5 days Ago By [email protected] (Joe Harbert)
For many, a long-awaited trip away conjures images of blue skies and sunny climes. But Anthony James Macfarlane recently visited one of the world’s most oppressive countries, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), where he received a “propaganda-battering”. It is where harsh penalties exist for insulting leaders, the communist ideology, and for publicly passing judgment on the rogue state.
The country, which even bans jeans due to Western links, virtually sealed its borders at the outset of the pandemic, making it largely impossible to know what was happening there. Since then, it has further distanced itself from most of the world, relying on support from Russia and China. But after years of stumbling blocks, a tour operator has slowly been given the green light to enter the country.
The 31-year-old from Dover leapt at the chance of visiting in March and, following his visit with Koryo Tours, told how surreal the experience was. For instance, in North Korea visitors can take a mobile phone into the country, but must register it at the border. Yet there is no connectivity to international or domestic mobile networks from within the country using an international SIM card.
Describing how the authorities closely watched Mr Macfarlane and his group, he said: "It was an insane experience. "People watching you all the time was pretty weird and you can't question things which aren't up for debate. "I couldn't leave the hotel by myself and without authorisation.
” He described how a whole rail carriage was cleared out specifically for his group so they “couldn't really interact with the regular public”. "If that did happen, a guard would approach (the North Korean resident) and ask for their number, I assume so they could find out what we spoke about with them,” he explained. Winchelsea Road’s Mr Macfarlane was one of only a handful of Brits to have gained entrance in five years.
When Covid-19 struck at the end of 2019 the country, already paranoid about outsider influence, shut itself off even further. Since then, only a small number of visitors have been allowed to enter North Korea for more than five years. However, it partially reopened to the West with 13 tourists, including a 10-person group arranged by company Koryo Tours.
They were allowed to visit the country's Rason Special Economic Zone, near the Chinese and Russian borders in the northeast. Hopes of a more sustained period of openness quickly ceased when the independent socialist state, headed by supreme leader Kim Jong Un, stopped foreign tourism just weeks later without explanation. But in March, Koryo Tours was allowed to re-enter with two groups, made up of about 180 foreigners, to the capital to take part in the 31st Pyongyang Marathon.
The company was invited by the country's athletic association to bring amateur runners as part of the official marathon delegation. It left Mr Macfarlane, a former P&O Ferries worker, as one of just a handful of both Brits and Westerners to visit the country in the last half a decade during his almost week-long stay between April 5 and April 10. Speaking on the moment he crossed into the country from China, Mr Macfarlane said: "I had my laptop, phone and GoPro looked through briefly, but it was smooth and people spoke really good English.
” During his stay, he noticed habits were very different to the UK - largely due to political reasons. For instance, those watching Premier League matches were not allowed to see Tottenham Hotspur games because of a ban due to the club's captain, Son Heung-Min, being from South Korea. North Korea enforces strict rules for tourists, requiring them to travel with official guides, follow specific itineraries, and adhere to regulations regarding interactions with locals.
But the former Canterbury College pupil says the trip “felt more free and less controlled” than he expected, but stressed it was a “culture shock”. Talking about the behaviours he witnessed while in North Korea, he said: “Being completely dedicated to your government with everyone moving as one is alien to us, whereas there it’s completely normal. “There’s a lot of patriotism though which I think has slipped a bit in the West.
” Anthony says his desire to visit the country was fueled by his passion for visiting niche regions across Southeast Asia. "I saved up a bunch of money and the odd bits and bobs online like video editing where I get a tiny bit from making them on YouTube," Anthony - whose trip cost 2,200 euros - explained. "I've just always had a passion for travelling and first went to Asia about 11 years ago.
“I fell in love with the region and have kept coming back as I have grown really fond of it. "I like going off the beaten track and learning about places which are often overlooked. "But I wanted to take everything at face-value without any pre-conceived notions in North Korea.
" Anthony said the visit exceeded his expectations prior to entering the country. As well as the marathon, there were shorter distances including a 10km race - which Anthony took part in. Founded in 1981, the event, which celebrates the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung, hasn't taken place since 2019 because of the pandemic.
Anthony’s group was taken on a tour of the marathon's route prior, seeing the bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il known as the Mansudae Grand Monument. "Using the marathon route was the ultimate way of being able to experience walking down random roads nobody else would have been able to walk down as a foreigner," he said. "The marathon [itself] was really cool, but very cold.
"It would have been nice to stream (online) what I was doing, but I actually quite liked not using the internet for a few days." Now back in the Philippines with his girlfriend ahead of a flight back to the UK in the coming weeks, he says he is "still trying to get back to normality". Asked what advice he would give to others visiting North Korea, Anthony replied: “Try and go into it with a massively open mind.
"When I landed back in China, I got a McDonald's and just sat there because of how emotionally heavy it had been, and how much of a propaganda-battering it was.” The globetrotter has voyaged across Asia to the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, after leaving his hometown to pursue his travelling dreams following the pandemic. Yet North Korea had always evaded his passport stamp.
Having returned to London and applied for a two-year multiple-entry visa to China, he flew from Heathrow to Beijing for a briefing ahead of a two-hour flight to the DPRK for a maximum of six days. “It was just an odd experience and very strange, but I genuinely would still love to go back,” he said..
