In the eyes of many Westerners, North Korea is "the most mysterious country in the world" and rarely appears in the public eye, which is why North Korea has been attracting media and travelers from all over the world to try to get a glimpse of the country's hidden side.
Due to my work, I went to North Korea several times and worked in Pyongyang for nearly two years, so I can say that I have a deep understanding of this mysterious country, which is really different from what is said on the Internet.
1. When you enter Pyongyang, you will be greeted by a fairytale city: blue sky and white clouds, clean streets, green trees, few noisy cars and crowds, and new and unique public cultural facilities and commercial buildings of different shapes can be seen everywhere. Colorful residential buildings are lined up one after another, and the occupancy rate of residential buildings is high, almost all of them are full, and there is not a single unfinished building. Stretching out along the city's busiest street, huge portraits of leaders and uplifting placards stand in the most eye-catching areas of the street.
2. According to 2022 statistics, the population of the DPRK is 26.069 million. North Korea has just over 200,000 cars, or one car per 100 people. The vast majority of them are concentrated in the capital, Pyongyang. It may sound exaggerated, but it's not congested at all, because Pyongyang is almost half the size of Shanghai, and these cars are less than a tenth of Shanghai's. Most of North Korea's automobiles are in the hands of the state, the so-called public buses, and there are only a handful of vehicles that are actually registered in the name of individuals, and the root cause of this phenomenon is, of course, the low national income. In North Korea, there are very few people who can afford a car, and due to long-term economic sanctions, North Korea's oil prices are very volatile and generally high, causing the cost of using a car to skyrocket.
3. In North Korea, most of the hotels that receive foreign guests are equipped with computers with Internet access, and not only that, but cities such as Pyongyang and Chongjin have also seen the emergence of new things like "Internet cafes". Here, however, the computer is not loaded with the world-famous Microsoft Windows, but with a system called "Red Star". The operating system was developed by Kim Jong Il himself, and the boot sound was the tune of the Korean folk song "Arirang". Of course, not everyone is eligible to access the Internet, and at present, only a small number of elites, scholars and scientists in North Korea can access the Internet openly. They use a local area network called "Bright Net", which has a narrow coverage and little depth of content.
4. During my work in Pyongyang, the most prominent impression was "three more and three less". Third, there are many people visiting and paying respects, second, there are many people walking on the streets, and third, there are many military and police officers, especially female traffic police. Three less: First, there are few shops and few goods in the shops; second, there are few vehicles on the street; third, there are few begging on the streets, and there are few public order cases.
5. North Korea has always implemented three exemptions, both in urban and rural areas. Housing is allocated according to the size of the family. Men and women can only divide the house when they get married, mainly for the man, most of them are about 80 square meters, and after giving birth to children, they will gradually increase, and give birth to an increase of twenty or thirty square meters. The application shall be submitted by an individual and reviewed by the relevant government departments. A friend I know in Pyongyang, Xiao Jin, has a total of five people, three parents, brothers and sisters, and has a 180-square-meter house, which is more than enough for the whole family.
6. The premise of being able to allocate housing is marriage, if a man is not married, he will not be given a house, and can only live with his parents or siblings. The state-allocated housing comes with its own decoration, and the household equipment is also complete, and you can move in with your bag after being allocated. When changing houses, the household equipment is also left in the house and cannot be taken away, leaving it for the next allottor to move in. Whenever I communicate with my North Korean friends, they can't help but feel a little proud and satisfied, because their people don't have to worry about buying high-priced commercial houses and paying off mortgages for decades.
7. When it comes to free medical care, the North Koreans always affectionately say that the three generations of North Korean leaders have paid special attention to women's childbirth, and the state has fully covered their maternity expenses, including hospitalization and living expenses. The state encourages the birth of more children, and the more children they have, the higher the reward, and those who give birth to more than seven are given the title of "heroic mother". The DPRK government instructed that a special plane should be sent to transport her to a major hospital in the city for delivery, free of charge, for a woman living on an isolated island. Therefore, the North Korean people are full of a sense of gain and happiness, and they are grateful to their North Korean leaders from the bottom of their hearts.
8. When going to North Korea, you must remember that whether it is tourism or work, you must pay attention to respecting the supreme leader of North Korea, and you must not have the slightest taboo in words and deeds, for example, if you join a tour group on a bus, and it is impolite for tourists to shout the name of Kim Jong-un or Kim Jong-il, the tour guide will use a loudspeaker to correct tourists to shout "President Kim Jong-un" or "Chairman Kim Jong-il". In cities and villages, many people have their portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on their chests, and North Korean tour guides are the same. In the eyes of North Koreans, leaders are as important as their hearts, and we cherish and cherish them so much.
9. The common people of the DPRK follow the traditional virtues in their families and society, young people have rules and manners when they talk about love, men and women find partners, and all soldiers, college students, and party members are "golden signboards" and are the most popular, not the so-called "rich and handsome". Men and women only go to each other's homes to meet their families at the time of engagement, and then they generally do not officially interact until they get married. North Koreans also talk about bride price, but not how much it costs, but when they are engaged, they give each other the fabric they need to make clothes or other commemorative gifts, and they are all reciprocal.
10. I feel like our parents' generation, North Korean couples rarely divorce after marriage, largely due to the strict family education of both parties, and the society also has strict norms for this, both men and women adhere to the bottom line of conventional morality and tradition, there are fewer family conflicts, husband and wife are harmonious, and there are naturally fewer divorces. Children in every family are very independent, and when a girl is about 9 years old, her family asks her to wash her shoes and socks, and when she is about 13 years old, she is asked to learn to cook and do housework. After marriage, the bride goes to the man's house for breakfast the next morning, which must be made by the bride. On the day of the wedding, the woman's family will prepare a pot for the daughter, which will be filled with rice and other food, so that the daughter can cook breakfast for her in-laws the next morning. I feel that the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation have been learned, and we have almost lost them.
11. In Pyongyang, the main places for night entertainment are the traditional Giethoorn guesthouse and the Snow Peak Center. The revolving restaurant on the top floor of the Giethoorn Hotel has been described as "the style of an airport lounge in the 80s", but it is still attractive to some businessmen and international students. The restaurant serves local sake, as well as imported snacks and Japanese beers. In the ballroom on the ground floor of the hotel, you can dance to the old pop songs of the 70s and 80s. The Giethoorn Hotel has a billiards room and a sauna and massage center, as well as a casino with slot machines, tables for playing cards such as 21 o'clock, etc., which is usually open until 4 a.m. You won't see any locals here, though, as North Korean citizens are not allowed in entertainment venues.