Continuing writing about my North Korea trip... If you read this blog regularly you know I don't find value in people telling others what they should consider right or wrong, which ethics discussions usually do. I try to avoid using judgmental or evaluative language except when the criteria for evaluating are clear. Talk about visiting North Korea and you'll find people want to talk about the rightness or wrongness of going. I can't say what's right or wrong for anyone else, but I can share how I worked things out for myself. If that helps you, I'm glad. If not, feel free to share your disagreement. I might learn something. The North Korean government presents itself as the best in the world. The rest of…

Continuing writing about my North Korea trip... The next most common question after how to get to North Korea and its legality is what it's like. This blog will cover the experience in depth. For now some overall conditions of touring North Korea. Later posts will cover the sites and experiences. This post covers the basics of how the tour goes. Limited choice The North Korean government gives you a limited choice in the places you can go, basically choosing from a list of a few dozen government-approved places. Want to go elsewhere? Not likely. If you read where others have gone, you'll hear the same short list almost each time and see pictures of the same places. Since almost no one knows what North…

Continuing writing about my North Korea trip... Mention you went to North Korea and you'll hear two questions more than any others: How do you get there and is it legal? With proper paperwork Americans can legally tour North Korea, according to the State Department, but it warns you you're taking serious risks, you just have no legal recourse from the U.S. government because the two countries have no diplomatic relations. How to get there, on the other hand, can be easy. I hear doing all the paperwork yourself is impossibly complex. On the other hand, letting Koryo Tours handle the paperwork, as we did, makes everything easy. All you have to do is show up in Beijing with a double entry visa to China,…