North Korea News: What should tourists pay attention to when going to North Korea? What things can't be done?

With the improvement of people’s living standards, traveling abroad is no longer a new thing. North Korea is our close neighbor. Since the development of tourism projects, many Chinese tourists are eager to try it every year, but they don’t know. What precautions should be taken, and the fact that the outside world knows little about North Korea also makes him appear particularly mysterious. We can always hear on the Internet that North Korea is heavily guarded and has very strict entry and exit management. Not only are you not allowed to bring mobile phones, but you are also not allowed to take photos. In addition, there are many other unknown regulations, which also makes many people question whether these are true. ? What specific things cannot be done? Today we will talk about things to note when traveling to North Korea.

In the past, you were not allowed to bring mobile phones to North Korea, but this has been gradually relaxed since 2010. Electronic products such as mobile phones, computers, cameras, etc. can be brought into the country, and the inspections on tourists are now not so strict. Strictly, we may only randomly check the meaning. As long as there is no illegal content on the phone, there will usually be no problem. For example, nudity and sensitive information must be deleted in advance because North Koreans are very conservative. You can’t even see fashion magazines here. It’s best not to dress too revealingly and do as the Romans do. There is also the issue of photography that everyone is most concerned about. What’s the point of not being able to take photos while traveling? Sharing beautiful scenery and stories is the true meaning of travel. Since you are allowed to bring your mobile phone and camera, there will be no restrictions on taking pictures. Therefore, it is false that you cannot take pictures. It is not as mysterious as what is said on the Internet. Even the tour guide will ask you to take more pictures. .

It was many years ago that photography was not allowed. Now some people are talking about it. Currently, not only photography is allowed, but also video recording is allowed. The only thing you need to pay attention to is not to take pictures of local soldiers or military personnel. In this area, tour guides who are relatively sensitive will also inform you in advance that if you take a photo by mistake, just delete it. No one will strictly interrogate you or anything else, unless you are interested in North Korea's military and have not taken any photo albums. It is full of photos of their soldiers, so they may get special attention. From the moment we stepped into North Korea, tourists were very interested in the station here. They were eager to take out their mobile phones to take two photos. The tour guide smiled and said that he hoped everyone would take more photos and share them with us when we get back. Your friends and family, let everyone see what North Korea is really like.

Another thing to note is that when visiting scenic spots, there will be many statues of local leaders. The tour guide will also remind us not to imitate the movements of their leaders when taking selfies, and not to only take pictures of part of the body. , they will consider this a disrespectful behavior. North Koreans have strong self-esteem and don’t like to joke, and they don’t like others to make fun of their leader. When we were in the car, the tour guide told us seriously: I know you gave our leader a cute nickname. But in North Korea, I hope you will respect him and call him General Kim or Marshal Kim. So we should not call his nickname in front of the tour guide, otherwise the tour guide will be really angry. In their eyes, the leader is the greatest person in North Korea and cannot be blasphemed by anyone.

I remember one time when we were visiting the former residence of Kim Il Sung, because there were many tourists, I inadvertently walked along the curb. Unexpectedly, I was seen by the tour guide, who was always gentle and dignified. His face changed, and he asked me why I did this. In our opinion, this might be just a common little thing, and we didn't expect to make the tour guide so angry. She told me angrily that this was also a sign of disrespect. This was the hometown of their General Kim Il Sung, and no one could trample on flowers, trees, or roadsides. I quickly apologized and said that I had no ill intentions and just wanted to give way to the people behind me. On the way, I didn’t expect it to have such a meaning. After hearing this, her tone gradually calmed down and she said that she did not do her job well and did not inform us in advance. She did not blame me and hoped that I would not take it to heart. This shows how important leaders are in their hearts. important.

In addition to these, there is another thing to note, that is, it is best not to leave the group without permission when traveling in North Korea. Since you can only travel with a group here and not travel freely, some people may think that they are hiding something. , which made tourists more curious. Of course, I thought the same way, so I hit it off with another brother who was traveling with me and decided to have a "night exploration of Pyongyang". After dinner, we took our mobile phones and sneaked out of the hotel, ready to see the real North Korea. The night in North Korea was very dark, with only one dim streetlight far away from us, and no other pedestrians were seen on the road. , when passing by a small store, we became interested and wanted to see the real prices of goods in North Korea. This store is a store exclusively for North Korean locals and is not open to tourists. The display of goods is relatively messy, just like a small shop in the village, but it is very complete, including tobacco, alcohol, department stores, fruits and vegetables.

Since neither of us knew the Korean language and neither wore badges, the boss could tell at a glance that we were not Koreans, so he became very wary and hemmed and hawed and we couldn’t understand what he meant. , it sounded like they were asking us what we were doing. Of course we couldn’t answer. Wouldn’t the secret be revealed as soon as we spoke? So we pretended to be calm and started looking around to see what their prices were. However, all the items here had no price tags, and we couldn't find out the prices at all. Just when we were about to leave, the boss might have noticed that we were sneaking around. Without saying a word, he suddenly took out his mobile phone and started making calls. While talking, he walked over from the cashier, as if to notify the people's security. My heart suddenly rose to my throat, thinking that this was going to be terrible. If we just ran away, it would definitely not work. If we were caught, we wouldn't be able to explain it.

In a hurry, I quickly pointed to the freezer as if I was looking for it, then quickly picked up two ice creams and prepared to pay and leave. The boss looked at the ten yuan in my hand with confusion. I just remembered that although you can spend money in RMB in North Korea, most of them are foreign-related shops, and North Koreans use local currency. This really exposed the secret. Unexpectedly, the boss was stunned for a while and gave me 9,000 Korean won in change, which is equivalent to about 7 yuan in RMB, which is equivalent to two ice creams costing only 3 yuan. After getting the money, we hurried out the door without looking back. We walked for quite a while before we dared to stop. We didn’t think too much about it at the time. We were thinking about who the boss had just called. If someone discovered that we were tourists, we would be in trouble.

After all, there is no signal for mobile phones here. Not only are we helpless but we don’t understand the language. Even the tour guide doesn’t know where we are at this time. It is clearly stipulated that tourists are not allowed to go to private stores. If they are If we find out, maybe even the tour guide will be implicated. Therefore, there is a certain risk of leaving the team in North Korea, especially if you act privately at night, you will be regarded as having ulterior motives. Moreover, the night in North Korea is pitch black and there is nothing, so you can only wander around on the road. If you get lost, you will probably not be able to Taxis are not available.