YouTuber’s North Korea go to goes viral after 5 years since nation’s tourism halt

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A British traveler not too long ago went viral after documenting his distinctive expertise as one of many first Western vacationers to go to North Korea in over half a decade.

Mike O’Kennedy boasts greater than half one million followers on his YouTube channel, “Mike Okay.” His journey documentary about his journey to North Korea, “Inside North Korea After 5 Years of Isolation,” accrued over 3 million views within the first week because it was posted on Feb. 28.

O’Kennedy, who stated that he likes to “do things as uncensored as possible,” spoke with Fox Information Digital about his expertise visiting the remoted nation. He arrived within the metropolis of Rason on Feb. 20. (See the video on the prime of this text.) 

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“My main kind of takeaway was that this is an incredibly developing country that is at least 50 years behind anyone else,” O’Kennedy stated. “It’s where China was… in the mid[dle] of the last century.”

“I’m not qualified to talk about it politically,” he continued. “But what I can say is, it’s an incredibly proud country.”

Mike O’Kennedy, a British man who also called “Mike Okay” on YouTube, racked up tens of millions of views after documenting his journey to North Korea. (@mikeokay through YouTube)

O’Kennedy’s candid video of the journey confirmed a number of unusual conditions. Whereas flying over North Korea, he and his fellow aircraft passengers have been required to maintain their window blinds closed to stop them from seeing the nation from the air. 

North Korea partially resumed worldwide tourism final 12 months after almost half a decade, in line with vacationer operators. 

“The Hermit Kingdom” closed its borders initially of the COVID-19 pandemic, banning nearly all outsiders from getting into the nation for enterprise, journey or non-vital diplomatic relations. 

The nation partially re-opened its borders in 2023, Fox Information Digital reported.

Nonetheless, stories now say that journeys to North Korea, as of Thursday, have been canceled.

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“Just received news from our Korean partners that Rason is closed to everyone. We will keep you posted,” China-based KTG Excursions, which makes a speciality of North Korean excursions, stated Wednesday on Fb, as BBC reported.

Since O’Kennedy’s go to, North Korea has as soon as once more closed its borders, suspending overseas tourism simply weeks after it welcomed its first Western guests.

At one level in his documentary, O’Kennedy is seen attempting to open a window in his lodge room earlier than realizing it’s been sealed shut.

“There were times where you could cut the tension with a knife. You could feel the weight of this moment.”

He informed Fox Information Digital that there was “pressure on the whole situation.”

“This is the first time any foreign tourists and non-Russian and non-Chinese tourists have entered the country for five years,” he stated. 

“So, there were times where you could cut the tension with a knife. You could feel the weight of this moment.”

Although O’Kennedy wasn’t granted the freedoms he would usually take pleasure in throughout his travels – corresponding to interacting with locals, utilizing the lavatory with out permission and taking solo walks – he was nonetheless aware of the particular therapy that he and his fellow vacationers have been getting.

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“Instead of it being like, ‘We’re not allowed to see this because that’s secret’ … it was just more that they just wanted to show you the best it had to offer,” he stated. “I didn’t have this overwhelming feeling that this is a bad place.”

O’Kennedy stated his expertise in North Korea felt claustrophobic. (@mikeokay through YouTube)

“There were plenty of enjoyable moments… It was just they were just shrouded by a constant kind of level of subtle buzz, of paranoia and anxiety.”

O’Kennedy stated he witnessed dozens of enthusiastic youngsters from Rason carry out a track and dance devoted to chief Kim Jong Un. The present included futuristic house costumes, a light-weight present and visuals of rockets.

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“Almost every song that comes out of the DPRK is, as expected, a tool of worship toward the country’s current or former leaders,” he narrates within the video. “The recurring theme throughout this trip was the utter devotion people had towards Kim Jong Un… To them, he’s a god.”

“We did karaoke one night…drinking North Korean soju [and] North Korean beer, which is delicious, by the way.”

However the professional traveler additionally stated that he loved easy pleasures on the journey, corresponding to North Korean beer – although the meals left one thing to be desired.

Lots of the streets that O’Kennedy confirmed from Rason, North Korea, have been eerily empty, he stated. (@mikeokay through YouTube; Getty Photos)

“We did karaoke one night … drinking North Korean soju [and] North Korean beer, which is delicious, by the way,” O’Kennedy recounted. “Smoking North Korean cigarettes with all guides, and singing karaoke with them. And that was pretty cool. That was a pretty fun thing to do.”

He added, “The food was nothing to write home about for me. It didn’t feel like anything I’d really had in Asia before. Maybe toward the weirder side of, like, Chinese cuisine with … sea slugs and clams. And we had a flaming snail at one point.”

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O’Kennedy additionally stated that he had by no means encountered an space remotely much like North Korea earlier than. 

The Uyghur Autonomous Area of Xinjiang in northwestern China was the one place that got here shut.

A gaggle of North Korean youngsters carried out an elaborate present in honor of Kim Jong Un throughout O’Kennedy’s journey. (@mikeokay through YouTube; Getty Photos)

“I was doing a lot of hitchhiking and stuff [in Xinjiang], and the police would just pop up out of nowhere a few times … They don’t get any foreigners out there at all, really,” he stated. 

“So, there was a level of [a] kind of control and curiosity, but not on the same level as [North Korea] was. This was very restricted to the point where it sometimes felt a little bit claustrophobic.”

O’Kennedy stated he expects that tourism in North Korea will return to its restricted, pre-pandemic ranges. He additionally hopes that extra vacationers get the possibility to work together with North Koreans.

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“The more people go to North Korea, the more North Koreans we get to meet. And I personally think that’s a step forward for the world.”

O’Kennedy’s documentary might be seen on YouTube.

Fox Information Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

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