At Home In The Wasteland Travel Blog

Since returning from a trip to North Korea (DPRK) in September 2009, I’ve received a substantial amount of e-mail from people who are interested in traveling there themselves. Since many of the questions posed by these travelers are quite similar, and this information might be useful to those planning a trip, I’m putting together a [...]

Gather ’round, comrades, and watch this excerpt from a lecture on the DMZ’s Joint Security Area, courtesy of an officer from the Korean People’s Army.

In this photo, an officer in the Korean People’s Army lectures our group of American Imperialists on, among other things, U.S. Imperialism. Before the officer began his lecture, our North Korean guide (also in the above photo), Ms. Lee, said “I apologize in advance. I will say ‘American Imperialists’ several times.” I was pretty floored [...]

Well, it was the tallest in the world when I saw it, but in September 2010 the Azeris completed a 162 meter flagpole in Baku, giving them the world record (although lately it has encountered a bit of structural trouble). I guess that news hasn’t reached Kim Jong-Il yet, because surely he would continue the [...]

I guess they have more important things to do than clean the windows on the buildings that straddle the Military Demarcation Line in the Korean DMZ’s Joint Security Area. As seen from one of the buildings where negotiations are conducted, this North Korean soldier is standing guard on North Korea’s side of the MDL. On [...]

Taken during a September 2009 visit to the North Korean side of the DMZ.

Here is the North Korean produced footage of our visit to the DMZ. I had to break this up into two parts due to YouTube’s ban on videos over 10 minutes. Part 1: This has some incredibly dramatic music as well as dialogue that explains how the “U.S. imperialists bent their knees” to the North [...]

“For your own safety,” the lieutenant colonel explained, “several of our soldiers will be accompanying you to the border.” Statements like this are to be expected when visiting the demilitarized zone that divides North and South Korea, but when that announcement is coming from an impeccably dressed officer from the North Korean People’s Army, rather [...]

Photos taken while driving from Pyongyang to the DMZ. A section of the highway was closed, so we had to take a slight detour. I really wanted to steal that cone A quick stop at the Sohung Rest House Anti-tank barriers. Rigged with explosives so they can be blown up and the rubble strewn across [...]

Over the past few weeks there have been several interesting articles about North Korea. The first, “Soldiers, Mines and Sounds of Children Playing” is actually about the South Korean Taesung Elementary School, the only school inside the Korean DMZ. Kim Han-seul, a fifth-grader, attends a most unusual school. Each morning, his school bus picks him [...]