I just finished Journey into Kimland. Now that's a trip report!

It's probably too old now, but this report, with some editing, was suitable for publishing. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in North Korea.

I'll bet that our Albanian FTer, who posted above, would agree that those behind the Iron Curtain never experienced anything close to the cultural isolation seen in North Korea. It was, and remains, an adjustment for Russians, Romanians, Polish, etc., to go from a planned economy to free-market democracy (well, in most of these countries, anyway). That adjustment, though, will seem minor compared to what the North Koreans will experience one day.

Slavery, the Holocaust, genocide in Rwanda, Cultural Revolution, Stalinism...all things that make you wonder how insanity could reach such a large scale. Add North Korea to the list.