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Six things to see in the Axis of Near Evil

In honor of North Korea’s recent downgrade from the Axis of Evil to the Axis of Near Evil, I decided to highlight six (an appropriate number ) of their top attractions should you decide to go there.

While it is unlikely that North Korea will become a ‘top’ tourist destination anytime soon, you would be best advised to check it out before it loses any of its uniqueness. There’s certainly no place on Earth like North Korea.

Foreign visitors are kept on carefully supervised and scheduled tours that highlight the places and sights that the government wants you to see, and keeps you away from anything that may deviate from the script. With that in mind, this list focuses on things a visitor is likely to see.

The City of Pyongyang

North Korea’s capital city of Pyongyang can best be described as a staged display city, carefully managed as a showcase to the world. While the rest of North Korea starves in the dark (check out this satellite image), Pyongyang is allocated the lion’s share of North Korea’s food and electricity. The government carefully manages who lives in Pyongyang, disallowing invalids, the elderly, and restricting the populace to the elite of North Korea. It is incredibly clean with no (reported) crime, which speaks to a couple benefits of living in a repressive totalitarian state. Simply put, Pyongyang is a unique city in a unique country.

Most foreigners will spend the bulk of their time in North Korea in Pyongyang, likely staying at the Yanggakdo Hotel, which is located on an island and thus easily managed by government authorities.

The DMZ

The Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone) extends two kilometers on either side of the North Korean/South Korean border (the Military Demarcation Line). Despite its name, the Korean DMZ is one of the most heavily defended areas in the world, filled with landmines, barbed wire, and troops. You can take a tour of the DMZ from North Korea (similar to the tour of the DMZ from South Korea. This tour will take you right up to the border and within 20 meters of South Korean territory outside the buildings. There are guards from both sides standing within spitting distance of each other, but they are not allowed to speak to each other. (Can anyone confirm if making faces is allowed? Sign language?)

It is possible on this tour to run into South Korea, though keep in mind that doing so will most probably trigger a hail of gunfire and an international incident. The DMZ tour will also show you the Military Armistice Commission Conference Hall, which spans the border, and is used for meetings between the two countries. If you exited out the South door, you would end up in South Korean territory, but guards are posted within the building during the tour to prevent “defections”.

Mansudae Grand Monument

The Mansudae Grand Monument is a 20 meter tall bronze statue of North Korea’s former leader Kim Il-Sung. It was completed in 1972 to celebrate Kim Il-Sung’s 60th birthday, and was said to have been planned by the people to be 40 meters tall. Due to Kim Il-Sung’s modesty, the statue was reduced to only 20 meters high. Foreign tour groups are taken to the monument to pay their respects to Kim Il-Sung and to present a bouquet of flowers at the base of the statue. This represents one of the main places of pilgramage for North Koreans. There are also monuments depicting the struggle of the Korean People’s Army against imperialism on each side of the statue.

Tower of the Juche Idea

This highly visible 170 meter high Pyongyang Juche tower celebrates Kim Il-Jung’s Juche philosophy. The Juche philosophy promotes economic self-sufficiency as a key to sovereignity (a very simplified explanation of it), and you can find it celebrated across the country. The tower offers an introduction to foreigners about this philosophy (as you will find out on a tour) and about how this “leading” philosophy is great. You can get some insight from this about how it plays into North Korea’s isolationism. For those less interested in this philosophy, you can take a lift to the top, and get a great view of the city from up there.

Arirang Festival

Also known as The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang, this spectacular festival is most famous for the opening mass games event. During this event, over 30,000 schoolkids hold large colored cards over their heads to create giant mosaics. These change every few seconds and are spectacularly choreographed to coincide with the actions of thousands of dancers and gymnasts. There are 100,000 performers in total. The aim of the show is to tell the story of North Korea from their perspective, and also to glorify North Korea’s leaders.

Mount Paektu

This sacred mountain is the highest mountain (2,750 meters high) in North Korea and is located on the border between China and North Korea. Koreans consider this mountain to be their ancestral origins as the beginning of the first Korean kingdoms took place here. Subsequent kingdoms held Mount Paektu as being sacred as well, and it has played a large role in the official history of Kim Il-Sung’s origins.

The North Korean historians claim that Kim Il-Sung organized the resistance against the Japanese occupation from the forests around Mount Paektu, and that Kim Jong-Il was born in a log cabin at Mount Paektu. The intertwining of the Kim’s history and this sacred mountain reinforces their legend, although non-North Korean historians dispute these events.

So there you have it - six top sights in North Korea, should you choose to go there!