We discuss seeing North Koreans seeing Kim Jong Un speak for the first time, which he did while we were at a hotel the night before. They were utterly transfixed, some cried. His father, Kim Jong Il, spoke publicly only once in seventeen years in power. Now he spoke within the first weeks in power. Here is a quick view of a North Korean roadside entering a modest-sized city. We[…] Keep reading →

Why do I show fireworks from North Korea when the whole world does fireworks? For one thing, the whole show was bigger, longer, and more awesome than probably any fireworks show I’ve seen. Sorry you can’t see everything from just the videos here. Second, people typically think of how much the government spends on the fireworks when it’s people are starving. Is North Korea the only country that puts on[…] Keep reading →

Our guides took us to see the children’s performance palace (I forget its official title), where they put on display groups of children whose performances were incredible. I wrote and posted images of them before. Who knows what training they’ve had or what motivates them to get to this level. I think the usual first guess of people who are critical of North Korea is that the government coerces them[…] Keep reading →

I just realized I never posted this video of me getting the block and game-winning goal in North Korea’s first Ultimate Frisbee tournament in August 2011 (actually, I posted it on a site I since enjoyed leaving.) I consider it one of the highlights of my Ultimate career not for the level of competition but for living out Ultimate’s Spirit of the Game clause “Spirit of the Game. Ultimate relies[…] Keep reading →

Here we are approaching Mansudae Hill, the location of 20-meter tall statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.  Love the men or hate them, they ruled the country for seventy years, so they’re important for the people here. We see children leaving the giant statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. At the start I was holding the camera at my side to be more respectful[…] Keep reading →

While we were stuck at the little state-fair-like celebration for foreigners, the elite and military of Pyongyang were participating in this: You may recognize the place as Kim Il Sung Square, where we were meeting and joking around with regular people just the day before. We did, however, get to see everyone streaming from the parade. Our bus couldn’t move because we got stuck behind a road closing. First we[…] Keep reading →

I interviewed Joe, who had been living in South Korea before visiting North Korea, about the experience at the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery, since it was such an emotional experience. At this point we are in a park just below the cemetery, which is on one of Pyongyang’s highest points, I believe. He talks about how surprising it was to be given such deference in the face of North Korea’s social[…] Keep reading →