Travel - China

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is one of the closest countries to China although to many visitors it seems a journey into another dimension, crossing the Rubicon, the remaining casualty of the Cold War... in fact it is simply a matter of a bit of pre-planning and making it to the airport on time for one of the three direct flights between Beijing and Pyongyang per week. I have been travelling to DPRK on a near-monthly basis for over 13 years now, since the establishment of Koryo Tours, now the market leader in western tourism to the region's least visited and most enigmatic nation.

There has never been a quiet time in the history of the DPRK, since the country was established after the end of WWII in 1945 there has been a constant stream of news, rumours, allegations, etc emerging from the land between the DMZ and the Yalu river. Since my first visit I have witnessed the death of the President Kim Il Sung, the rise to supreme power of the current Leader Kim Jong Il, the Arduous March, the emergence of DPRK as a nuclear power, and currency reform which has created a proto-market economy in some parts of the country, natural disasters, much rumoured accidents and all manner of events which have contributed to DPRK's image on the front pages of the world's newspapers.

However interesting these macro-political issues may be they are not the focus of our work in DPRK, of course we try as best we can to stay abreast of current events but we are not politicians or NGO staff. We have been taking tourists in an almost uninterrupted stream since 1993 (apart from 3 months during the SARS outbreak in 2003 when DPRK sealed its border with China) and have interacted far more with the general population than with any state representatives.

We have been privileged to be granted remarkable access within this very closed society - initially we were restricted to an exceedingly limited and strict tour of the country but over the years we have not only increased the areas and itineraries we visit but also the flexibility of what we see and the level of access we have to the public. We have succeeded in running not only regular tours but also special trips for football teams to play against local Korean sides, school exchanges, corporate tours and specialist tours.

On the most basic of levels we have spent 13 years communicating and working with thousands of local guides, waitresses, and hotel staff who under any other circumstance would not have the opportunity to meet and interact with a foreigner.

Macro-politics creates a preconceived idea of how we view the Koreans - as goose stepping militaristic automatons or as they view us - hostile and a threat to their homeland. One way of breaking down or perhaps confirming these perceptions is for people to physically meet.

Increasing tourist numbers begin to make people feel accustomed to seeing outsiders in their country; this fosters understanding and acceptance at the street level. I am not suggesting that any nuclear crises are going to be averted simply by the waving and small scale interactions of tour groups but if each tourist leaves DPRK having made just a single Korean go home with the thought that not all foreigners are complete bastards then that is a huge achievement in my mind, something that needs to be repeated and expanded for the good of all.

English is now compulsory at middle school, and popular at University. Adults are also taking the opportunity to learn, whether via work or self taught, and are inquisitive to see if their new language skills actually work - tourists represent an opportunity for a foray into communicating with the foreigner - whether as a simple greeting or on occasion engaging in light conversation. This sort of thing was almost unheard of even 10 years ago.

Through contacts made in the tourism industry I have produced 3 award-winning documentary films so far on disparate subjects in DPRK - from the tale of the National Football team who played in the world cup in England in 1966, to an examination of the lives of two schoolgirls preparing for North Korea's showcase Mass Games and most recently, 'Crossing the Line'- the untold story of Joe Dresnok, who in 1966 as a young soldier crossed the DMZ, and is now the last remaining American defector living in the country. This film that recently premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea (just a week after the North tested their first nuclear weapon) will be on broader release in 2007.

Although the work we do has limited access and impact we are strong advocates of continuing tourism and cultural exchanges. Although much about DPRK remains shrouded in mystery and confusion we believe our open approach and persistence have enabled our company to make what we see as considerable inroads into more fully understanding how the people we meet and work with think and how they perceive the outside world, often as mysterious to them as their country is to us.