north korea this is what we think north korea is like but how does it look and feel in real life in the next three minutes i’m going to take you inside the most isolated country on earth north korea we are getting ready to board our flight to pyongyang i had no idea what was about to happen over the next three days of my life i was anxious and nervous we made it i went on a guided tour around north korea with choreo tours a reputable tour company out of beijing before i continue i’d like to disclose that all tourists in north korea are heavily organized and pre-planned as to what we could do eat and see everyone must stick with their tour group at all times or else they will face severe consequences also this is not a video about politics so please make your own judgments and take everything i say with a grain of salt i put together this short video to give you an inside look of north korea from my own personal experiences and i’m not oblivious that what i saw was a skewed perspective of the realities that may exist behind closed doors why did i go to north korea other than my journey to visit every country in the world i’ve been fascinated by north korea since i took a college class about the dprk two months after i graduated college i moved to south korea to teach english for 18 months while living in seoul i familiarized myself with korean culture traditions and i learned how to speak korean conversationally why are there two careers in the first place on june 25th 1950 the korean war began when 75 000 soldiers from the north bombarded across the 38th parallel the boundary between the soviet-backed communist north and the pro-western republic south american troops soon entered to battle on south korea’s behalf after three long years and some five million casualties later the korean war ended and a thick border was built on the 38th parallel known today as a demilitarized zone the two koreas have technically still been at war for the last 65 years because no peace beauty has ever been signed on my three day tour around north korea we stayed in the capital of pyongyang hey guys we are here chilling in my hotel room in pyongyang it is actually pretty nice and modern check out this view outside we covered a lot of ground in three days and i never once felt unsafe harassed or in trouble i did feel a little intimidated by the numerous military officers and police on every corner but i knew i’d be fine as long as i didn’t break any rules we walked through the main squares of pyongyang visited monuments we were at the top of the juje tower took the metro ate at restaurants drank local beer at bars same karaoke played ping pong went bowling and went to the circus i even had the chance to have conversations in korean with several locals which was a special experience he’s fascinated by your ginger hair that’s all he cares about one of the highlights of the trip was running a 10k in the pyongyang we’re about to run in the pyongyang marathon look at all the people it started and ended in a giant stadium filled with 50 000 screaming koreans it was an incredible feeling i also enjoyed taking the underground metro the deepest public transportation system on earth and it was bizarre to see thousands of people on the streets practicing their celebrations for an upcoming holiday behind me you can hear all of the singers and dancers preparing for kimio-sang’s birthday which is in a few days from what i saw with my own eyes pyongyang is actually a pretty chill place and not what i expected to see kids go to school and make jokes with their friends adults ride their bikes or take the metro to work they even have taxis on the street it’s important to realize that everyone has hopes and dreams just like you and me and family time is important to them they are specifically talented when it comes to music singing dancing sports and acrobats people are people it’s their wedding day and we’re taking photos with them that all being said i did have a strange feeling about how their society works and how they portray their country to be for example there are many tall buildings in wide streets but limited job opportunities and hardly anyone has a car many things felt staged in order to make their country appear in perfect condition very few people in north korea have access to the internet or what’s happening outside of their borders the information they consume is controlled by their government which makes me wonder do the people really know anything different do they want to leave north korea are some people actually living happy lives without us knowing i’ll end my video with saying that my trip to north korea was eye-opening and worthwhile to observe and learn about a hidden culture i hope that watching my experience showed you a different side of north korea one that you didn’t know existed i left the country with more questions than i had when i entered as soon as i got on that plane back to beijing i appreciated how lucky i am to have freedom and the ability to do what i want say what i want and act how i want please share this video to help me spread a message of peace positivity and happiness

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