At Kim Jon Suk High School, a few boys kept peeking out of windows at us. When I waved hello and snapped a photo, they quickly jerked back inside before popping their heads back out again, like “peekaboo,” albeit with high school boys instead of toddlers. Apparently, the behavior is universal. In Pyongsong.

Inside the Paeksong Food Factory, where upon arriving, we were told that FIVE MINUTES before, the factory had unexpectedly lost power,forcing it to close and send ALL 5,000 employees home. These two workers had stayed behind after their 4,998 coworkers departed to finish up the biscuits. The local guide had declared these workers “heroes!”

At the Kim Jon Suk High School, another tourist – an English teacher – also visiting, tried teaching students this lesson, which he found difficult. The students burst into laughter, while I wondered why they hadn’t bothered to kidnap and hold prisoner someone with a better grasp of English. In Pyongsong

Students riveted listening to a fellow tourist — one of several Brits who happened to be visiting the Kim Jon Suk High School in Pyongsong at the same time I was — teach an English lesson their teacher had prepared for the occasion. 

Propaganda hangs on the walls inside the empty, and pristine Paeksong Food Factory where ALL 5,000 workers had been sent home a mere five minutes before we arrived when the factory unexpectedly lost power. In Pyongsong.

Inside Kim Jon Suk High School. In Pyongsong.

Propaganda and slogans adorn Pyongsong’s central Square. In Pyongson.

When I was sneaking a photo of these men by pretending to take a photo of the trees, one saw me, and ran over to report me to Older Handler, who denied it. But an international guide who happened to be there with another group of tourists, confirmed that’s exactly what happened. In Pyongsong.