Road to North Korea - In the Zone

Once inside North Korea you are greeted by music and, for some reason, a man dressed in a bear costume waving at you. Bet you never knew about Smokey's commie cousin.

Since we were a group of U.S. journalists (there were seven of us) we got our own escort from Hyundai Asan. And a special bus.



We drove for about ten kilometers from the border and headed to the Kumgang Mountain resort area. Again, no pictures were allowed. But this time there was the slightly intimidating factor of North Korean guards periodically posted along the road, lying in tunnels that were dug by the road, and standing on perches overlooking the road. Each soldier had a red flag that would be raised if you were seen snapping a photo.
That would mean the bus would be stopped, we were told. Though it wasn't clear what would be done.

The reason, we were told, was that we were driving through a military base. Indeed there were tanks and anti-aircraft equipment perched on the hills overlooking the road and tucked inside cement bunkers. But there were also farm fields and villages and big paintings of the president and his father on a building and a billboard.

Nonetheless, I decided it wasn't the time to try and risk the picture taking. The soldiers had a way of always seeming to be looking right at you. I figured I'd give this Axis of Evil the benefit of the doubt that they could see you.

The road, built by Hyundai Asan, is lined by green fences with barb wire at the top. North Korea proper is on the other side. When you finally get to the resort, it is the same thing.

On one side there is typical tourist shop and information center:







On the other side is North Korean villages:










It's surreal.