The Ever-Changing Face of North Korea

As a tour leader, I'm definitely restricted in a country like North Korea. I can't move freely, but I still get glimpses of things that ordinary tourists don't. I get to follow the local guides to certain off-limit bars and streets, I get to hear stuff "between the lines". And getting behind the scenes also means that I get to see the things ordinary tourists are kept away from. Like the poverty in North Korea - not very much unlike poverty in India, Ukraine or even the poverty we have in Europe. This poverty, of course, I was not allowed to take photos of.

A tour leader's job is to lead the tour. I always have local guides at my disposal, and I rarely do the guiding myself, but I'm in charge when it comes to the programme of tour, what to see and what to do. And that applies everywhere, even in North Korea.

Like the day when I saw ordinary Koreans having a picnic in the mountains. I asked the local guide if we could make a stop, say hello to them and maybe take some photos. To my astonishment, the guide approved of my proposal and what you see in the photo below is a result of that. I got to meet a surprisingly ordinary Korean man who insisted on shaking my hand for well over a minute (obviously, I was as exotic to him as he was to me). He also insisted I drink with him, but on one condition: that I tell the world what a superb country North Korea is (Koreans, regardless which side of the infamous border, are extremely patriotic).

North Korea is a country that entices the entire world. Partly because it has an economic system that is totally different from the rest of the world, partly because it defies not only the United States, but also China and even Russia, in every way it can.

When I grew up in the ninties, I developed socialist convictions. When I had arguments with whomever, in whatever circumstances, North Korea always came up as a case against me. In mass media and newspapers, North Korea was consistently portrayed as a totalitarian, super-controlled society that even superseded Big Brother's 1984 state in terms of stringent control of every sphere of society.

As a tour leader, I have the privilege of traveling to other countries not only for free, but also getting paid for it. When my boss asked if I was interested in a tour in North Korea, he almost sounded nervous:
"And then there's a tour in North Korea... Are you interested?"
"Of course I'm interested", I said. "Why do you even ask?"

I've had my share of odd countries as a tour leader, but North Korea wins the gold medal. As long as I can remember, North Korea was that special place on Earth where hardly anybody had gone. And now, I had a chance to go to that forbidden country that seemed so dangerous, so perilous, and yet - so tempting.

At first, I was curious as to why my boss seemed so nervous when asking me about the job. But after a while, I understood why. Apparently, even among experienced tour leaders, North Korea is a place you don't want to visit. Either out of your own convictions, or fear of one the most dangerous conflict zones in the world.

For my part, North Korea was the perfect job. I was always drawn to the dangerous stuff. I lived in Ukraine during the Maidan Revolution, and I lived right in Kiev where so many people where shot dead. I passed the Maidan square every day to get to work, and I saw the tension rise. It's shere luck that I wasn't among those who where shot dead. Furthermore, I lived in the slums of Mumbai, teaching English to children that didn't exist according to the latest Indian population census. And I had my share of danger living in Armenia, a nation indulging a low-intensity war with neighbouring Azerbaijan. I'm drawn to danger, it's as simple as that.

So why would North Korea be a problem for me? It was a hard-to-find temptation! Although I was a full-fledged socialist in my youth, feeling the greatest admiration for countries like Cuba and North Korea, I'd still been immersed in mass media's depictions of North Korea as a truly totalitarian state where nobody laughed, nobody dared to joke and everbody starved.

So what were my first impressions of the country?

My first impression at the customs' control at Pyongyang airport was custom border guards laughing loudy, not caring that much about the people entering the security checks. They seemed more busy telling each other jokes and making funny poses with their batons.

North Korea is changing. It's not the strict big-brotherly state I was taught it was. They've even started some modest economic reforms, allowing private enterprises (which is an astounding step for a country like North Korea). Visiting North Korea, you will see Korean teens taking selfies with their smartphones. Not only in the cities, but in the countryside as well.

My experiences from North Korea taught me that no matter how different the culture or the society of a country is to your own part of the world, we are all children of the Earth, and what tells us apart is generally less significant that what we have in common.

During my first job as a tour leader in North Korea, the local guide kept on telling me:
"I'm sorry about the restrictions, I really am. When we've had the reunification with South Korea and Korea again is one, you will suffer no restrictions at all."

The local guides are carefully picked by the state-owned tourist agency. They have to be loyal to the current regime. While I worked in North Korea, this was obvious. All the local guides I met were convinced Juche socialists, but foremost: extremely patriotic. But still, one day the local guide closest to me in the bus said, with a facial expression of sincere excuse:
"You know the posters everywhere with nuclear missiles. I'm sorry for them, it must make you feel unsafe. So I want to ask you: what do you think of our country's missile program?"
I answered, equally sincerely but still feeling a bit awkwardly socialist-politically-correct:
"War should be avoided at any cost, but you've had a devastating war with the US so I won't judge you."
I can't even begin to describe the astonishment in his face.
"Is that really your sincere opinion?", he said.
I affirmed my stance and he wanted to shake my hand in an instant. Apparently, he'd gotten used to Western tour leaders less sympathetic to the sacred cause of a multipolar world order.

When leaving North Korea, I had to fill in detailed forms where I had to present my exact currency in cash, and which currency. Unfortunately, I still had some Transnistrian roubles in my wallet. Since Transnistria is a breakaway republic recognized by noone, not even Russia, I asked another local guide how to fill in the form. She said:
"Come on, it's not so important. Write that you have one million euros, nobody cares".

So, my first and last impression on my first tour leading trip to North Korea was an impression of carelessness: don't care about the details, it's not so important.

I'm a Westerner and I like the Western way of life. Although I'm nomadic in nature and work through travelling, I'll always stay true to the ways of my culture and the economic system in which I've managed to pursue a successful career. Nonetheless, it's my duty as tour leader and a human being to acknowledge that there are different ways of life and that every people has to find its own path to happiness.

I don't know if that's what the people of North Korea is slowly doing right now, but noone can dispute the fact that North Korea is changing by the minute.