Author: Daniel Youngwon

An art director, designer, educator, musician, and sad Knicks fan. He occasionally likes to travel and take photos.

A Familiar Face

“I’ve seen you before,” he stammered in Korean. And so began my re-acquaintance with Lt. Colonel Nam Dong Ho, our military escort at the Demilitarized Zone. I was surprised that he recognized me from my previous visit. Hundreds of tour groups must have passed by since our first encounter in 2013, but I guess it’s […]

The Harvard of North Korea

The tour was a bit long-winded, but here is what I remember both from the official explanation and from more intimate conversations with our minders. Kim Il Sung University was the first university founded in North Korea. Named in honor of the country’s founder and eternal President, the university is responsible for producing the country’s elite […]

The Flower Swallows

I was taken aback when our guides told us to leave our cameras behind on the bus. Our group had up to this point enjoyed a very liberal photo policy under our North Korean minders. Granted, we had spent most of our time up to this point in the relative (and I strongly emphasize the […]