As North Korea grabs the headlines again for all the wrong reasons, we take time to look beyond the saber rattling and consider life inside the hermit kingdom. Few tourists or businessmen have ever been. But what is North Korea really like? Two partners of Dezan Shira & Associates visited recently: Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the firm’s principal, and Olaf Griese, the Shanghai regional partner, who just returned from Pyongyang. In this article, they provide a snapshot of life inside the world’s most reclusive, difficult to enter, and potentially dangerous country.

The first sight many visitors will see is the Sunan International Airport – the main airport serving Pyongyang. Air China has service from Sunan to Beijing three days per week and there is a weekly service from Dalian. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines also provide chartered flight services to Incheon, the international airport serving Seoul, and Yangyang on the east coast of South Korea from Pyongyang. The airport is also the main hub of North Korea’s national airline Air Koryo.

Air Koryo mainly flies Russian-built Tupolev and Ilyushin aircraft, and has regular daily service to Beijing. Flights to Dalian have been added to the Air Koryo schedule with a twice-weekly Tu-134 flight from Pyongyang. Direct services from Pyongyang to Shanghai Pudong have also been inaugurated with a twice-weekly service. On March 30, 2010 Air Koryo had two Tu-204 aircraft lifted from the European blacklist allowing the airline to recommence flights to Europe. Flights are also undertaken between Moscow and Berlin.

Upon arrival at Sunan International Airport, mobile phones are routinely collected from those who had them. Foreigners are not allowed to possess either these or computers in North Korea. However, North Korean travel guides do have mobile phones, use them frequently and often, and decorate them in the typical bling fashion as everywhere else in Asia. Immigration and customs clearance is tedious and thorough, with all luggage being x-rayed and then hand inspected.

The drive to Pyongyang, along the main highway to the city, is a 24 kilometer motor, typically in a large Mercedes coach. The main highway is deserted with maybe the exception of one or two vehicles. The surrounding countryside looks green and fertile, and occasional glimpses of farmers and agriculture can be seen. It certainly doesn’t appear poor.

The traffic police in Pyongyang are smart young women who stand astride platforms, yet can only see a handful of vehicles a day, even in the city center. These girls have become a cultural phenomenon in their own right, and even have a web site dedicated to their beauty.

Pyongyang has an abundance of memorials, and early in the morning and in the late afternoon one will see schoolchildren sweep the steps and clean the podiums of fallen leaves and dust. North Korean children are taught from a young age to respect and honor their leaders and memorials to them.

One monument all visitors are taken to see to pay respects to is the Statue of Kim Il-sung, in the heart of the city. Standing some seven stories tall and flanked by a museum dedicated to his life, visitors are taken here to bow before the Great Leader before being taken to their hotel. A small ceremony, including the laying of a wreath of flowers at the base is also conducted to demonstrate the role he had in both freeing North Korea from Japanese occupation but also leading the country through the Korean War with the United States.

The current situation can not be addressed by the United States alone. It is my fear that the Republican majority in all branches of U.S. government will continue with the typical and ineffective go-it-alone strategy that has not won us the key support needed in protect our international interests. The international community is the only body capable of effectively handling the North Korean situation which has now developed into a global problem.

Global issues need to be met by the global community. This does not mean that the United States can not lead the way. Obviously, there will always be the need for someone to take the initiative, but it has to be done in a way that does not isolate us from the other global players and delay effective resolution.

First, in a global economy, it is necessary for voters in the upcoming election to cast their votes to bring a more Democratic balance into the make-up of our current govenment. Democrats would be more effective in diplomacy and can speak the international tongue. Whether you agree with their policies and beliefs or not, they are more likely to restore trust and a sense of humanity to our foreign agenda.

Second, if the international community is the channel of tough sanctions, China is the key. The country of China is an emerging dominate player in the Asian region and is also responsible for trade that equates to roughly 50% of North Korea’s energy and food imports. If China does not accept its new international role in a responsible fashion, then the world will continue in its struggle to suppress renegade dictatorships.

Finally, North Korea has already been warned in their efforts to develop nuclear capabilities, but apparently decided not to listen. We should impose the toughest of sanctions and work with our allies to allow for massive refugee transportation out of North Korea. At this point, deadlines should be drawn up for an international force to work together in removing this dictator from power if president Kim Jong-il does not comply and agree to dismantle his nuclear program.

In regards to a potential North Korean attack on South Korea, we already know that underground tunnels have been discovered to be dug deep into South Korean territory. The scary thing to note is that millions of people live in the capital of Seoul, South Korea, which is not very from the border with the north. If it is already assumed that some tunnels have not yet been discovered, what is to stop North Korea from detonating a nuclear weapon right under the heels of a major South Korean city such as Seoul? This would cause millions of people to suffer a horrific death.