Exclusive - Inside North Korea

THE WEEK takes you to Kim Jong-un’s Hermit Kingdom, which is trying to win new friends and end its isolation.

- Dr N.J. Nadarajan

The world I knew temporarily ceased to exist on a bright morning in September. Kim Jong-un’s North Korea has that effect on you. It is a world in itself, cocooned and unaffected by the communication revolution sweeping the rest of the planet. As the train from the Chinese border town of Dandong climbs on to the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge over the Yalu river, the waters beneath are bathed in sunlight. Minutes later, the train pulls in to the desolate and drab Sinuiju station in North Korea, where the pictures of the Great and Dear leaders are in your face.

Even as North Korea is trying to win over Seoul and Washington, hoping to water down the complete blockade that has been stifling its economy and the lives of its people, the country remains a mystery to most. The west paints it as hopeless, its people living the life of rats, forever squeezed by the ruling elite to support their lavish lifestyle. Yet, it accuses the North Koreans of hacking into supercomputers and secure websites, and of stockpiling nuclear weapons.

The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.

Independent accounts of life in North Korea, or Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, are rare. North Korea receives nearly 6,000 tourists annually (not counting the Chinese, for whom restrictions are minimal), and most of them are from the west, curious to know why their rulers hate this mountainous country that shares borders with South Korea, Russia and China. The Demilitarised Zone or DMZ that separates the two Koreas is considered one of the most dangerous borders in the world.