Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: World News, North Korea, Travel
Maxine Harrison
Whether it’s an entire year travelling, or travelling for a summer getaway, most people love a trip abroad to get a new scenery away from home.
But one Danish man has taken it to the extreme as he has travelled to every country in the world - and that includes the notorious North Korea.
On his blog, Every Country In The World, Henrik Jeppesen shares how, at the age of 17, he set off to travel around Egypt for his first solo adventure. He then started travel blogging in 2009 and has visited 2000 destinations, including every UN-recognised country.
A Danish man himself, Jeppesen shared a particular experience about how he avoided prison in North Korea during his travels there.
Advert
He visited the controversial country with a man who had a project to scatter his friend’s ashes in every country in the world. It’s particularly touching as this friend was one of the 'world’s most travelled', but didn’t get the chance to visit every country before his death.
While it's a sentimental idea to scatter his ashes in every country in the world, sadly, North Korea wasn’t so keen.
The country is the only one in the world where you do not have independent travel freedom, and when he asked his travel guides for permission to scatter his friend's ashes, the answer was no.
The man Henrik was travelling with was determined to finish his project though, and so he decided to spread the ashes anyway, and even take a selfie-video of himself spreading them at the North Korean side of the DMZ - the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean Peninsula in two.
However, it didn’t end so well.
On the way back to North Korea’s capital, the guides they asked him to check his camera.
They eventually managed to get to Pyongyang International Airport, where there was a group of North Koreans who again asked to see his electronic equipment.
After thoroughly checking through this and his camera, they finally stumbled upon the precious photo of him spreading his friend’s ashes.
This discovery was unfortunately met with hostility as the traveller was told he had 'polluted' North Korea. Both Henrik and the man he was travelling with were startled at this point, as they didn’t know if they would be detained.
Thankfully, the two were not arrested, and instead, it was decided that an apology letter would be the best way forward.
It all worked out after this, but it is another example of North Korea’s strict rules for the small handful of tourists who can visit.
With it being a totalitarian state, there are strict rules that prohibit freedom of expression and violation of these rules can result in harsh punishment. For example, all media is strictly controlled by the government.