North Korea Trip Report

I recently returned from a nine-night trip to North Korea that was arranged by the Koryo Group, a company based in Beijing but operated by a group of young Brits. I normally would post my report on the trip here, but not in this case. There are two reasons. First, the North Korean government forbids Koryo from bringing journalists into the country on its trips. During the 1990s, a tour member failed to inform Koryo that he was a journalist, and when it became known, Koryo was effectively shut down for six months or so. No one should mistake a posting on this message board for journalism, but I prefer to take no chances. Second, if the North Korean government were to be displeased with something it read on a public forum—in a magazine or even on a message board such as this—that also could have deleterious consequences for Koryo and perhaps also for some of our North Korean guides. I admit that’s highly unlikely in this case, but why risk it? So if anyone would like to read my report, please send me a private message and I will email it to you. All I ask is that you bear these concerns in mind if and when you think about sharing it with anyone else.