Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about.

This week’s question is:

What do you think of foreigners traveling to North Korea?

Personally, I’m fervently in favor of foreigners traveling to North Korea. Foreign tourists were the first foreigners I ever saw when I was still a young child in North Korea. My hometown was located near the Sino-NK border. Hence, we easily came in contact with Chinese culture. However, though we could easily access Chinese culture, we didn’t take much interest in other cultures. But when I was in elementary school, I saw foreign tourists who had come to visit Mount Baekdu. They were the first Westerners I had ever seen. I don’t know exactly what nationality they were; at the time I just assumed they were Americans. But that’s when I first became interested in foreign cultures other than Chinese. Had I not seen them visiting Mount Baekdu, I probably wouldn’t have taken an interest in foreign cultures ever.

Honestly, North Koreans have a low opinion of Chinese culture. Of course, we’re aware of the fact that the Chinese economy is better off. However, we take pride in our culture and often think that North Korean culture is far superior to Chinese. We think Chinese people dress very poorly and in a way that makes them look unattractive. However, we think very highly of the way Americans and South Koreans dress, often to the extent of praising them.

The first Westerner I saw was blue-eyed with brown hair and he was wearing jeans. I had seen many Chinese people dressed in jeans, but that Westerner looked far more fashionable. Plus, this was when the James Bond series was becoming popular in North Korea. That’s probably why I was more impressed with Westerners, I guess. I was obsessed with those movies; whenever I watched James Bond, those movie characters seemed to be divine figures to me and when I saw Westerners who resembled those movie characters, I grew intrigued.

We just wanted to get more glimpses of those foreigners, because they were a rare scene in North Korea

I remember how I and my friends chased after the buses those foreigners rode on because it was not common for us to see foreigners in North Korea. We just wanted to get more glimpses of those foreigners, because they were a rare scene in North Korea. I don’t know what they thought of us chasing after their bus but they were, at the very least, refreshing to us. It didn’t end there. I constantly thought of them and pondered over those people and their cultures. I constantly thought… “Where did they come from? Do they eat rice and kimchi just like we do in North Korea? Don’t they get arrested by police even if they bleach their hair and wear blue jeans?’

A rush of such questions came to me and they didn’t leave my mind for a while. I wanted to have my hair colored for a change and I wanted to know more about their lifestyle. I asked my parents but they didn’t know much. At school, we were taught that Westerners were evil imperialists. But they didn’t look evil to us, not in the least. They kept smiling at us as we cast our curious glances at them. They seemed too friendly to be evil imperialists.

Since America is the main enemy of the North Korean regime, we couldn’t openly talk about America. Nor could we ask every question we had about America. But I tried to satiate my curiosity about America in English class and through American movies, little by little. That was never enough, of course. I was always curious about America and American culture. I wanted to know more and more about their lifestyle in America. But it was a country I couldn’t dare to know. That big wall called capitalism stood in the way. From time to time, I felt skeptical of the economic gap and social inequalities in America. However, now that I think about it, there were more economic gaps and social inequalities in North Korea than in America.

GO TO NORTH KOREA

I would like to recommend that foreigners visit North Korea as it is an opportunity for them to have a positive influence on ordinary North Korean people. Their visit and existence can spark an interest and curiosity among ordinary North Koreans. At the same time, foreigners can experience the real North Korea, which has been distorted in books and other media. I know some people are critical of supporting foreign tourism in North Korea as they believe the money goes to support the North Korean government.

But that’s not entirely true. Of course the North Korean government makes money off of it. But, I would like to point out that it is the ordinary North Koreans who provide translation and guidance or work at accommodation lodges. These people who come in contact with foreign tourists would tell of their encounters with foreigners to other people in their neighborhood which will spread among the ordinary North Korean people. It can play a positive role in making more North Koreans know about the outside world. As well, some foreigners give presents and souvenirs to North Koreans that they will appreciate adoringly.

Of course, there are some negative aspects of foreign tourism in North Korea. A considerable number of staff members at the hotels where foreign tourists stay are North Korean women in their 20s. If any of them become pregnant, they will be fired and become single mothers. In a highly patriarchal society such as North Korea, it is very difficult to live as a single mom. Things become unbearable for them, and sometimes, they take their own lives. One of my friends was half-Korean and that friend found her biological mother later in life. Even though she hadn’t committed suicide, she was living a miserable life, separated from the world.

Since (mixed) children often excel at sports and earn better grades, the North Korean government makes investments in those children

However, most mixed children don’t live in misery in North Korea. Since those children often excel at sports and earn better grades, the North Korean government makes investments in those children.

In conclusion, I believe it is very important for more foreign tourists to continually pay visits to North Korea for the sake of democratization and North Koreans’ enlightenment. I mainly talked about Americans and South Koreans as examples earlier in my column, but it’s not just Americans and South Koreans who can have a positive impact on North Koreans. As long as they come from democratic countries where people’s liberty and freedom are guaranteed and practiced, I believe they can all play a positive role in bringing North Koreans a little closer to democratization and ending the dictatorship. It is grounds for punishment for an ordinary North Korean to indulge themselves in foreign dramas, movies and magazines. However, there is nothing the North Korean government can do when ordinary North Koreans come in contact with foreign visitors and become curious about them.

The above is the perspective of the author, and may not be representative of all North Korean defectors.

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Editing by Rob York and translation by Elizabeth Jae

Artwork by Catherine Salkeld