'There are no cafes. There are no shopping malls': Cork woman on her trip to North Korea

Irish Examiner

17-05-2025

For decades, North Korea has been the world's most insular and secular state, allowing in only a trickle of visitors every year, and keeping close tabs on their every movement.
Then, in January 2020, it closed its doors completely, with the ruling party blaming the move on the covid pandemic.
However, while other countries reopened, North Korea remained completely closed off. It wasn't until 2024 that the country welcomed back its first visitors in years, a small group of Russian tourists, and then earlier this year announced it was reopening its borders.
Cork native, Janet Newenham said she immediately jumped at the chance to visit.
Janet, who hails from Carrigaline and runs Janet's Journeys, an adventure tour company for mostly solo, female travellers to unusual locations like Uzbekistan and Iraq, said North Korea was always among her must-see destinations. On hearing the country was reopening, she booked her flight two days later.
'I had always told everyone, including my mom and dad, that if North Korea ever opened again, I would drop everything and be on the first flight over and that's exactly what happened. I pretty much booked the first trip to North Korea."
However, for a reason that has yet to be explained, in March, the country decided to again shut its borders — this time while Janet was there.
We were literally the only tourist group that got into the country. We don't know why they opened and we don't know why they closed, but they closed while we were there and that was actually a little bit scary.
"No one really knew what was happening. I mean obviously we managed to get out, but it was nerve-wracking.
Janet Newenham with a guard outside the North Korea/Russian Friendship house during her recent trip to North Korea.
"They don't have wi-fi in North Korea so you can't contact anyone. You can imagine what people at home were thinking seeing the news that North Korea had closed, knowing that I was over there.'
How did Janet even manage to get into the country in the first place?
The globetrotter used the services of a specialist tour operator in China, as strict laws prevent tourists in the country from travelling alone when the country is open to visitors.
She travelled overland from Yangji in China before taking a bus across the border into North Korea, making her way with fellow travellers to Rason SEZ (Rason Special Economic Zone).
Rason is in the northeast of the country, the only part of North Korea that borders both Russia and China. Travelling with about 15 other so-called "extreme tourists", they stayed in Rason Tourist Hotel.
Janet said before they entered North Korean they were sent a lengthy list of what they were not permitted to do in North Korea.
"We had to delete our Netflix from our phone and any sort of downloads we had upon entering and exiting. North Korean people have their own phones — North Korean-made phones with their own apps. They even have dating profiles. Everything you can imagine is on that phone, but it's a phone you've never seen before. It's literally just like a basic North Korean android phone they can connect with each other on. However, it can't connect to anywhere outside of the country."
Other items on the not-allowed list include branded clothing, or religious items. "We were banned from anything that was anti-North Korea.
There was also a ban on branded clothing as North Korea doesn't have advertising. There's no religion in North Korea either so you're not allowed anything to do with the bible, or the Quran. There are no crosses or artefacts allowed that have anything to do with religion.
She explained the sentiment behind this rule.
'The 'dear leaders' are pretty much gods. Essentially, Kim Jong II is a God to them. Even though he's dead, they still see him as their great leader. It's difficult to wrap your head around.'
Pyongyang: 'The word you'd have to use is empty. It was very strange because we never saw that many people. There is no private car ownership. You see a few cars rolling by but they belong to taxi drivers and top-level officials'. Picture: AP /Cha Song Ho
Other restrictions include the internet and social media.
'There's no internet but they do have 'intranet', which is a North Korean system used on computers in schools and universities. Nobody can get access to social media unless the North Korean government specifically gives them access to it.'
However, certain aspects of pop culture, are not off-limits.
'It's really random what they have and haven't heard of. They have access to some songs and music. They like Abba and most of them have seen Titanic. We got a chance to visit a school and the kids knew about Ireland. They even had a page in their textbooks devoted to it. Some of them asked if I was from 'Cork or Dublin'.'
Janet recalls her visit to the school.
'One student told me they wanted to be a teacher when they grow up. Another kid told me they wanted to be a journalist. I told them that was amazing but you can't help but smile to yourself when a North Korean kid tells you that they want to be a journalist.
She said conversations with her tour guide were not so open.
'I asked him what his favourite song was, to which he replied 'the national anthem because it's such a beautiful song'. When I asked him what his favourite book was he said it was the manuscript of the constitution of North Korea because 'that's the best book ever'. Everything felt very staged and rehearsed.'
"Surprisingly, I was allowed to ask him where he'd like to travel to. His reply was always the same — 'Russia or China because they are our allies'.
Charlotte Newenham with the young performers at the Children's Palace in Rason
Often referred to as "the hermit kingdom" because of its seclusions, Janet says she was struck by the urban landscape.
'The word you'd have to use is empty. It was very strange because we never saw that many people. There is no private car ownership. You see a few cars rolling by but they belong to taxi drivers and top-level officials.
They have traffic lights but no electricity so there's a man standing there directing the traffic. These traffic wardens are quite famous. Even when it's empty they are still moving and directing invisible traffic. It's bizarre because there were four-lane highways in the city with nobody driving in them.
While the country is almost devoid of any tourist landmarks, apart from the statues of the Great Leaders, Janet did have the chance to experience the so-called 'Children's Palace'.
'Kim Jong Un has a children's palace where children can come and perform. He claims this is because he puts children first. These children's palaces are like afterschool places where kids can go to dance, sing and perform. They are a lot like Cork Opera House or the Everyman. You are watching 100 kids dance and perform on a stage.
"At first glance it's really beautiful until you see this jarring backdrop of a cinema screen behind them playing footage of rockets going off in North Korea and an army stomping around on the street. The whole performance just centered around how great and powerful North Korea is.
"The city we were in was a few hours from Pyongyang but the kids were under the impression it was four days away. It made me wonder if they had been misled and that maybe the purpose of this lie was to prevent them from ever trying to leave.'
She described how eerie and empty the streets felt, as she and the rest of the group, travelled around Rason by bus and on foot.
'There is nothing,' she told the Irish Examiner.
There are no cafes. There are no shopping malls. Advertising is forbidden in North Korea so it doesn't exist. The entire time we were there we didn't see a single billboard. The closest thing to them were the huge signs with positive slogans about North Korea.
"We were driving around for an hour, trying to figure out where the shops were. It's difficult to find them because there's no advertising.
"Some of them have curtains over the windows so we couldn't see in but the guide wouldn't explain why. There are alcohol shops and clothes shops. The clothes you see on sale are normally dark in colour.'
Janet said a visit to North Korean hair salon was a fascinating experience.
'I was told that people living in North Korea are only allowed something like 10 haircuts. I found this really interesting. I wanted to get my hair cut and the guide said I could. However, he kept making excuses. It was really annoying me, but he just wouldn't let me. I think he didn't want me to be alone with the hairdresser.
"I probably wasn't supposed to, but on the last day I went to one. It was funny because there was this old fashioned fuzzy television that looked like it was playing soap operas in the background. They have a lot of rules around haircuts in North Korea. One of the rules is that men must have short hair. There's a certain haircut for girls and a certain haircut for boys.
Janet Newenham in front of statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
"I lived to tell the tale, but when I got back home my own hairdresser was wondering what had happened to me. She had to take 3cm off because it was so uneven.'
She visited statues of Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong II.
'It's protocol when you visit these statues that you go to the flower shop first to lay down flowers for the dear leaders. They only sell fake flowers. I had to laugh because my mom used to be a florist in Cork and she would have been so disgusted by this.
North Korea has a pretty barren landscape so there isn't many real flowers there. You had to go in and pay the equivalent of €4 for a bouquet of plastic flowers before queueing up and essentially paying your respects to the dear leaders. You bow and walk away.
"After you've left, the people working in the shop take the bouquets that were laid down and bring them back to the shop to resell. It was the same at the Children's Palace. We were asking the guide if we could buy sweets for the children but he told me they 'preferred flowers'.
"I've no doubt the kids had to give the flowers back at the end of the night for the shop to resell. It was all quite strange.'
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