First British tourists allowed back into North Korea tell BBC what they saw

Travellers enter a mini capitalist enclave far from Pyongyang, on a tightly controlled visit.

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These are the rules tour guides read out to Western tourists as they prepare to drive across the border into North Korea, arguably the most secretive and repressive country in the world.

Then there is the practical information. No phone signal, no internet, no cash machines.

"The North Koreans aren't robots. They have opinions, goals, and a sense of humour. And in our briefing we encourage people to listen to and understand them," says Rowan Beard, who runs Young Pioneer Tours, one of two Western companies which resumed trips to the country last week, after a five-year hiatus.

North Korea sealed its borders at the outset of the pandemic, shutting out diplomats, aid workers and travellers, and making it nearly impossible to know what was happening there.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jggdnej0do

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