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North Korea (DPRK) Victory Day - July 2013
I lead another epic tour in North Korea in July and August 2013 during the Victory Day celebrations. We were right next to the military parade, we ran a 10k race through Pyongyang, saw the last year of Arirang Mass Games, visited the DMZ, hiked the mountains in the south east - Kumgangsan, went swimming in the ocean on the east coast in Hamhung and Wonsan, plus a great deal of other memorable things that you can do there.
We also got a chance to talk with Ann Curry and my personal favorite photographer in North Korea and Asia - David Guttenfelder - Associated Press Chief Photographer, Asia. GREAT video is here about photography in North Korea with David - http://mediastorm.com/clients/2013-icp-infinity-awards-photojournalism-david-guttenfelder
Victory Day in the DPRK - July 21st 2013 marked 60 years since the end of the Korean War, the three-year conflict between North Korea. The 1950s conflict that some Americans now call the "Forgotten War" ended with the two sides signing a truce on July 27, 1953 -- a peace treaty has yet to be negotiated.
I'm a Tour Leader in the DPRK so I get the opportunity to go often. See my past post from Kim Il Sung Birthday Tour April 2013
I'm also going to plug our special New Year's Eve tour coming up - New Year's in North Korea Tour. If you want to go or want more info let me know.
Contrary to popular belief, you can take photos and video of pretty much anything. The only thing they ask is don't take pictures of military and ask people first. In Pyongyang they are really lose about those rules, but near the DMZ it is much stricter. This was the first year they let foreign tourists take photos of the parade.
PART I
I'll start with the military parade. As you can imagine, being right there watching it live is really different than seeing it on TV:
One of my YouTube videos of the event - http://youtu.be/Di_e_bvWNV8
Here from the Yanggakdo Hotel window of 22nd floor you can see the tanks and military vehicles lining up to drive through Kim Il Sung Square where Kim Jong Un and the media will be.
We weren't invited to the square, instead we watched the procession in the square on T.V. while having lunch. After we headed out to see it continue on to the streets in Pyongyang.
We made it to the streets after convincing the police to let our bus past the many roadblocks
In this one you can see in the left corner the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il - Mansudae Grand Monument
We also got a chance to talk with Ann Curry and my personal favorite photographer in North Korea and Asia - David Guttenfelder - Associated Press Chief Photographer, Asia. GREAT video is here about photography in North Korea with David - http://mediastorm.com/clients/2013-icp-infinity-awards-photojournalism-david-guttenfelder
Victory Day in the DPRK - July 21st 2013 marked 60 years since the end of the Korean War, the three-year conflict between North Korea. The 1950s conflict that some Americans now call the "Forgotten War" ended with the two sides signing a truce on July 27, 1953 -- a peace treaty has yet to be negotiated.
I'm a Tour Leader in the DPRK so I get the opportunity to go often. See my past post from Kim Il Sung Birthday Tour April 2013
I'm also going to plug our special New Year's Eve tour coming up - New Year's in North Korea Tour. If you want to go or want more info let me know.
Contrary to popular belief, you can take photos and video of pretty much anything. The only thing they ask is don't take pictures of military and ask people first. In Pyongyang they are really lose about those rules, but near the DMZ it is much stricter. This was the first year they let foreign tourists take photos of the parade.
PART I
I'll start with the military parade. As you can imagine, being right there watching it live is really different than seeing it on TV:
One of my YouTube videos of the event - http://youtu.be/Di_e_bvWNV8
Here from the Yanggakdo Hotel window of 22nd floor you can see the tanks and military vehicles lining up to drive through Kim Il Sung Square where Kim Jong Un and the media will be.
We weren't invited to the square, instead we watched the procession in the square on T.V. while having lunch. After we headed out to see it continue on to the streets in Pyongyang.
We made it to the streets after convincing the police to let our bus past the many roadblocks
In this one you can see in the left corner the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il - Mansudae Grand Monument
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