North Korea - 1st hand description of a weeks tour.

[JR8]

I was sent the below by a SGn friend, and found it a fascinating read. Given the places the author has been to previously (most of the world's hell-holes it seems), his perspective is most insightful.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Sons.html
'Inside North Korea: No ads, no planes, no internet, no mobiles, no 21st Century... A rare dispatch from deep within the lunatic rogue state enslaved by Zombie and Sons'


p.s. IIRC it was Carteki who said she's been there.

[zzm9980]

Since foreigners can now get mobile 3G connections in DPRK, there have been a few interesting Instagram feeds that have popped up:

A tour agency?:
http://instagram.com/uritours

AP Photographer in NK:
http://instagram.com/dguttenfelder

AP Korea bureau:
http://instagram.com/newsjean

[JR8]

Ooh thanks for the links there, there are some good looking pix on the homepages. I'll enjoy exploring those later on today.

[x9200]

I was sent the below by a SGn friend, and found it a fascinating read. Given the places the author has been to previously (most of the world's hell-holes it seems), his perspective is most insightful.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Sons.html
'Inside North Korea: No ads, no planes, no internet, no mobiles, no 21st Century... A rare dispatch from deep within the lunatic rogue state enslaved by Zombie and Sons'

Interesting reading but frankly not much better than many other reported before, i.e. Don't Tell My Mother.. - North Korea of Diego Buñel.
Plus for this one, if I am not mistaken, BBC is being accused of not informing the tour participants that there were going to be undercovered journalists in their group.

[nakatago]

not informing the tour participants that there were going to be undercovered journalists in their group.

[x9200]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/ap ... -korea-bbc
[..]
Calhoun also weighed in on the dispute between the LSE and BBC about whether or not the students on the North Korea trip gave their informed consent for Sweeney's filming to go ahead, saying the corporation had admitted it has no written evidence a journalist would join the trip.

"There was no written evidence there was an indication that a journalist would join the trip, no indication that the BBC itself was central to organising the trip," he added. "A written consent would have been very helpful since they were putting the students at risk, that this was not in fact an LSE trip – that this was oprganised by the BBC.[..]

[Mi Amigo]

This is a truly disturbing read -

The Lives and Voices of “Those Who are Sent to the Mountainsâ€Â

[bgd]

The Panorama documentary was on LiveLeak, although a quick search reveals that it has been removed due to copyright violations.

It was interesting but pretty much in line with other footage I've seen. The hospital with no patients and the model communal farm with no livestock, crops or even land was consistent with the photoshopped propaganda that comes out of North Korea at the moment.