would affect the travel agent I went with, possibly jeapordising their relationship with the official tour agency of NK. I can however put it all up on a not for profit blog, so will probably do that soon.
We didn't have a single picture looked at, they didn't even inspect our bags on the way in or way out.One guy on my group even had a camera lens that was way bigger than the officially allowed length but they didn't bat an eye lid. All they did was occasionally tell us not to take pictures and only on one occasion did we have to actually leave our cameras in safe deposit boxes before entering the "International Friendship Exhibition".
While I would be interested to visit North Korea. I think I would resent having to bow to the statue of Kim il Sung, and I would be torn between wanting to take subversive photos and the fear of repercussions should I go too far, not just for myself, but as you say for the North Korean guides. Your account of the manager getting worried about the currency she had traded you would make me very anxious on her behalf.
The guy is 85 years old so I very much doubt he's engaged in 'subversive avtivities' of any nature....but then again, with the yanks one just never knows!
I think this kind of thing comes about from Western propaganda distorting fact and general paranoia whipped up by right wing rag mag media.
I travel alone (motorhome) and this year toured in Albania, Serbia and Bosnia. I lost count of the folk back here in the UK who said "you must be bloody mad.....you'll get shot." I told them I would go and see for myself as that's the only way to find out.
We can only hope that the North Korean people are freed soon, I'm glad there are more and more people there questioning the regime.
Read about Kenneth Bae. He was a tour guide and he is now doing 15 years hard labour.
And just yesterday an American tourist called Merill Newman got arrested as he was leaving on the plane. He was a Korean War vet. It was claimed he was arrested because of that.
Evidently, according to OH, there was an assassination attempt on Kim whatever his name is not too long ago, so it seems things may change. I just hope the people get some freedom and not just an army run dictatorship.
Do write some more
I got the exact same reaction when I went to those countries last summer. I stayed in Hostels as well. They are all absolutely fine, probably safer than walking the streets of some UK cities. Yes, Albania and Kosovo are a bit behind some other Countries, but at no point did I feel unsafe or like I was in some warzone. Bosnia and Macedonia were actually more modern than I ever thought they would be and Belgrade was just like any Western European city, really.
As for this 85 year old War Veteran. It's clearly wrong what has happened to him and I am quite surprised they have arrested him and quite why they waited until literally the last minute of his trip before they did so is also confusing. I can only imagine he has said or done something or admitted to doing something decades ago which the North Koreans have considered a crime against the country. I mean had they known about his apparent crime in advance then I doubt they would have issued the visa to let him travel.