North Korea
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

I wanted to go to North Korea for some years but had to figure out when and how. I decided to travel with the Koryo Tours travel agency after I came to the conclusion it is the best one after reading about it and following their posts on Facebook and e-mails. It has also a long history of film industry engagement with North Korea, like the movie: “Comrade Kim Goes Flying”, which was co-directed by Koryo director Nicholas Bonner and was a Belgium, UK and North Korea co-production. It is also the international co-coordinator for the Pyongyang International Film Festival which they provide tours to. I think one of their main strength is that they give good instruction on how to behave in North Korea which is different and more strict than in other countries I have visited. Its was very important to follow these instruction not only for myself but also for the guides, the travel agency and the group which can be sent back to China for violation of some members. They provide many interesting tours like e.g. Leica photography tour, Mass Games, autumn trade fair, beer industry and Marathon. I took the May Day and East Coast Tour and we were 17 in the group. It was supposed to be 10 nights but the group got one more night free because some delegation was going to fly on Saturday so we went on Friday. The tour was 26th April – 7th May 7 in 2019 and cost 2.530 EUR which included visa, flight from and back to Beijing, accommodations, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also two North Korean guides, driver and a Zoe Stephens, who was tour leader. They all did an excellent job.  Because I am not a journalist it was very easy for me to get a visa which Koryo Tours took care of. One of our guides Mr. Ri Hyon Chol was Michael Palin (Monty Python star) guide when he shot the documentary about North Korea, which Nicholas Bonner was the associate producer of. The other guide was Ms. Pak Un Lyong. I was surprised that they spoke better English than many who have it as their main language. They told me that they learned by listening to BBC and then repeat. It was recommend that we bring euros or dollars and I bought a lot of books in English and North Koreans movies on DVD. We traveled for about 311 miles between the west and east coast and also to the South Korean border.Songdowon International Children’s Camp in Wonsan, which is the main school children’s camp in North Korea. Occupying a total area of over 340,000 square meters the facilities includes, outdoor playground, gym, indoor swimming pool, archery field, bathing beach, aquarium and electronic recreation hall. The children learn e.g. mountaineering in other areas and skiing at the Masikryong Ski Resort, which we also visited. The children are members of the Young Pioneer Corps and their activities and motto: “Always ready!” reminds me of scouts, but their camp is much more advanced than I have seen for scouts in Iceland and Gilwell park in UK.
The Mangyongdae Schoolchildren’s Palace provides extracurricular activities for thousands students a day and is considered the best one for such activities in the country. They come after school to learn skills according to their wishes and are chosen by their teachers. We visited some classes and saw a big performance with songs and dances. In one part the dancing was about Snow White and the dwarfs. This reminded me a wall painting of Snow White I saw in Iran. Its a 19th-century German fairy tale published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm. Charlie Thorson, a Canadian of Icelandic descent, who worked as an illustrator and character creator at Disney, drew the Snow White and used the Icelandic girl Kristín Sölvadóttir as a model.
The Hungnam fertilizer plant in Hamhung is the largest in North Korea. It was founded during Japanese occupation in 1927 and used to produce explosives in the World War II until Japan lost the war. There is statue outside the plant of Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, who visited the plant to thank the staff for producing explosives for the Chinese Civil War. Now the plant produce about 300,000 ton of fertilizer per year and about 7000 people work there.
The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum is about the war against the Japanese and Americans. What I found most impressive is a panorama where I sat and rotated 360 degree in a copy of a  battlefield. Outside are military equipment captured from US e.g. USS Pueblo.
Because I was recognized as an Ambassador for Peace by the Universal Peace Federation, I had special interest in cars produced by Pyonghwa Motors. Pyonghwa means “peace” in Korean. It was founded by the Unification Church as a joint venture with the North Korean Ryonbong General Corp. Because the relationship with South Korea decreased later its now fully owned by the North Korean state and assemble cars in cooperation with China.
The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun is the mausoleum for Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and museums about their life.
We also visited the Kangso Mineral Water factory, Pyongyang Circus, Pyongyang Metro, primary schools, The Grand People’s Study House, Ullim waterfall, co-op farms, agricultural university and saw how the Koreans have fun on Mayday.
I have often read that there is great poverty there but the only indication I saw was primitive farming similar to the times of my grandparents in Iceland when it was one of the poorest countries in Europe. According to what I read in North Korea and elsewhere the situation has sometimes been bad in the northern part of the country which I didn’t visit. We did not visit labor camps but I read in a book published in North Korea about human rights there that some of the penalties for violations of the socialist system are death penalty and indefinite reform through labor.