- Luca Pferdmenges visited North Korea as one of the first Western tourists there in five years.
- He told BI it was surprising that the tournament guides did not try to hide the poverty of the country.
- The influencer has visited almost every country in the world – he has only two others to go.
This essay as strong is based on a conversation with Luca Pferdmenges, a 23-year-old influencer of the German trip that was among The first western tourists to visit North Korea since 2020. The conversation is edited for length and clarity.
I’ve wanted to visit North Korea for a long time. I am two places out of my goal of visiting every country in the world, and for me, it is about giving every country a chance, even if I hate politics.
Going there, There were many rules to follow and moments that felt quite staged, but what surprised me most was that they did not hide the visible poverty of the country.
Entering North Korea
There have been some false beginnings in the past, but two weeks ago, Koryo Tours set up a WhatsApp set for quite flexible travelers to enter North Korea with short notice.
I was in Lisbon when I received the confirmation. I would be one of the first foreign tourists allowed again after a five-year break, as long as I could reach China in China on time.
With just two days to plan it, I flew from Lisbon to Dubai, then to Beijing, and finally in Quanhe.
I was nervous about the border crossing from China to North Korea because you don’t really know what to expect. They can do a lot of everything they want with you, including passing all the photos on your phone.
Some people checked their phones, but I don’t.
North Korea opened again for western tourists again in early 2025. Courtesy of Luca Pferdmenges and Luna Salerno
When we crossed the border, you can say that it was not really a routine procedure for them because the border was closed for five years. It was everything a little improvised, but it worked.
Once within North Korea, some things were immediately distinguished. There are no advertising nowhere – not even in cities. On the contrary, they are merely propaganda posters, portraits of leaders and flags.
I was also surprised that Covid-19 is still such a great job there. About 80% of the people I saw wearing masks, and every bag entering the country had to go through a disinfectant machine.
‘Felt very terrible as a school trip’
Everything in a North Korean tour is very, very organized, with strict rules to follow.
Some are obvious – how not to talk bad about leaders. There are also more permanent rules that you may not be aware of, as a requirement that whenever you make a picture of any statues of leaders, everything must be fully in the frame – without harvesting or magnification of nothing.
It felt very terrible as a school trip. They are all on a bus, with certain places and the guide never leaves you.
For five days, we did a lot of casual things: climbing a mountain, visiting a shopping mall and visiting a foreign language school.
At school, the teacher read a lot of a script when we entered the classroom.
We also visited the statues of Kim Il sung and Kim Jong il. It is a whole routine: you need to buy plastic flowers to show your respect.
The tour included visits to a foreign language school, a shopping mall and statues of North Korean leaders. Courtesy of Luca Pferdmenges and Luna Salerno
Seeing poverty
The Rason region is poorer than Pyongyang, the capital, which is still closed to most foreigners, and as we traveled from place to place, we saw poverty.
People in rural areas were clearly poor and we were not allowed to photograph them. Many of them were using quiet and carriages.
Our guides also told us very strictly not to photograph farmers’ homes in the village because they are very crazy and ugly.
Singudesly, they did not close the curtains, so we could not see them. The guides also did not deny that there is poverty; They simply dislike the people who make his photos and present it as the only truth.
This by saying, if you have a good job and relative privilege, you can get a phone and access local internet. They even have an app store where you can download the Korean version of the western game.
I was very surprised to learn that there is a version of North Korea of ”Clash of Clans”.
Luca Pferdmenges traveled to North Korea with Koryo Tours. Courtesy of Luca Pferdmenges and Luna Salerno
A visit to a pharmacy
The tour itself was surprisingly affordable – about $ 740 in total, including a night in China and most of the food.
North Korea is quite free for the Westerners, and the hotel was really good.
Occasionally, we had some unexpected authentic interactions with the locals, such as when we visited a pharmacy. They were mostly confused as to why we were there; They would probably never have seen a stranger before.
Visiting a pharmacy may not seem like a typical tourist activity, but the country is looking forward to showing well -functioning parts.
People think of China because this really oppressive state, where everything is controlled, but for us, it felt again in the free world. We could leave the bus and go wherever we wanted, which really puts things in perspective.
Everyone has an opinion on North Korea, and it is so different from every other country in the world. But I saw a North crust that was not just black and white.
I will definitely return because it is one of those places you leave with more questions than you had before.