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New Internationalist

New Internationalist

What's It Like to Be a Tourist in North Korea? - Interview by Christina Larson On special guided trips, arranged for tourists and permitted by Pyongyang, Patrick Chovanec, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in Beijing, has twice visited North Korea. On each trip, he and his fellow travelers were accompanied by official guides, only permitted in certain areas, and asked to delete "objectionable" photos from their digital cameras. Yet the visits afforded Chovanec a rare glimpse inside the Hermit Kingdom. FP recently caught up with Chovanec to share his experiences to take us, vicariously, inside Kim Il Sung's mausoleum, a North Korean classroom, and a gilded casino that has seen better days. Foreign Policy: When were you in North Korea -- and where did you visit? Patrick Chovanec: I've made two trips to North Korea. I just returned from my second trip in July. FP: What kind of restrictions do foreign visitors face? PC: Most Americans tend to assume that traveling to North Korea is illegal, like Cuba, but that's incorrect.

Patrick Chovanec International News Dissent Magazine

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