In this 2-part episode, I delve into the North Korean countryside to give an overview on what the North Korean countryside has to offer. This first episode is all about mountains; North Korea's most famous mountain ranges. Indeed, of the 6 famous mountains on the Korean Peninsula - 5 of them lie in the northern half. So, there's a lot to cover!

A lot of this information was taken from Koryo Tours' North Korea Travel Guides section, a comprehensive online travel guide into North Korea.

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Thanks to my Patrons!!!

Become a Patron: www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

Links from the show;

Aim High in Creation Watch & Competition - https://koryostudio.com/films/aim-high-in-creation/ / https://koryostudio.com/blog/Aim-High-In-Creation-Competition

Paektusan - https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/mt-paektu-north-korea-north-korea-travel-guide

Chilbosan - https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/mt-chilbo-north-korea-north-korea-travel-guide

Kuwolsan - https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/mt-kuwol-kuwolsan-north-korea-travel-guide

Myohyangsan - https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/mt-myohyang-north-korea-north-korea-travel-guide

Kumgangsan - https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/mt-kumgang-north-korea-north-korea-travel-guide

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I chat with Nick Bonner, Koryo Studio director and producer/director of several movies & documentaries inside North Korea. He's the go-to man for facilitating these kinds of projects (and much more) in North Korea, and a film he co-directed also won an award a the Pyongyang International Film Festival. He's also the associate producer of Aim High in Creation, a film by an Australian movie producer Anna Broinowski. The film is newly available on Vimeo and there is also a competition running where you get the opportunity to rent/download it online! Listen until the end for how to enter... (or just skip to the link at the bottom!).

Massive thanks to Nick for the incredibly interesting chat!!!! Show him some love over at Koryostudio.com or email [email protected] for more info on art purchases and other projects in North Korea.

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Thanks to my Patrons!!!

Become a Patron: www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

Links from the show -

MOVIES/DOCUMENTARIES

Aim High in Creation / Comrade Kim Goes Flying / Crossing the Line / A State of Mind / Michael Palin in North Korea / Game of Their Lives; https://koryostudio.com/films/

Vimeo; https://vimeo.com/comradekimgoesflying

NORTH KOREAN ART

Map of Pyongyang (Gareth Fuller); https://koryostudio.com/purchase/original/tourist-map-of-pyongyang/

"Wash Your Hands"; https://koryostudio.com/purchase/original/lets-wash-our-hands/

Silence; https://koryostudio.com/sale/original/silence/

COMPETITION

Win Aim High in Creation; https://koryostudio.com/blog/Aim-High-In-Creation-Competition

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes the North East so special? I chat with my colleague and friend Pete who works as a freelance tour guide for Koryo Tours (pre-pandemic..!) and visited the DPRK 6 times alone in 2019. He first visited North Korea on a simple trip to Pyongyang but decided that he needed to go back to explore more.

Pete also gave a really interesting insight into an SEZ that came up as a topic in the Rason episode.

He's also an avid podcast listener, so thanks for the constant support Pete and was lovely having you on the show! Until next time!

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Thanks to my Patrons!!!

Become a Patron: www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

Links from the show;

Pierre Depont's Instagram; https://www.instagram.com/pierredepont/

The Real North Korea (Andrei Lankov); https://www.amazon.com/Real-North-Korea-Politics-Stalinist/dp/0199390037

More info on the KFA: https://korea-dpr.com/

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From shooting pheasants (chickens?) and taking them home for dinner to having a soak completely naked with the locals at the spa. In this episode, I chat about some things you probably never knew you could do in North Korea.

This is a list mainly inspired by everyone's reactions when I tell them what I've been up to on tour. Sure, some of these actually surprised me too - but it's mainly the things that are everyday and mundane that surprise the most people.

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Thanks to my Patrons!!!

Become a Patron: www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

Links from the show;

Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/beyondthehorizon

Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2021/08/31/what-its-like-to-get-stranded-in-paradise-a-true-story/

CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/british-woman-who-spent-pandemic-in-tonga/index.html

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I decided to get on the ChatGPT bandwagon and use it to see the best, most popular, and most ridiculous myths on North Korea and I discuss their origins and the truth behind them.

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Links from the show;

Dinosaur Footprints; https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/dinosaur-footprint-and-fossils-north-korea-travel-guide

Game of their Lives; https://koryostudio.com/films/the-game-of-their-lives/

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, I chat about North Korea's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Rason, in the very northeast of North Korea. It's also the first place I ever visited in North Korea! Get a North Korean bank account, visit a casino, go to the local market, and say hi to the seals!

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Links from the show;

Rason Travel Guide: https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/rason-north-korea-north-korea-travel-guide

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm joined by three special guests to discuss the US travel ban to North Korea, the impacts this has on North Korea, on a global scale, and indeed on American citizens themselves. We discuss everything from North Korean tourism to cultural exchanges in North Korea, and why even the US travel ban to North Korea exists. And finally, what you can do to help...

A more political conversation today; please see the note at the end for a disclaimer in terms of this usually a-political podcast.

A massive thank you to Beka and Ji-Yeon over at the LIFT Campaign and Ju-Yeon from Nodutdol for appearing on the show today.

You can learn more about the LIFT campaign or get involved with the following details;

Email us and join the campaign!

[email protected]

Donate to the campaign on Venmo! 

@LIFT_Campaign

Follow the campaign on Instagram! 

@LetIndividualsFreelyTravel

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

Please note: Discover North Korea as part of the 'Zoe Discovers' network attempts to remain a-political as much as possible. Despite this topic being inherently political in nature, I have attempted as much as possible to stay concerned with the human side of things. Any political opinions and ideas shared by others on this podcast are not necessarily my own and I seek simply to facilitate the conversation. Nevertheless, what I will mention and what is clear in the podcast is that I do wish the US travel ban to North Korea can end as soon as possible so humanitarian work and cultural exchanges in North Korea that are so important to the country and on a global scale in terms of the peace-making process can continue operating as soon as possible.

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you either really want the North Korean passport stamp, or really don't want it? Whichever one you are, I let you know how to avoid the North Korean passport stamp as well as two ways (the only ways) to get it...

------------------

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

- Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

- TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

- YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

------------------

Patrons!

This episode was made possible thanks to my amazing patrons. Thanks to you all!!!

Clarke, James, Charles, Alex, Yusuke, Simon, Masaki, James H, Stephanie, Eirik, Paul, Pat. H, Ilse B, Kevin S.

Become a Patron here:

www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

------------------

More Info

Music: Arirang (North Korean Version), Korea Film Export & Import Corporation

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

North Korea engagement: www.koryostudio.com / @koryostudio

#discovernorthkorea #stampcollecting #northkorea

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So much to unpack with this episode as I sit with Rob Thomas - a Christian American who lived in North Korea with his wife and baby (and Bible?!) - who tells me all about his experience working in the DPRK. Only scratched the surface on this one as there are so many angles to go from! But we start with the basics... how does an American end up working and living in North Korea? And... what was it like?

Thanks so much to Rob from Hwamok Fellowship for joining!

Contact Rob at Hwamok Fellowship on; linktr.ee/hwamok

------------------

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

-> Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

-> TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

-> YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

------------------

Patrons!

This episode was made possible thanks to my amazing patrons. Thanks to you all!!!

Clarke, James, Charles, Alex, Yusuke, Simon, Masaki, James H, Stephanie, Eirik, Paul, Pat. H, Ilse B, Kevin S.

Become a Patron here:

www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

------------------

More Info

Music: Arirang (North Korean Version), Korea Film Export & Import Corporation

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

North Korea engagement: www.koryostudio.com / @koryostudio

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wonsan is North Korea's most popular place for a holiday. Domestic tourism is on the rise in North Korea and Wonsan is at the forefront of it. You may have heard of North Korea's Kalma resort before? We discuss where the Kalma Resort is up to now and why North Korea tourism as me know it may be about to change.

------------------

Contact me with your questions & guest recommendations on [email protected].

Follow me on;

- Instagram @zoediscoversnk for pictures, videos, and live sessions (when it's possible) from inside North Korea

- TikTok @zoediscovers for long and short-form videos inside North Korea

- YouTube @zoediscovers for vlogs inside North Korea

------------------

Patrons!

This episode was made possible thanks to my amazing patrons. Thanks to you all!!!

Clarke, James, Charles, Alex, Yusuke, Simon, Masaki, James H, Stephanie, Eirik, Paul, Pat. H, Ilse B, Kevin S.

Become a Patron here:

www.patreon.com/zoediscovers

------------------

More Info

Music: Arirang (North Korean Version), Korea Film Export & Import Corporation

Visit North Korea: www.koryogroup.com / @koryotours

North Korea engagement: www.koryostudio.com / @koryostudio

#discovernorthkorea #zoediscovers #northkorea

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.