The writer at the Taedonggang Seafood Restaurant with other participants of the Choson Exchange programme.
Bidding farewell at Pyongyang Airport was the hardest thing I did in 2018. I felt sad parting ways with our fabulous local Korean translators (one had a PhD from Cambridge, one was a medical doctor and researcher in stem cells, another was a researcher in biotech), the workshop participants, and amazing workshop leaders and facilitators. Also, not forgetting the special permissions obtained to visit places that are out of tourists’ reach.
When I first signed up for the Choson Exchange programme (chosonexchange.org), founded by my friend Geoffrey See in 2007, I did not expect to experience emotional intensity during my visit to North Korea. Having heard so many narratives around this country that the world knows so little about the country due to its controlled information outflow, I was curious and wanted to explore the truth.
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