My Journey into North Korea!

maxjoy (68)in #travel • 6 years ago

Ok, so I didn’t really have a journey into North Korea… guess it was a click bate title…

But here is why I called this post in such a way. A couple weeks ago I came across a series of documentaries, travel blogs, books… all relating to the mysterious country of North Korea.

Vlogs

Out of nowhere, I see this Vlog series about a guy who went there on holidays and recorded the experience. Kinda cool, since there ain’t many independent reports of such holidays in such country. So I’ve seen it and I’ll recommend it here.

Here it is:
THIS IS NOT MY ORIGINAL WORK (I’m only recommending it)

Documentary

Then I saw a documentary called The Lovers and the Despot

It’s about a story I knew about but was never 100% clear on what had happened. This is when the North Korean leader ( a film buff, with a gigantic film collection) kidnaped a filmmaker and an actress from the south.

Yeah, that’s a true story. He kidnaped them so they could produce better movies in the north… this documentary goes into detail on how that happened.

Book

Then I read a book called “Nothing to Envy”

A terrific book about a bit of the history and current political landscape. It’s a great read. “Nothing to Envy” is related to what the leader told the people about life in the west or outside North Korea in general. The propaganda… everything

Really fascinating. I believe that even the average person who knows a bit about the country will still learn a few things here.

Podcast

I also listen to a fascinating podcast. With a guy who escaped twice, from North Korea before he was 18 years old… really cool listen this episode is.

Here it I is:
THIS IS NOT MY ORIGINAL WORK (I’m only recommending it)
https://www.jordanharbinger.com/charles-ryu-confessions-of-a-north-korean-escape-artist-part-one/

Book 2

After I did another quick read of another book. “Without you there is no us”, this is the point of view of a Korean-American, teacher who lived in North Korea. It’s good, but if you’re going to read one, I recommend the “Nothing to Envy”

But fascinating none the less.

Then there was a documentary on Netflix called “The Propaganda Machine” I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t talk about it. But I decided to put it on this list. (It seems nice and interesting and it complements the list)

So here it is, my mini dive into the country of North Korea. I mean… it’s really fascinating… It’s truly a closed world. One of the most repressive regimes ever. I do recommend all the works cited in this article. If you have any interest in this topic, you will probably enjoy.