[Herald Interview] Traveling to ‘see the human side of North Korea’

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- When British traveler Zoe Stephens, 30, decided to tour North Korea for the first time in 2017, she didn’t think she would be doing it for a living.

“I went to North Korea as a tourist first, pretty much the same way as everyone else. I realized it’s nothing like what the media says,” she told The Korea Herald. She said “the real North Korea” took her by surprise and charmed her.

“So I decided that I wanted to start doing tours to show everyone what the media wasn’t showing -- the human side to North Korea.”

Since then she has visited North Korea more than two dozen times, staying as long as a month at a time until the pandemic shut down the borders. She eventually began working as a tour guide for a Beijing-based company Koryo Tours, which mainly offers travel programs to North Korea.

“North Korea tour guide was my first real job after university. It’s fun. I absolutely love it,” she said. “I’m also a professional blogger and digital marketer.”

After the pandemic hit, she created a YouTube channel based on her previous North Korea travels under the username Zoe Discovers.

Her most watched video features her exploring the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone -- regarded as one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world -- and casually conversing with a North Korean guard.

“I interviewed the soldier after asking casually. It wasn’t anything formal. I asked my North Korean guide if he (the soldier) would be okay with it, and she suggested I try. We have seen each other before and he was happy to do it. That was in December 2019,” she said.

Stephens insists that she gets no “special treatment” from North Korean authorities in her getting to roam around the country seemingly without much restriction and make online content out of it.

“It’s funny. People think that somehow I have special access to all these places. But there is nothing that I film or photograph that no one else can. Everything is completely accessible,” she said.

She thinks a part of what makes her having such access possible may be due to the “prestige” her company, Koryo Tours, has in North Korea’s tourism business. “We’ve been there the longest,” she said.

While she said Koryo Tours “doesn’t work with the North Korean government or any official body,” she said that their “local partners” are Korea International Travel Company, which is run by the State General Bureau of Tourist Guidance.

Throughout her interview with The Korea Herald, Stephens said she was careful to avoid being seen as she has any connections to North Korean authorities.

“Nobody wants to portray North Korea like I do and I get a lot of backlash for it because it’s not what people want to see,” she said.

“I’m not promoting North Korea or doing propaganda work for its government. I’ve been to far-off, remote places and not just shiny places like Pyongyang, which is obviously a very beautiful capital. So they’re not trying to hide anything from me.”

As a North Korea content creator, she said in her experience, she found photographing or filming being banned to be “one of the biggest myths about North Korea out there.” “You can take photos unless they tell you not to,” she added.

She said she didn’t think North Korea was as unsafe as its reputation holds.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. North Korea is safer than visiting many European cities. It’s safer than visiting my hometown of Liverpool,” she said. “The thing about North Korea is, you are safe as long as you follow the rules.”

A good rule of thumb to follow is to avoid bringing up politics in interactions with locals, according to Stephens. “I would advise against talking about their leaders just because you don’t want to accidentally say something offensive,” she said.

Apart from avoiding thorny subjects like politics, she said she was able to earn the trust of North Koreans “by being real and respectful.”

“I’ve seen bloggers go there and somehow try to add a sinister twist to things they see and hear. Sometimes they get their North Korean partners into trouble,” she said. “I don’t try to sensationalize North Korea and make it look crazy.”

She admitted that she does censor things she chooses to share on her online platforms.

“I self-sensor my content. I want to be able to keep returning to North Korea,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I’m trying to portray things in the wrong light. That just means that I don’t show things that aren’t respectful or ethical.”

Her parents weren’t supportive of her North Korea ventures at first.

“My dad thought it was exciting. But when I told my mom I was going to North Korea, she was crying and begging me not to go,” she said. “I told her to Google more about North Korea tourism and find out for herself, and not trust everything she hears from the media.”

One of the places she would most recommend visiting in North Korea is Nampo, a seaside city southwest of Pyongyang.

“There’s a resort that has a private spa in each room, as well as a swimming pool. Everyone loves it there,” she said.

For those thinking of traveling to North Korea one day, she said her advice is to “go with an open mind” and “mingle with North Koreans.”

“Hang out with locals in the evening. Buy them a beer, get to know them. They are your gateway to understanding the human side of North Korea we never hear about in the media.”

Experts in Seoul say the kind of access Stephens seems to enjoy in the otherwise highly restricted country would not be possible without getting through authorities there first.

“Every detail of the content most likely had to get clearance from North Korean authorities before it can be presented to the outside world,” said Park Won-gon, a North Korea studies professor at Ewha Womans University.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was also “keen on promoting North Korea as a tourist-friendly destination,” he added.

Kim Gum-hyok, a North Korean defector and a former senior aide at the Veterans Affairs Ministry in Seoul, similarly suspected some form of cooperation from authorities. “The kind of random encounters and free-roaming are typically off-limits to most people in North Korea,” he said.