lol:grin: I am actually in the swine farming business...north korea has a very high demand for pork...they have state operated farms there that require animals and feed. As for the holiday part, work will only take a couple of days, so hoping that I will be able to spend a week or so travelling the country.
Don't go To North Korea. Americans get imprisoned there and then our government has to come negotiate with their government to get you out and you **** over everyone of your fellow citizens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_imprisonment_of_American_journalists_by_North_Korea
Very serious. Americans going to North Korea **** over every American citizen by compromising our security. Don't go there. Same with Iran.
Of course, they lied about their profession when entering the country, and thus violated NK law (even worse, given that journalists are forbidden). There's nothing wrong with visiting NK - as long as people understand what they are getting into and what the expectations are.
Sorry - this is incorrect. That was one of those people's sisters (misread the article). These guys just were filming as journalists, which again, is illegal in NK. If you do visit NK, I recommend not breaking the law.
Even if you don't break the law, the North Korean government will just claim you did and arrest you anyways so that the American government has to come negotiate your freedom. It's an awful place. Don't go.
Serious stuff.. I'm sure they just want to show you how great North Korea is. When we visited the DMZ from South Korea this Spring, it felt very much like a propaganda-fest too. It might have been a mistake taking a South Korean tour. IMHO, I very much doubt you will be able to travel within N Korea without "guides." They will not want you to see how the majority of the people live. When the BBC did a documentary there a couple of years back, they filmed black markets secretly and were constantly shown model villages, schools etc. The school with an indoor fairground was amusing, as was the amazingly decorated and confused soldier who was presented with a feast; but didn't know what to do with it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8701959.stm Here are a few people who appear to have visited North Korea: http://americaninnorthkorea.com http://www.lindsayfincher.com/category/asia/north-korea http://northkoreaexperiences.blogspot.co.uk/ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/opinion/the-view-from-pyongyang-north-korea.html It's bloody obvious, but I'm sure the main thing is to do what they tell you. Don't try and go where you are forbidden to go. It's probably a good thing that people do visit. I'm sure the North Koreans are extremely curious about the West and it's good that they see Westerners; as normal human beings.