Julius Wu has seen a lot of museums. But no collection of natural history or preserved antiques had prepared him for the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum.
Located in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the museum featured intricate exhibits, massive dioramas, and is impeccably maintained.
“I do a lot of travelling. This is probably the most impressive museum I have ever been to,” said Wu, a Hermosa resident who visited the country earlier this summer.
When Wu went to the bathroom, the spectacular setting gave way to yet another shock: the facilities had no running water. It was all of a piece for a trip Wu said both challenged and reinforced some of his preconceived notions about the embattled, diplomatically isolated country.
From Afghanistan to sub-Saharan Africa, Wu’s travels frequently take him off the beaten path.
“This is my third ‘Axis of Evil’ country,” Wu said, referring to the term coined in George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address that linked Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
The U.S. State Department has had a travel warning against visiting North Korea for years, and North Korean authorities did not stamp Wu’s passport when he entered the country. The latest travel warning, issued Aug. 11, stated, “strongly urges U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to North Korea/the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) due to the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention.” At least 14 U.S. citizens have been detained while visiting the country in the last decade. While in Pyongyang, Wu stayed at the same hotel as Otto Warmbier, an American student who was arrested and sentenced to 15 years hard labor for stealing a political poster while on a tour of the country.
Despite the warnings, Wu said he never felt unsafe during his journey. He ventured to North Korea with Koryo Tours, a British-owned, China-based company that has previously guided several documentary makers through the country. The company acknowledges the problems encountered by previous U.S. travellers, but says that North Korea “is among the safest countries in the world for a tourist.”
Most of the detained travellers have run afoul of the country’s strict limits on freedom of expression, which prohibit bringing in foreign political materials and religious proselytizing. Before departing for North Korea, Wu flew to Beijing for a mandatory tour-group meeting. Rule No. 1: avoid controversial topics.
“You don’t bring up political things,” Wu recalled being told. “If you can tell the conversation is not going well, just drop it.”
There was plenty to distract him from political concerns. Public life in the country, whether in a restaurant or town square, was full of celebrations and displays, all of them carefully choreographed.
“They have the most talented musicians I have ever seen,” Wu said. “People in parades, young kids in school: they’re better than any kids I’ve ever seen. Their first graders can probably outplay our sixth graders.”
But amidst the revelry, Wu said, it was impossible not to notice the pervasive reach of the state. Like everyone in the country, their guides were a pair of government employees, causing him to wonder just how voluntary the performances were.
“It was fascinating to see how large a role government plays in each person’s life compared to life here in the United States, especially the South Bay,” Wu said.
The influence of the state makes for a kind of aesthetic compromise. While public space was never marred with advertising, iconography of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea was omnipresent. Monuments and statues were everywhere, appearing without rhyme or reason.
“Even in the middle of a field of rice or corn, they will put these displays,” Wu said. “Everywhere you go, there are pictures of the leaders.”
Wu saw the rural displays during a foray into the countryside. While the tour group spent most of their time in Pyongyang, they also took in a children’s summer camp, the Nine Dragons waterfall, and the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, a 150-mile long strip of land that has divided North and South Korea since the close of the Korean War.
Wu was shocked to find farmers in the interior, barbed wire and guard towers mixing uneasily with rows of corn and squash. (The farmers, Wu said, know where the landmines are buried.)
Like much of the rest of his trip, the dash of the pastoral surprised him without entirely changing his mind. Despite Wu’s extensive travel background, he avoids a seen-it-all attitude, and said the “enriching” nature of the trip kindled his hope for peace in the region.
“I’m not sure if it changed my political views. It gave me a better sense of who people were,” Wu said. “If you didn’t read up on any of it, you’d think, ‘Wow, what a place!’”
