A NOTE ON THE KOREAN ALPHABET,

ROMANIZATION, AND PRONUNCIATION

Both North and South Korea use hangul, which means

Korean letters, a highly accessible phonetic system created
in the fifteenth century for spoken Korean. Hangul is some-
times referred to as the most perfect alphabet in the world,
with twenty-four letters you can see on the facing page.
These letters are combined into blocks of syllables to
form words, so, for example, Mias Korean name, Han
Sung-mi, would be written as: . Korean vowel sounds
are soft, as in Spanish, where a () = ah, as in father; u () =
uh as in sun; oo () = long u, as in woo; and i () = ee, as in
prima.
Representing those sounds consistently in English, how-
ever, poses a number of challenges. For instance, South and
North Korea currently use two different romanization sys-
tems. (North Korean spellings of Pyongyang, Kim Il-sung,
and Kim Jong-un, if written using the current South Korean
system, would become Pyeongyang, Kim Il-seong, and Kim
Jeong-eun.) And because the sounds of English vowels can
change by the word (consider the a sounds in father, fame,
and fat), theres no immediately recognizable, accurate, and
wholly consistent way to render the pronunciation of Korean
in English spelling.
For the purposes of this novel, then, I have chosen to
reproduce Korean words and phrases with the spelling that
most closely represents the actual pronunciation, to make it
easy and consistent for young readers, many of whom wont
speak Korean. (This spelling usually resembles how it would

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 be written using the North Korean romanization system.)
For ease of deciphering, Ive used hyphens between the syl-
lables of an individual word or phrase, and between the two
syllables of a given name. Korean words and phrases appear
in italics only when they are spoken by someone for whom
Korean is a foreign language.

KO R E A N A L P H A BE T

VO W E L S

a ya o yo o

yo u yu u i

CO N S O N A N T S

k, g n t, d r, l m p, b s, sh

ng ch, j ch k t p h

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 CH O SUN T OUR S W E L CO ME S YOU T O
N OR T H KORE A !
In this guide, youll find some basic information about the Demo-
cratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) and a list of guidelines to
help ensure that your journey will be safe and rewarding. The
DPRK is known as the most isolated country on earth, and tour-
ists are allowed into the country only on state-approved visits
directed by official North Korean guides. Please follow all rules, as
the consequences for disobedience can be severe.

RUSSIA

W E

S
CHIN A
Chongjin

Hyesan
E
R

Kanggye
V
RI
LU
YA NORTH
KOREA
Dandong Sinuiju
Hamhung

KOREA BAY Pyongyang EAST SEA

Wonsan (SEA OF JAPAN)

Nampo
Sariwon

Kaesong

Seoul

SO UT H
YELLOW SEA
KORE A 0 50 MI
0 100 KM

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 NORTH KOREAN HISTORY:
INDEPENDENCE & INVASION

13921905
The peninsula is ruled for 500 years by the Chosun Dynasty,
isolated by geography and interacting primarily with its
neighbors, China and Japan.
In the 1800s, ships begin to arrive from the West. The king-
dom of Chosun is gradually forced to open its ports to traders,
missionaries, and diplomats.

19051945
Japan seizes Korea as a protectorate, then colonizes the pen-
insula by force.
Many Koreans fight for independence throughout this period.

1945
At the end of World War II, Japan is forced to surrender terri-
tory it seized, including Korea. Without consulting Korean
citizens, the United States and the Soviet Union agree on
what was meant to be a temporary solution: a joint occupa-
tion, dividing the peninsula along the 38th parallel.
The US installs Rhee Syngman to lead the newly formed
Republic of Korea (ROK) in the south. The Soviet Union
chooses Kim Il-sung, an anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter, to
head the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the
north.

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 1950 s
The Korean War breaks out on June 25, 1950, when 75,000
North Korean troops cross the 38th parallel, intent on reuni-
fying Korea by force. North Korea claims that the US and
South Korea invaded the north.
US and United Nations forces fight alongside the South
Korean army. The Soviet Union and later China send troops to
support North Korea. The US drops more bombs on North
Korea than it did on either Germany or Japan in World War II.
Huge numbers of refugees flee south.
After terrible losses, the conflict for control of the peninsula
ends in an armistice in 1953. The Korean War has never offi-
cially ended, as a peace treaty has never been signed.
The division of Korea becomes permanent, with a heavily
guarded border between the two countries known as the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Families are separated, with mem-
bers trapped on both sides, unable to reunite.
Both new nations struggle to rebuild in the aftermath of war.

1960 s
Thanks to aid from China and the Soviet Union, North Koreas
postwar standard of living improves faster than South
Koreas.

1970 s
North Koreas growth slows dramatically. Meanwhile, South
Korea's economy takes off with aid from the US and Japan.

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 1980 s
As North Korea continues to stagnate, South Koreas e
conomy
booms as it prepares for the 1988 Summer Olympics, on its
way to becoming one of the worlds industrial superpowers.

1990 s
During a devastating famine in the north, as many as one to
three million North Koreans die of starvation. Causes include
the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of Soviet aid, lack of
fuel, economic mismanagement, international sanctions, iso-
lation, droughts, and floods.
Partly as a response to South Koreas growing economic
power, North Korea begins to develop a nuclear bomb.
In 1994, the DPRK is shocked by the sudden death of Presi-
dent Kim Il-sung, the Great Leader. After three years of
mourning, his son, Kim Jong-il, the Dear Leader, officially
takes power.

2000 s & 2010 s

Economic conditions improve, but famines recur.
The threat of nuclear weapons development keeps North
Korea in the news worldwide.
At the death of Kim Jong-il in 2011, leadership passes to his
son, Kim Jong-un, the Grand Marshall, aged twenty-eight.

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 NORTH KOREA TODAY:
CONTRASTS & CONTRADICTIONS

The DPRK, a nation of 25 million people, describes itself as a social-

ist paradise, where the state claims to provide for all the needs of
the people: housing, education, jobs, clothing, and food. In reality,
everything is controlled by a king-like Supreme Leader and a group
of advisors. The smallest sign of criticism or rebellion against the
Leader is punished. Citizens are taught that the US is an arch-
enemy, ready to make war on the DPRK and controlling South
Korean politics.

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 Framed portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are found in
every building, office, subway car, and family home. Monitors
check to make sure that they are cleaned regularly, with a special
cloth reserved for this
purpose.
Every adult citizen is
required to wear a badge
with a portrait of the
Great Leader, the Dear
Leader, or the national
flag pinned over their
heart. Foreigners are not
allowed to wear these
badges.

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 The capitol of Pyongyang is an international city with sky-
scrapers, amusement parks, and glittering tourist hotels. Some
residents are members of the elite classes and enjoy a lifestyle of
relative ease and plenty, with children attending fine schools and
colleges. Many North Koreans have approved mobile phones that
use a domestic cellular network, but they cant access interna-
tional networks or browse the Internet.

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 Several hundred foreign diplomats, aid workers, investors,
businessmen, teachers, and students live in Pyongyang, and
approximately 5,000 foreigners visit per year, mostly on state-
controlled tours through the capital and to approved sites in other
parts of the country.

Outside of Pyongyang, especially in the northeast corner of

the country, life is often far more challenging. Food shortages and
hunger are prevalent. The childrens welfare organization UNICEF
estimates that 45 percent of children are affected by malnutri-
tion, which can lead to stunted growth. The breakdown of the
food distribution system in the 1990s and resulting famines
taught many people they had to rely on themselves in order to
survive. There are now many independent vendors and markets,
often outside of government control. The average North Korean
now survives by offering goods or services for sale.
Every day people try to escape over the Yalu/Amnok and
Tumen rivers between North Korea and China. Some 200,000
escapees are said to be in hiding in China, at least 30,000 have
fled to South Korea, and others have sought refuge in countries
around the world, including more than 200 in the United States.

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 Citizens who are considered disloyalespecially those who
are not wealthy or connected enough to bribe someonecan be
sent, without fair trial, to one of three types of brutal camps,
sometimes with their entire families: labor training centers, for
manual labor and many hours of political indoctrination, for six
months to several years; reeducation camps, where inmates per-
form forced labor for years, with the possibility of release; and
total control zone prison camps, where inmates perform slave
labor and from which no one is released. Though the North Korean
government denies they exist, its estimated that as many as
150,000 people are held in four massive total control zone camps.
Both North and South Koreans think of their own nation as the
rightful government of the peninsula, and many on both sides
as well as Koreans all over the worldlong for the reunification
of Korea.

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 WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO
ON YOUR NORTH KOREAN TOUR

1. Stay with your group. Do not go anywhere outside of the hotel

without a guide, especially late at night.
2. Obey all instructions from your guides and other officials.
3. Only take photographs when given permission. If you dont follow
directions, photographs could be deleted or your camera seized.
4. Until 2013, all cell phones of international travelers were confis-
cated at the airport. Recently, tourists have been allowed to keep
their cell phones and, with an added SIM card, to text and make
international calls, but this can change at any time.
5. The DPRK prefers that foreigners use euros, dollars, Japanese
yen, or Chinese yuan for currency.
6. Though there are continuing rumors of electronic surveillance in
tourist hotel rooms, these reports have not been confirmed.
7. Dont bring up or argue politics. Even casual conversation that is
deemed inappropriate could result in negative consequences for
you and your guides. In severe cases, foreign travelers have been
expelled or even arrested.
8. Show respect for North Koreas leaders, policies, ideology, and
customs.

We are guests here, and compliance with these conditions is the

price of being one of the tiny number of foreigners allowed to travel
within the DPRK.

ENJ OY YO UR T R IP!

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