In War

We were on a Ukok field trip to another middle school for special training and everything seemed a bit odd. Traffic was stopped and the streets were flooded with policeman. I police car cut in front of us and parked. He yelled at my co-teacher Ji-Hee in Korean. I asked the students what he was saying and they said he was crazy. I found out later that hey were training for the war.

The Korean War hasn't ended. No peace treaty was ever signed. Every month they train for war. We happened to witness the routine. Ji-Hee explained what the policeman screamed at her. "What kind of a teacher are you? How could you ever do this to these children?"

Two weeks ago a North Korean ship was attacked by the south because it crossed into the southern territory. There was at least one northern casualty. Last year they were offering tours into the country, but its becoming increasingly difficult to gain entrance. All tours have ceased from the south, we can only go in through China and that is extremely expensive especially for Americans.
(Each Square is a person holding a colored square)

Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang would be amazing to see. Its hard to comprehend the capacity of the performance. The North Korean's fill a stadium with acrobats and perform some of the most amazing choreography I have ever seen on film.

You can watch it here:

Vice Guide To Travel

A little warning... It is a great documentary, but these guys are extremely disrespectful and rude at times.