North Korea creeps me out. It is pretty much completely shut off from the rest of the world. There is no email. There is no internet access. There are no outside TV stations or programming allowed, with the exception of the BBC in some areas. The North Korean people are totally shut off from current events around the world, and are only fed whatever information the government allows. On the other hand, South Korea has been gaining ground yearly as one of the foremost technologically advanced countries. Cell phones are prolific and most of the country is wired for broadband that runs well over 10Mbps. Still, the North Korean people live in a nation that is completely devoid of free information.

The fact that the people have not overthrown the current government is quite dumbfounding. North Korea makes China look like a democratic superhero. It’s both sickening and incredible that a government has been able to brainwash it’s entire populace into believing that their leaders are like Gods and should be revered as sovereign beings.

Dan Schorr is an attorney who has been attending Temple Law School in Beijing. He was recently allowed very limited access along with a few other Americans to North Korea. In and of itself, this is pretty amazing, as Americans are not normally allowed to enter the country, and North Korea only gets about two thousand western tourists a year. He has documented his trip on his blog along with some very interesting pictures of North Korea. Since there is no internet access in North Korea, and he was not allowed to take a laptop or cell phone with him, his account of the trip was posted after he returned to Beijing.

Dan Schorr – North Korea Trip, Day One

Dan Schorr – North Korea Trip, Day Two

Dan Schorr – North Korea Trip, Day Three

Dan Schorr – North Korea, Day Four

From the pictures, North Korea looks like a decent place to be. Unfortunately, the tour group had very limited access to the real people of North Korea, so pretty much everything that Dan saw and experienced was exactly what the North Korean government wanted him to see.

I would like to see what sorts of technology and innovation really do exist behind the walls of this hermit nation, but it seems that may never happen…