North Korea’s bizarre rules for tourists

IT MAY be the world’s most secretive state, but North Korea is becoming an increasingly popular travel destination — especially for tourists who enjoy being sticklers for rules.

While the mysterious country has come to embrace tourists in recent years, including those from the West, it has not wavered from its notoriously iron-fisted, paranoid and propagandist ways in the process.

Each of the estimated 100,000 international tourists who fly inside dictator Kim Jong-un’s borders each year are bound to strict and often strange laws and regulations, usually spelled out to them by way of a mandatory pre-arrival briefing in China.

And one of the first rules for tourists in North Korea is to not call the country North Korea — calling it the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, will keep you on the right side of trouble.

Here are some other things to expect.

Expect to have eyes on you everywhere in North Korea.Source:Flickr

You’re not allowed any freedom or (much) privacy

This may be no surprise given North Korea’s unflattering history as a brutal totalitarian state, but if you’re a curious traveller with an independent streak, you might want to think twice about North Korea.

Travel to the country is only possible as part of a well choreographed, tightly controlled guided tour, and tour guides are with you every second you’re there.

Seriously — every second. You can’t go anywhere without them. You can’t even pop quickly outside your hotel room, or a dash across the road for a closer look at something, without an escort.

Deviating from your prearranged tour is a huge no-no, and lots of areas are off-limits to tourists.

And if you feel constantly under the surveillance of Big Brother, it’s because you probably are.

“The constant feeling of being watched and the complete lack of freedom is hard to get your head around,” tourist Mar Pages told news.com.au last year.

“After a week I badly wanted to leave and to simply do as I pleased. Not having someone with me the entire time was a welcome relief.”

Taking photographs of miltiary personnel, and only part of a statue (top right), could land tourists in big trouble.Source:Flickr

Watch where you point that camera

Most countries are pretty strict about tourists photographing military zones, military property and soldiers, but there is an even longer list of what you can’t snap in North Korea.

Its regime is notoriously paranoid about keeping its internal affairs secret, so even seemingly innocuous photos — such as of people walking down the street in the capital city of Pyongyang — could be a problem.

Tourists are told to avoid scenes of poverty and construction sites and photographing people without their permission. Anyone taking a photo of a statue has to capture the whole body of the statue in the frame — no close-ups of the head allowed.

Pretty much every photograph recently taken and famously smuggled out of North Korea by London-based snapper Michal Huniewicz is exactly the kind you’re not meant to take.

That’s better: this photo of a full-bodied Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang would be considered more appropriate. Picture: John WrightSource:News Corp Australia

Consider packing really light

That’s if you want to avoid more-rigorous-than-usual screening process at the border.

USB drives, CDs and DVDs, tablets, laptops, cameras and other electronic devices will be inspected by customs officials as you arrive in North Korea — and that includes a thorough stickybeak at your browser history.

They’re looking for subversive material: anything critical of the DPRK government as well as pornographic or religious content, all of which are outlawed in the country.

Trying to smuggling in Western literature about North Korea — including your Lonely Planet guide book — as well as music, television, films and written material from South Korea, would also be a really risky move.

GPS-trackers and satellite phones are definitely not allowed in North Korea, along with camera lens more than 150mm. Foreign mobile phones many struggle getting in.

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the body of Kim Il-sung rests.Source:Flickr

You probably wouldn’t want your phone with you anyway

Tourists are really off the grid in North Korea, because there’s no internet in the country, and up until recently they’ve been banned from bring their mobile phones with them. That rule has apparently been relaxed.

Phones and cameras will be temporarily confiscated at the border to ensure they don’t contain any “anti-state” material, along with those other electronic items. They may be fully confiscated if such material is found, and returned to you upon leaving the country.

If you’re left without a phone, they can be easily bought, along with SIM cards, inside the country.

But if you haven’t had your phone confiscated, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs says you should just go ahead and assume your communication is being monitored by the North Korean government.

Soldiers keep a watchful eye in the country’s capital. Picture: Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Consider (unofficially) renouncing your faith for a while

If you believe in God, you might want to leave that fact at the border, too. North Korea is an aggressively atheist state that cracks down on public religion.

Recently, an American man was detained in North Korea for almost six months for leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin.

He was released by the DPRK following delicate diplomatic efforts — including by the Swedish government — and escorted back to Ohio on a Pentagon jet.

Unsanctioned religious activities is a sure-fire way for foreigners to be arrested, detained or expelled from the state, DFAT warns. Travellers can also be penalised for religious activity that didn’t necessarily occur within North Korea’s borders.

Former DPRK leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.Source:Getty Images

You have to honour their supreme leaders

Expect to be sucked into personality cult surrounding North Korea’s dictators: the first, Kim Il-sung (who you must call “The Great Leader”), his successor Kim Jong-il (“The Dear Leader”) and current leader Kim Jong-un (less impressively, “The Marshal”).

Tourists in North Korea must show reverence for those past and present leaders, and that includes presenting flowers to statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and bowing in front of them when required.

And there are reported to be about 34,000 statues in North Korea of Kim Il-sung alone, so that might happen quite often.

Disrespecting or subverting North Korea’s government is a major offence and has landed tourists in huge trouble, including being sentenced to hard labour.

Tourists have even been reprimanded for throwing away an official newspaper bearing a photo of a member of the Kim family, an Asian travel expert told CNN.

Just two months ago, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student by the name of Otto Warmbier was arrested in North Korea for “hostile acts” and accused of entering the country “under the guise of tourist for the purpose of bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity at the tacit connivance of the US government and under its ma­nipu­la­tion.”

He was reportedly out drinking vodka with friends until 5am

Source: http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/asia/a-look-at-some-of-north-koreas-bizarre-rules-for-tourists/news-story/416fb06ea1a12b532d0de1968aa70236?sv=ba0c07e09c785053bb251ac138f90563