Photograph by David Anthony Hohol
Tourists can only visit North Korea with an organized tour under constant and strict supervision. You are given no chance to mingle with locals and can only visit spots designated by the government, all the while being under armed guard. All phone calls are monitored and you cannot leave your hotel unless accompanied by security. But if you are up for the adventure, it’s s trip you will never forget.
Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, is essentially an open air museum displaying an entirely closed city of a totalitarian regime. One gets the feeling they have traveled back in time to the 1950s when walking the streets, as very little has changed since the end of WWII.North Korea is one of the most enigmatic countries in the world. Led by Kim-Jong Ill, it is the last Stalin dictatorship left on the planet.
In the photograph above is a huge bronze statue that looms high above the city located in the center of Pyongyang. It portrays Kim Il-sung, the late father of the country’s current dictator, Kim Jong-il. Kim Il-sung is known in North Korea as “The Great Leader” and “The President for Eternity” and was hand picked by Joseph Stalin to run the state. Often visitors are taken directly to the statue from the airport in order to pay homage to the “Father.”
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