The trip to North Korea (part one)
Salam Alaikom
In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful.
In this small series I will show you scenes
from one of the most mysterious and isolated countries in the world.
The country that I entered with questions, and leaved it with even more questions.
and we might wonder whether stories we have heard about NK are true or not.
Actually, what I saw in NK with my own eyes made it easier to believe most of these stories
Of course there are a lot of exaggerations and misunderstandings.
I spent 8 days in NK visiting most of the places there.
Pyongyang .. Hamhung .. Wonsan
.. the east coast ..the boarders ..  etc..
8 days in the 2nd century according to the Juche calendar used in NK
8 days in a complete disconnection from the world
No telephones, no internet, no newspaper, no outside T.V channels
and before we start
I would like to clarify that NK is not one of the 5 countries that is banned for Saudi citizens.
You can always contact the General Directorate of Passports
and they will answer your questions
( General Directorate of Passport's reply)
I have started the journey from China
from Beijing to be more specific
I was asked to attend an appointment one day before the trip
this appointment was compulsory
to understand the laws and regulations
and to sign on a paper confirming that I am not a journalist
and that I am not a missionary
and that I will respect their laws, their leaders, photos and monuments
basically they don't want to hold any responsibility
some of these laws were humorous and frightful at the same time
they change continuously from time to time
especially after unpleasant events
in January last year, a foreign tourist named Warmbier was sentenced to prison for 15 years with hard labor
they have accused him of doing "hostile acts against the DPRK"
he got arrested at Pyongyang airport
where the cameras showed that he was stealing one of the propaganda posters
hanging on the wall of the hotel
at the same hotel, and the propaganda.. or to be more specific "boasting about NK"
showed pictures of different sizes
mostly showing the victory of the Koreans and the defeat of the imperials
an American being stamped on
and a Korean solider crushes the Pentagon etc..
these are the only posters that you can see in NK
the only country in the world that does not have any commercial ads
on the way to the airport, I have received my visa
it was a separate paper card
the entry and exit year date was written in the Juche calendar
that started from the year which Kim ll-sung was born
as for the months and days
they were written according to the Gregorian calendar
there was no stamp on the passport
and they take it from you as soon as you arrive at Pyongyang
and they keep it with the controller until the end of the journey
Declaration should be made on the number of books, mobile phones, computers
and you have to enter/exit the country having the exact same quantity which you declared earlier
without leaving anything behind
a foreigner once forgot the Bible in a public area
and they sentenced him to prison for 5 years
as for the prohibited items it includes: books, movies in Korean language, the bible
the U.S.A flag in all forms, pornography, GPS devices, latest addition of GoPro
camera lenses more that 150 mm
and the list goes on
After that they took us on the side to examine the books, mobile phones, computers
a passenger once was faced with a serious problem because of a picture he had on Whatsapp
that was sent to him as a joke
as for me, this book got their attention
thankfully Stalin's picture on the cover saved me
even though it's just a novel, but it literally describes a lot of  what's happening in NK
thats why I made sure to bring this book with me
these are the streets of Pyongyang
it is noticeable that cars are rare to find
only 3% of the population own cars
mostly owned by teachers, scientists, doctors, high ranked military officers and personnel
as for the rest, like what Al-Motanabi (Arab poet) said:
" and some, with their daily bread, content..
using their legs to ride, and their own skin for wear"
in 1974 NK bought 1000 Volvo cars from Sweden
and they still did not pay its amount yet
these cars are still roaming around the streets of Pyongyang
until this day, this ambassador still claims for his right
a reason why there is a Swedish embassy in Pyongyang
after we left the airport, we headed to to the capital one hour before sunset
it was my first time seeing the people of Pyongyang
the capital of NK, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
we can't name it NK after this point
first day in the capital Pyongyang
we headed to one of the Metro stations
we went into a deep, long escalator for a couple of minutes
there was Music coming from unknown places
we arrived to a white elegant hall
with a soviet layout and golden inscriptions
and poles with rectangular frames showing the newspaper behind a glass cover
the hallway was covered with beautiful mosaic paintings showing the soliders, farmers, builders
or "workers" as the regime likes to call them
foreigners are only allowed to visit two stations
connected by a short lane
there were lots theories in the western media that the metro was just a trick
or an unfinished project
and those passengers were just actors
it is also alleged that there are secret tunnels connecting between the headquarters of NK
and there is a lot of evidence and witnesses
but we certainly can not investigate or even ask about it
100 meter underground, Pyongyang metro is considered one of the deepest in the world
that's why it conserves a permanent temperature degree throughout the year
plus, it is also nuclear resistant
the controller and I went into a trailer,  it was crowded
and I chose to stand so I could take some pictures
I was warned  from aiming the camera lens directly towards the people's faces
this is one of the most beautiful pictures I took
I wrote the story of this picture on my Instagram account
at the end of the day I went to the hotel where foreigners can stay in
located in an island isolated from the rest of the capital
and it looks depressing and ambiguous
it's famous because of the rumors that had been told about it
what really caught my eyes is the world map located at the reception
all maps are represented like that in order to place Korea (North and South)  in the center
and they always talk about South Korea like its under their sovereignty
even if you asked a North Korean about the population he would say: "50 million"
where he includes the population of the two countries
The hotel gave me the room card
it was thick and strange
and they were very careful about it
foreigners are warned not to stop between the 5th and the 11th floor
no one knows what these floors are about
especially the 5th floor which did not have a button in the elevator
the furniture was old-fashioned
it was strange that there was a fire detection device located at the corner of the room
despite the fact that it is always recommended to place it at the center of the room
and there was a hole in the device directed to the window
at the hotel, there was a small library that sells books explaining the history of the country
in their point of view
and in all languages including Arabic
there were books about the leaders, and previous editions of Pyongyang times
this is the library
let's take a quick look
"no photography allowed"
but the library manager is talking on the phone
I hope she doesn't see
here is Newyork ti... I mean Pyongyang times
similar to Newyork times and other newspapers we know
you can notice here the way of folding the newspaper
it can only be folded here
and here
it can not be folded on the geat leader's picture
because that will cause some problems
I am not sure if I am going to save this video
I should not point my fingers towards him like this
It is also prohibited to throw it after reading it
there is an authority that deals with such documents
here are books that talks about Korea's leaders in Japanese, English
Dutch, Spanish, Russian, French
in all languages
here are some of their sayings
this is Kim ll-sung, the grandfather of the current president
*translating the quote in Arabic*
that's him on the left
and his son
it is prohibited to point your finger towards him like that
you must use your whole hands like this
These are some published books about Korea
map of Korea
Geology of Korea
you can notice that they don't write north and south
they don't acknowledge such names
the official name of the country is DPRK
even when they talk about South Korea
they would talk as if it's part of their country
I was just in the elevator with a little girl with her parents
she asked me where did I come from
I told her from Saudi Arabia
but they didn't know it
so I showed her on the map where Saudi and NK is
she got angry and told me that it is Korea and not North Korea
these are photos of the great leader Kim Jong un
after he got re-elected
the only candidate indeed
all of them voted for him mashallah
and you can see his famous hand clapping
after he won the elections
and here is his speech after he got re-elected
* reciting verses of the Quran*
thanks for watching
subscribe to the channel for more videos
