Visiting Secretive North Korea
Updated: 3:24am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running high as Pyongyang increases its rhetoric, but the tourists crossing into the state was only closed on Wednesday.
I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.
Nothing felt abnormal, there was no feeling of tension.
Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.
Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.
One of them was more senior than the other. He watched us and watched his colleague too.
They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.
We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".
We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.
"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.
People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.
People there are very aware of the potential war.
Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.
When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."
We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.
The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.
On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.
There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.
We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.
We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).
The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.
We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.
There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.
There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.
The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.
Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."
Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.
As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: very rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.
We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.
The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.
It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.
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