Reddit reviews Charlie Crane: Welcome to Pyongyang

Hmm. Some inaccuracies are in there.

> There is no Internet, cell-phones have been banned.

Actually not true. Koryolink is now operating a GSM service in the DPRK. It's a joint venture between Orasom (a middle eastern telco) and the local government. I spoke to a guy from Orascom a few months ago at a conference in Beirut and he said business was pretty poor.

> A six-day work week, and another day of enforced “volunteer” work, ensures that the average citizen has virtually no free time.

Not universally true. Farm workers get the weekend off.

> The very first thing you do when you visit North Korea’s capital Pyongyang is visit and give a flower to a big statue of “Dear Leader”.

You do have to visit the statue but you don't have to give flowers.

> About 0.85% of the population are held in prison or detention camps.

They're worse than "detention camps" they are concentration camps. People are starved, tortured and abused and there are rumours of medical experiments being carried out on prisoners. The Yodok camp has a mortality rate of 20% per year and Camp 22 is likely the same.


http://www.travel-images.com/korean.html has some great photographs and Charlie Crane's book "Welcome to Pyongyang" is also excellent.