I went twice. I posted a bunch of videos http://joshuaspodek.com/summary-of-north-korea-videos http://joshuaspodek.com/summary-of-north-korea-videos. That post

I went twice. I posted a bunch of videos http://joshuaspodek.com/summary-of-north-korea-videos http://joshuaspodek.com/summary-of-north-korea-videos. That post also links to the top ten of many posts I wrote on the experience. I studied strategy so wrote a book describing my view on why North Korea remains so stable for so long and why there seems no way out no matter how powerful someone attempting change may be, though I suggested a few ideas https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006PMDXTM https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006PMDXTM (self-published, not scholarly, but I think I shared a few meaningful insights). It's like walking into 1984 the book. Nobody who visits believes we're seeing the country as people there live it. You go where they let you, though we did take a detour when a road was blocked and saw parts of Pyongyang outsiders don't get to which felt like seeing the back of a movie set where you see behind the facades. Everyone in the group wanted to take pictures but we all agreed not to for the sake of our guides. Since I tend to look for similarities, not differences, I was more curious to see how people lived under such a different culture, so disconnected. My two biggest takeaways 1. A greater sense of empathy for all people for seeing how similar people were under the most disconnected culture I've come across 2. Culture shock hits you when you return, seeing things that used to seem normal from a new perspective. Seeing Times Square after seeing their giant statues of their semi-divine Great Leaders. I still can't shake seeing Times Square as a bigger sanctuary that we kneel to, representing a comparable submission, devotion, subjection, and permiation into our lives and minds.