I have traveled to Kim Jon-un's North Korea twice; a mistake I made while sending a postcard could have gotten me into trouble
A seasoned traveler has revealed what life is really like in 'wild' North Korea after visiting it twice.
Gunnar Garfors, 48, has traveled the world, stopping in every country twice, including “controversial” places like North Korea.
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The authoritarian state has closed its borders to tourism since 2020.
North Korea had one of the strictest lockdowns during the spread of Covid-19.
But recently the country welcomed its first visitors since World War II pandemic – a group of Russian tourists.
The country's broadcaster posted images of welcoming a delegation from Primorsky Krai, Russia to the resort near Wonsan.
In light of the newsGunnar has offered some advice for people wanting to visit the secret state – and the strict rules they must follow to avoid punishment.
Gunnar first visited Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, in 2009 and stayed there for five days.
He traveled with a group of friends from Facebook and his then girlfriend.
He said phones are confiscated upon landing because the internet is banned in the country and routes are strictly planned – with “little room for impulsiveness”.
The group was also assigned two guides for their entire stay who kept them company “at all times.”
North Korea fiercely protects its image from foreigners, and its citizens from foreigners' stories.
“Even if you are alone, you always need two guides with you.
'The government doesn't want people to break away from their groups and tell the locals what the rest of the world is like.
'They are doing well, they are mainly there to take care of you, but they also want to keep you in line.
“However, even guides have to take a bathroom break, and as soon as one breaks away from the group, the other usually starts asking questions, like what it's like to live in other countries,” Gunnar said.
During his stay, he mainly explored Pyongyang and visited locations such as the USS Pueblo, an American warship.
“Walking through Pyongyang is like walking through a scene from a propaganda film: you realize that everything you are told is distorted.”
Gunnar Garfors
He also visited the North-South border, where he tried to strike up conversations with as many locals as possible, albeit without success.
Most of them barely speak English and have been instructed not to talk to foreigners.
“You can talk to people here and there,” he added.
'Predominantly bar and restaurant staff, or workers in shops, but managers have trained them to avoid unauthorized communications.
“This means that there is absolutely no talk about the outside world; people shouldn't ask us where we come from or what we do.
'There are also many things we cannot ask. We have to be careful when talking to locals about their own things history – and we certainly cannot question their way of life.”
He called his experience “surreal” as he witnessed blatant propaganda carefully crafted by Kim Jon Un.
“A Very Dramatic Voice” narrated Gurran's tour to the captured American warship, telling stories of the “heroic North Koreans and the terrible, nasty Americans.”
Kim's face appears everywhere you look, on every newspaper, stamp, painting and statue depicting the “great leader”.
Gunnar, a journalist from Oslo, said: “He's like a demigod, he's absolutely everywhere.
'Walking through Pyongyang is like walking through a scene from a propaganda film movie – you realize that everything you are told is distorted.”
“You quickly get exhausted if you hear propaganda all the time. It really is a bizarre country.”
If tourists want to escape Kim Jon Un's face, he also suggests they stay there for a few days South Korea.
Tourists were allowed to keep their phones purely to take photos.
Pyongyang had modernized, but the countryside, which Gunnar could visit, remained the same.
He said: 'In the countryside it really hits you, you get the feeling that the city is for all the 'important' people.
'It's quite modern in Pyongyang now, you have decent food, modern skyscrapers and decent culture.
“But in the countryside people have nothing.”
He described the scenes he saw of local farmers using their hands to dig without tools, tractors or even animals to help them.
Gunnar also made a serious mistake that could be seen as a “disrespect” towards the North Korean leader.
Wrinkling or folding a newspaper with a photo of the dictator on the front is considered a highly offensive act – and stealing anything bearing his image is a serious act. crime in the eyes of the government.
Gunnar's mistake had nothing to do with that, but instead an innocent letter to a friend could have gotten him into trouble.
When he sent a postcard, Gunnar turned the stamp with Kim's face on its side to make more room for text.
But when it arrived in Norway, the stamp had been turned the right way up, covering most of the inscription.
Gunnar said: “There is a rule: the image of the great leader should not be placed on its side on any letter or postcard.”
The traveler said North Korea is a safe country to visit, and surprisingly accessible to foreigners – as long as they follow the rules.
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