North Korea is a mysterious country, if you want to travel to North Korea, you must sign up for a group, and you can't travel freely throughout the whole process, which can be said to be the most "free" trip. However, because North Korea is too mysterious to the international community, many people still visit North Korea through travel agencies every year.
What do you need to pay attention to when traveling to North Korea? What happens if you violate North Korea's "taboos"?
College students died
Foreigners are not "free" in North Korea, and they need to be led by local North Korean tour guides throughout the whole process, and they cannot leave without permission to do other things, otherwise the consequences will be very serious.
In 2016, a college student in the United States was imprisoned for violating North Korean taboos and died shortly after returning to the United States.
The college student, named "Warmbier", attends school in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and was selected by his classmates as the "prom king" and is about to attend the University of Virginia.
On December 29, 2015, he arrived in North Korea under the auspices of a travel agency, and he was assigned to live with a British guy named "Graton".
According to Gratton, the two were the only "lone travelers" in the tour group, and neither was accompanied by relatives or friends, but the two got along well, and he did not notice any abnormality in Warmbier during the three days he lived with him.
It wasn't until January 2, 2016, the day they were leaving North Korea at the end of their trip to North Korea, when Mr. Warmbier was stopped at immigration control at Pyongyang International Airport.
Gratton recalls that he didn't know what was going on or the seriousness of the matter, only to see the staff point first at Warmbiel and then to the door after seeing their passports, as if to let Warmbier out, but before Warmbiel could make a move, two security guards came and took Warmbiel away.
The tour guide was frightened by this action and hurried over to ask what had happened, but no one in North Korea answered him. In the aftermath, the travel agency's employees were unable to have direct face-to-face contact with Mr. Warmbier, and even the tour guide's attempt to stay in North Korea to assist in the investigation was denied.
During this time, one of the tour guides was allowed to speak on the phone with Mr. Warmbier, who did not appear to be doing well, saying that he had a severe headache and wanted to go to the hospital. But there is no media coverage of whether or not I went.
In March 2016, Warmbier was sentenced by a court to 15 years of re-education through labor for "conspiracy to subvert the state." What did Warmbier do to cause this disaster?
According to later media reports, in the early morning of December 31, 2015, Warmbier appeared alone in the hallway of the International Hotel, tore off the wall of the propaganda slogan, and put it in his suitcase to take back to the United States. But he was discovered by customs and detained on the spot.
When the United States learned of this, it put pressure on North Korea to release Warmbier. On June 13, 2017, Warmbier, who had been imprisoned for 17 months, returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and was subsequently admitted to the hospital for treatment.
According to media reports, Warmbier was in a coma when he returned to the United States and died on June 19. North Korea has explained that Mr. Warmbier was in a coma because of food poisoning.
A day after Mr. Warmbier's death, Mr. Trump spoke out on the issue, accusing North Korea of being "cruel" and saying the United States would take steps to address the issue.
It didn't take long for the United States to announce that it would ban all American citizens from traveling to North Korea, and that if they had to go to North Korea, they would need to obtain special permission to go to North Korea.
Is traveling to North Korea really that scary?
North Korea travel taboo
North Korea's mystique stems from the perennial sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western countries, as well as its own "isolation". The international situation facing the DPRK is very complex and severe. The United States and South Korea have devised many tricks to stuff spies into the DPRK and spy on the DPRK's secrets, but although they have all failed, this has also made the DPRK very vigilant.
Therefore, you can only go with a group to travel to North Korea, and you cannot leave the sight of the local North Korean tour guide and follow the words of the North Korean tour guide, otherwise you will easily be regarded as a spy and arrested by the North Korean security department.
In addition, what are the taboos to pay attention to when going to North Korea?
The first is not to bring professional video cameras and telephoto lenses, cameras, not even mobile phones.
Be sure to ask the North Korean tour guide "yes" before taking pictures, there are some places where you can't take pictures. Don't take photos with portraits or statues of North Korean leaders, let alone imitate statues of North Korean leaders, as it will be seen as disrespecting North Korean leaders.
The second dress should be neat and neat, do not wear clothes such as open-back and off-the-shoulder miniskirts, and men should not wear ripped pants and other clothing. North Korea is not as receptive, and in the early years North Koreans were not allowed to wear Western clothing such as jeans.
Third, when entering North Korea, it is better not to bring foreign magazines, especially Korean printed materials. Not to mention the word "South Korea", either "South Korea", or the people in the same company discussed in advance to come up with a nickname instead. Don't talk about "unifying the North and the South" or "splitting the North and the South."
The fourth is not to point to people or statues and portraits, and try not to call the name of the North Korean tour guide, let alone the name of the North Korean leader, which is disrespectful.
Fifth, don't leave the tour group activities alone, the security work in North Korea is very good, if a foreigner acts alone, he will be noticed quickly, and it is not good if he is taken away as a spy.
Wherever you go in North Korea, you must tell your North Korean tour guide not to go alone and not to leave the tour group. North Korea has a limited number of places open to foreigners, and there are only those fixed scenic spots, such as Juche Tower, Kim Il Sung Square, North Korean Triumphal Arch, etc., and other places are not allowed to enter foreigners.
The sixth is not to take North Korean currency out of the country. Foreigners who want to buy things when traveling to North Korea can only go to foreign shopping malls specially opened for foreigners, where they can directly use RMB or euros to spend without exchanging North Korean currency.
The seventh is not to scribble in the DPRK, whether it is magazines, newspapers, or buildings, especially pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, and other books printed with the photos of the DPRK leaders.
Nowadays, North Korea is gradually opening up, more and more people travel to North Korea, and many Chinese will go to North Korea to pay tribute to the martyrs of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which is a red tourist route.
However, when going to North Korea, you must abide by local requirements, and do not offend them and cause unnecessary trouble for yourself.
Resources:
[1] The Paper "Details of American College Students Arrested in North Korea Exposed: I Called the Guide and Said I Had a Serious Headache and Wanted to Go to the Hospital" 20170620