So my dream was to stand on both sides of this separated country and learn for myself about the situation on the Korean peninsula. My curiosity for one of the most secluded countries in the world and the idea of taking pictures there blended perfectly when I got the chance to travel together with my group and Young Pioneer Travels.
I enjoyed my trip and tried my best to take you with me onto this fantastic journey. The DMZ is a fortified place. A political place to discuss peace as you can almost smell the hundreds of folders and papers that were negotiated at this halls. Be it on the north or the southern strip of this border you don’t have the feeling things are moving anywhere.
For the next treaty I hope the leaders of whatever nations are involved will set up a nice table in a lush garden or a mountainous retreat in the Korean alpine region and discuss this matter in a more personal way. This may sound naive, but I don’t see how a delegation of lawyers, generals, officials may come to an agreement that egocentric leaders would accept in the end. I think this can only be sorted out with country leaders shaking hands and lawyers sorting out the details, A deal so to say.
Whenever this happens one of the most interesting questions remains: What would happen to the society in the DPRK when the country opens to the rest of the world. These people have lived up to the doctrine of the government since decades. Is there a space for change in their minds. I would feel blessed if however I could experience this during my lifetime. Visiting this country again after liberation would be THE most interesting thing in my travelers life for now.
A summary of the articles of my 19 part series through the DPRK
- Throwback: Photography trip to DPRK
- DPRK: Why did I go?
- Kim-Il Sung square after the rain
- Grand Ryugyong Hotel
- Mangyŏngdae – Kim Il-sung’s Birthplace
- Trolleybusses of Pyongyang
- Metro of Pyongyang
- Latest news
- DIY Arch of Triumph
- Street Cornering
- At the Sci-Tech Complex
- Movie sets
- Outbounds of the DMZ
- Waterparks over revolutions
- Road to reunification
- Juche Juche
- Dancing at Moranbong
- May Day Stadium
- What if… things were different?
I hope you enjoyed the trip. Visually and literary I tried to give my best. But as I once said in the first ever post. Please take everything you see, read and think with a grain of salt. There is no such thing as the one opinion an this country and I don’t claim any more knowledge than anyone else. Traveling to the DPRK was my first ever group tour and I enjoyed it with a size of 2 people on the group. I shared the pleasure of photography with two other persons who are enthusiastic and talented photographers.
For anyone interested in this topic I compiled a list of videos and books that appear to be worth to be consumed to gain even more insights and add to the oeuvre I compiled here:
Movies
- JSA – Joint Security Area (Trailer on youtube)
- Crossing The Line (BBC Documentation on youtube)
- Under the sun (Trailer on youtube)
- Educating North Korea (Documentation on vimeo)
- I am Sun Mu (Trailer on youtube)
Books
- Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (amazon)
- Escape from Camp 14: One man’s remarkable odyssey from North Korea to freedom in the West (amazon)
- The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (amazon)
- The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters (amazon)
- North Korea Undercover (amazon)
- Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty (amazon)
- Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea (amazon)
- Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (amazon)
- Dear Leader: North Korea’s senior propagandist exposes shocking truths behind the regime (amazon)
- The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea (amazon)
- The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag (amazon)
- Die große Heimkehr (amazon)
- The Great Man Kim Jong-Il (amazon)