Inside North Korea: A Glimpse Into the Hermit Kingdom
The Controlled Reality of North Korean Tourism
This is a rural area of North Korea, its infrastructure looks like old Soviet movies… but it is cleaner than many countries pic.twitter.com/A9JKYajeHD
— Olala🇻🇳 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 (@olalatech1) March 5, 2024
North Korea remains one of the world’s most isolated and secretive nations, where every aspect of life is controlled by the totalitarian regime. Foreign visitors experience a carefully choreographed version of the country, far removed from the harsh realities faced by its citizens.
As seen through the eyes of French tourists in the transcript, visitors to North Korea are under constant surveillance. Their guides act as minders, controlling where they go, what they photograph, and whom they speak with. Images deemed unfavorable to the regime are immediately deleted from cameras, and questions challenging the official narrative are swiftly shut down.
“The tourists are stunned, but decide it’s best to say nothing. Not one word,” notes the documentary narrator, highlighting the atmosphere of caution and self-censorship that pervades even among visitors.
The DMZ: A Symbol of Division
The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) represents one of the most heavily militarized borders in the world. Guards on both sides stand vigilant, with “the first one who puts a foot over the line will be immediately spotted by the slew of cameras and killed.” The stark contrast between North Korean soldiers in “retro style” uniforms and South Korean troops with “Ray-Bans and US equipment” symbolizes the ideological divide that has persisted since the Korean War.
The DMZ serves as a physical manifestation of the Cold War that never ended on the Korean Peninsula. Despite its name, it is ironically one of the most militarized zones on earth, with thousands of troops stationed on both sides.
Propaganda and Education
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of North Korea’s totalitarian system is its approach to education. The documentary shows children as young as three being indoctrinated in the cult of personality surrounding the country’s leaders. At a kindergarten visited by the tourists, children recite the major episodes in Kim Il Sung’s life with practiced precision.
“They learn a lot by heart,” observes Claude, a former teacher. “They learn everything about history, about the president, and about the great leader. They start when they’re three years old… and everything is repeated until it’s fixed in their minds.”
This educational approach ensures loyalty to the regime from an early age. The North Korean education system emphasizes revolutionary history, Communist morality, and devotion to the leadership above all else. Students spend hours studying the Juche ideology, with curriculum materials carefully designed to foster hatred toward enemies of the state, particularly the United States and South Korea.
A Nation in Isolation
A brief example of how laws get passed in North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, in the presence of leader Kim Jong-un.pic.twitter.com/naxbCG09BV
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 28, 2025
North Korea remains largely cut off from the outside world. The documentary reveals that citizens have no access to the internet, with computers at the Central Library of Pyongyang showing no connection to global networks. Mobile phones, while increasingly common, only allow local calls.
Tourism to North Korea remains highly restricted. As of 2025, following a five-year lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has only recently begun allowing limited tourism, primarily for Russian passport holders. For most nationals, including Americans, travel to North Korea continues to be impossible due to “the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful detention,” according to U.S. travel advisories.
A Legacy of Dictatorship
The cult of personality surrounding North Korea’s leaders remains at the center of national life. Statues and portraits of Kim Il Sung, who ruled from 1945 until his death in 1994, are ubiquitous. As “president in eternity,” his legacy continues through his son Kim Jong Il and grandson Kim Jong Un, who maintains the family’s iron grip on power.
The documentary reveals that even foreign visitors are required to pay homage to the founder’s statue through a formal bowing ceremony, highlighting how the personality cult pervades all aspects of North Korean society.
Despite occasional signs of modernization, like the country’s only pizzeria or rollerblading youth in People’s Square, North Korea remains firmly in the grip of a dynastic dictatorship that prioritizes military spending and nuclear weapons development over the welfare of its citizens.
As the documentary concludes, North Korea exists as “a prison from which you cannot escape,” where a carefully constructed facade masks the reality of a nation trapped in time, isolated from the world, and held captive by its own leadership.
