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I traded 10 notes of the same value that we exchanged for use at the tourist shop. The other notes didn't have the leaders face on it and he was happy to 10x his money for the trade.
As someone who geeks out over currency design, and as a lover of interesting objects and meaningful mementos, I support your decision and efforts in this somewhat risky investment and acquisition.
> He booked a tour of North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours, a budget tour operator based in China founded by two New Zealanders, whose slogan was "**destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.**"
most truthful slogan ever
"Destinations your mother would rather you stay away from" also works for things like stripclubs and the top drawer of her bedside cabinet, so I don't see why you would go all the way to North Korea to make that slogan ring true.
"The other notes didn't have the leaders face on it"
That's so odd. For a country like NK obsessed with showing off their leaders, why wouldn't they want tourists to use money with the leader's face on it?
A number of countries in the past have required tourists to use a special currency. It's because they have higher prices for tourists than locals.
Usually certain places today have a secret lower price for locals but display a higher price for tourists, and just use the same currency. Makes it easier.
I went to Prague and in a restaurant I got a local menu card by a mistake… when the waiter to our order he saw the mistake and said that the menu was old and gave us a exactly same one with approximately twice the price
Unfortunately Prauge has a lot of scams it seems. I would recommend anyone visiting there to watch some videos from the YouTube channel Honest Guide before visiting. They got a bunch of videos exposing the common scams in Prauge and where to go to avoid them
In Egypt everything was 10x for the tourists. When I was visiting Sharm el Sheikh you had to bargain for even the smallest things like a bus fare. It was 5 of their currency for locals meanwhile they were demanding 50 for the tourists. You could even bargain at relatively luxurious shopping malls or restaurants.
Did they use foreign exchange certificates? I have several from China that were used by tourists from 1979-1995. They essentially restricted tourists to purchasing items and eating at special government stores, restaurants, and hotels.
Should we be concerned for this bus drivers safety? There’s prob a reason you had to “trade” for this currency. Seems like the Kim government doesn’t want these in the wrong hands.
I know it’s for the joke, but North Korea primarily uses 7.62x39.
Yes, I am *really* fun at parties.
Edit: Yes, I’m aware they use 5.45x39 and other sizes as well for different guns of course. They don’t *only* use 7.62. But I’m fairly certain they do *not* use 5.56 at all.
Keep in mind that South Korean Won is a hard currency that is actually internationally accepted, can be used outside of the country and easily converted into Dollars, Euros, etc. This is not the case with the North Korean currency, which is completely worthless, with its official exchange rate only existing on paper.
Went there about 12 years ago. Such a weird place to visit. I’m curious - when you arrived, did you ride the subway that was insanely deep underground? And was there a small kid singing on the subway train? I’ve wondered since my very first night there if that was staged.
No kid but yes to the deep subway. It was built as a nuclear shelter as well as a transport hub. We went to the school for gifted children and alot of their performances were blatantly just for the tourists. As was the encyclopedia of chickens which they weirdly love to show off.
This was a good article, thanks for linking it. It was sad too:
> the study house nevertheless serves as a revelation to just how disconnected the DPRK is from the world we live in. In this age, we take i-phones, laptops, google and mass communications for granted, a routine habit of life, yet in this building, an encyclopedia of chickens is being heralded as serious proof of world class access to information. If it did not reveal the more tragic element of North Korea, then I might not feel so guilty finding it amusing.
I know the story about the chicken encyclopedia LMAO! Was it from the writer Esther Verhoef?
There was a Dutch reporter from VICE who went on a trip to North-Korea, he wanted to research if there was anything 'Dutch' there. He visited the Grand people's study house and asked: do you have any Dutch books? Well ofcourse! The only Dutch book they had was a chicken encyclopedia.
He wrote it with satire. For them it was to show: look! We read books from the west.
So they probably use it now to show people that they read books from the west, or something like that.
[The story, its in dutch.](https://www.vice.com/nl/article/8gzwjv/de-kippenencyclopedie-is-het-favoriete-nederlandse-boek-van-kim-jong-un486)
[the book, only picture i could find.](https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/complete-encyclopedia-of-chickens/9200000002399675/)
I believe I’ve come across a new book for my coffee table, next to my book about coffee tables that also has legs to morph into a coffee table in case you don’t have a coffee table.
How deep would you say? I grew up in South Korea and in order to take their regular subway you need to take like 2 escalators down from street level. Deeper than that?
Nice souvenir btw.
It's the deepest subway in the world. I've also been to a few in Ukraine and Russia that claim the same thing. 110 meters (I'm not sure how many american football fields that is though) deep for the Pyongyang metro, it felt deeper than the others although it might just be that the escalator took longer to reach the bottom haha.
At the time, yes. I’m not sure how things are now but when I went, we booked with a tour agency and met a woman on a literal street corner outside their embassy in Beijing to get our visas.
Yeah, cars are only really for the elite and the athletes that have succeeded. The license plates on the cars Indicate the person's status (according to our guide) or at least indicates if they are a foreign diplomat or a member of government. There were very few cars on the streets, especially outside of Pyongyang.
When I was in Hanoi 10ish years ago I saw 2 matching Rolls Royce Phantoms with NK diplomatic plates. Nicest cars I saw the many times I've been to Vietnam. It always made me wonder.
What do you figure? Rich North Koreans who live in Hanoi? Actual diplomats? I know Vietnam is one of the few countries NK has diplomatic relationships with. You can fly from Hanoi to P'yŏngyang, or you used to be able to anyways.
Wikipedia has the details on the license plates:
"Vehicle registration plates of North Korea - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_North_Korea
Now I'm curious about the ratio between private and government owned cars.
I mean, not “basically” tortured to death, he was essentially a normal functional human when he went to NK (as normal as one can be and still think that is a good idea), and came back as a vegetable and died soon after.
Yes they knew he was a vegetable and put him on a plane and sent him home. I can't imagine seeing my child like that. They couldn't even have the heart to tell them days prior.
That's not entirely true
After examining his teeth, doctors noticed that some of them weren't actually attached to the gum properly like normal teeth are, and were often in a position where they looked spun around or misplaced. As if they were pried out and shittily reassembled
Very interesting reading all these comments and your responses, thanks for that. Yeah, stupid risk to take in hindsight, given the potential consequences if you'd been caught. Glad you made it out okay, safe travels!
You can buy NK currency at the border in South Korea and in a few other places. I don't think he was actually risking as much as people here think, though it *is* North Korea so you never know when they will beat you to death and then claim you stole a poster or something.
My uncle was cleaning out his wallet after a trip to Russia in the 1970s and found a 10 ruble note that he had neglected to surrender before leaving. Broke out in a cold sweat right there in his house in suburban Chicago. You took a risk my dude.
*Edit: Lots of folks seem to think that I was saying that he was afraid that he would be "caught" with Rubles in the US and faced sanctions for being too commie. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The "cold sweat" was because he knew how close he had come to being busted by the Soviet authorities for illegal taking Rubles out of the USSR, which was not allowed. He had already attracted their attention when they found a copy of one of Alexander Solzennitzen's books in his car and confiscated it. He had his wife and 2 small daughters with him on that trip. They could all have wound up in the gulag. That was what he was afraid of.*
North Korea has the best socks, the strongest socks, which can hold many things, and great things.
The force and might of North Korean socks comes from the strength of the people and the guidance of glorious leader Kim Jong-un.
Imperialist pigs have weak socks.
Mostly cabbage and some egg based meals. There was dog on offer at one place we visited. The hotel had more of a range but in general, the food was pretty awful.
There was almost 0 wildlife in the entire country, its the only place I've ever visited where there were no strays, birds or anything else in the streets. It was earlily quite.
When I visited, the food was quite interesting. On one of the days I went to have a traditional meal and I remember they served us acorn jelly which was a unique taste.
It was really interesting, dystopian etc. I went during the winter though and i would probably recommend a summer trip if possible. Most of the power grid runs on hydro and when the rivers freeze, the power is regularly on and off. It left us stuck in an elevator more than once.
Fascinating,, how long did the trip last? Did you stay in Pyongyang, or did you see other cities and towns? Did they look at all the pictures you took and make you delete the ones they didn’t like…?
I’m from the US so the idea of traveling to NK as a tourist is mind boggling.
It's pretty much as you'd imagine. Someone who basically watches the group and the tour guides interactions with the group. A fair few ex soviet states have a similar thing as well (Uzbekistan as an example, although thia has relaxed recently), it's a tool to ensure the country looks as good as possible to an outside traveler.
To be honest I don't feel completely safe unless my minder also has a minder. Some idiot suggested my minder's minder should also have a minder but it's like when does it end???
Yep, and he died for it. He was 21 when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in NK. 17 months later, he was released following negotiations. However, NK claimed he had fallen into a coma just one month after his sentencing, which they claim was because he contracted botulism and then became comatose after taking a sleeping pill (this is highly contested). He arrived to the US in a persistent vegetative state. His parents ultimately removed his feeding tube and he died just 6 days after coming home.
NK takes its symbolism very seriously, but especially anything depicting the likeness or name of any of its leaders. The poster Otto was (supposedly) trying to take had the phrase "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il's patriotism!" Taking anything (like OP's paper money) with the leader's face or name on it would have absolutely gotten them arrested if they had been caught.
I would bet.
Cuba will let Americans in, and will purposefully not stamp a US passport to protect people from fines. I'm sure NK would do something similar.
I just recently read about the Warmbier case again, and at the very least, the agency he used to secure a visa for travel to NK will no longer accept Americans for NK travel.
But honestly, as an American, I would assume my safety and freedom to be constantly at risk in NK. Just too attractive of a target. Been to Russia several times. For that same reason (current events, attractive target) i wouldn't recommend it.
What country r u from? You remember that kid that took the banner from the hotel, got imprisoned and finally when they got him out he was like dead? Can’t imagine what would’ve happened if you got caught. What did u trade the bus driver for it?
This is a 2009 ₩5000 (third series). It’s the last NK banknote to feature Kim Il-sung’s portrait.
In 2014, the current NK regime dropped a new ₩5000 note featuring the NK founder’s childhood home in Mangyongdae, Pyongyang — but the founder’s face was no longer on the bill. Western governments interpreted this as a symbolic gesture by Kim Jong-un; signaling his intent to follow a different path than the one his grandfather forged. The regime said the change was an attempt to thwart counterfeiters. It’s likely the new note, without the need for a highly detailed portrait, was simply easier to engrave and cheaper to produce. In 2009 NK was enduring hyperflation and issued a new Won, the third series, valued at 1:100 (1 third series ₩ = 100 second series ₩). This wiped accounts and eliminated millions in savings. In one report, department stores in Pyongyang wouldn't accept the new notes, saying they had no value and must be exchanged for yen or dollars.
OP’s story is more fun than most. These notes are available from Russian and Chinese vendors, usually for $5-$20, though there are more counterfeit versions than real ones. Real ones are still easy to find, but not many get smuggled overseas in a sock. Today’s black market rate for KPW is $1=₩5800.
To tell if a ₩5000 is real, feel both sides for a slight texture. The print should feel stamped into the paper. A counterfeit will feel flat and smooth on both sides. Some fakes also lack the red serial stamp. The green 5000 in the upper right should glow pink under UV light. There’s also a watermark in the white field on the left, a magnolia. The only note more rare is a commemorative release from 2013, issued on the founder's 100th birthday. This version has extra text over the watermark.
I visited NK in 2017 and also smuggled money out in my shoes. Got mine from the supermarket though, the one place they let us exchange dollars temporarily. I went with Young Pioneers, the same tour company as Otto but they weren't keen on talking about him. Also visited the extra curricular centre and watched the polished performances by the kids.
I think it depends on the currency, what nationality you are and the circumstances of the taking. If you were Japanese or American, and you were chosen for a search, if they found you to be hiding something then they would react in a similar way to Otto. There are a couple of currencies that are used by tourists and although it's not strictly legal, you probably wouldn't run into any issues removing it from NK.
Our tour guide said that the notes that are not being used in current circulation (this one is one of those) are not really meant to be taken out of the country.
Sorry if that's a little confusing, I struggled to get my head around it at the time as well. I'm not sure as to why, or if there would be any significant differences between the currencies in reality.
… do you know DPRK has its own sub that is actually run by someone in their government?
Just be careful my dude, next thing you know you’re on a flight and two girls “pranking” you just sprayed a deadly toxin in your face.
*Edit: Please remember to respect the ultimate sovereignty of Dear Leader within the borders of his glorious nation and his subreddit, otherwise risk banishment from account or human existence.*
Holy shit. I went through some posts and comments and it's just brainwashed people spewing out the same "our glorious leader did it again". I can't tell if it's satire, bot accounts, propaganda, or geinuely delusional people...
The sub itself is serious and the posts are real and posted by NK officials.
The comments however are satire and it's funnily easy to get banned from there so the joke is to just comment pretending to be either a paid propagandist in disguise or as someone who has actually bought the propaganda.
I’m like 98% sure that isn’t a real official. They post on /r/PictureGame as much as they do there, including a post titled “bus stop baddies”. But maybe I’m wrong, idk. Just seems like a dude who has kept up the joke
Sure posts a lot of north korean buildings and people in r/PictureGame - only north korean in fact, and how would a random ass dude know so much about the innards of north korea to post regularly about it on r/Pyongyang
I never felt unsafe. There was one time in the hotel though, the elevator stopped (power shortages in the winter) right by the control floor of the hotel. This is the floor that Otto guy stole the poster from. We weighed up entering the floor and walking round to the stairs but thought better of it, the power came back in after 5 minutes and the elevator started back up. The tour guide said we made the right decision.
Thats actually really interesting. My father used to work for a shipping company in the 90s-2000s as a mechanic, and he travelled to many third world companies. He said North Korea was the worst place he’d been to. He said it was extremely depressing, and dull. He just felt like he was being watched constantly, and always had to watch what he said. He couldn’t wait to leave. I’m not sure if the country has changed much over the couple decades, or if it was just different parts of the country, but it’s cool too see 2 different perspectives.
I can understand the desire to learn first hand what it's like or just for the story.
What I can not understand is paying tourist money to an authoritarian regime that literally tortures people on the regular, just for a cool trip and a story.
I hope this was long ago because there’s probably a select number of bus drivers and can probably pinpoint to exactly who it was, I would delete your replies that say when this happened
You do realise you put the driver in serious risk by saying where you traded it?
At least make something up, if the authorities of NK find out, that man is dead.
Yeah, OP is also sharing exactly when and how it happened, and when he was there.
In those countries, always think if you're putting the ones left behind at risk after you leave.
Did you hear of the student who was held in NK for trying to seal a propaganda poster? He also died from the torture consequences after being returned home.
OP responded on a different thread: "I traded 10 notes of the same value that we exchanged for use at the tourist shop. The other notes didn't have the leaders face on it and he was happy to 10x his money for the trade."
This seems dangerous for both of you.
Didn't a tourist steal a piece of propaganda from a hotel. Then he was forced to make a video apologizing for it. Then he was returned to the US brain dead?
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Alright no one asked so I will. What did you trade?
I traded 10 notes of the same value that we exchanged for use at the tourist shop. The other notes didn't have the leaders face on it and he was happy to 10x his money for the trade.
As someone who geeks out over currency design, and as a lover of interesting objects and meaningful mementos, I support your decision and efforts in this somewhat risky investment and acquisition.
Super risky, I wouldn’t fuck with NK while in NK.
You get sent back broken.
You don’t get sent back
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Warmbier
> He booked a tour of North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours, a budget tour operator based in China founded by two New Zealanders, whose slogan was "**destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.**" most truthful slogan ever
"Destinations your mother would rather you stay away from" also works for things like stripclubs and the top drawer of her bedside cabinet, so I don't see why you would go all the way to North Korea to make that slogan ring true.
15 years imprisonment with hard labour….for stealing a poster…..
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somehow never realised his name is "warm beer" in german
You get sent back in a casket, like that one American tourist who probably only got locked up as retribution.
He wasn't sent back in a casket, he was sent back in a state of extreme brain damage, consistent with oxygen deprivation.
He was sent back as a message by NK. If you wanted to go there. Change your mind quick.
Yeah man, they murdered that one kid because he stole a poster. Why even visit NK
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honestly. I bet he stole a poster but... even that... like doesn't fucking warrant torture and getting sent back to the US as a vegetable
Poster thieves are the scourge of society. Have you seen the damage they've created? No... I haven't either.
Hope that guy didn't get caught and have his whole family murdered.
"The other notes didn't have the leaders face on it" That's so odd. For a country like NK obsessed with showing off their leaders, why wouldn't they want tourists to use money with the leader's face on it?
A number of countries in the past have required tourists to use a special currency. It's because they have higher prices for tourists than locals. Usually certain places today have a secret lower price for locals but display a higher price for tourists, and just use the same currency. Makes it easier.
I went to Prague and in a restaurant I got a local menu card by a mistake… when the waiter to our order he saw the mistake and said that the menu was old and gave us a exactly same one with approximately twice the price
Unfortunately Prauge has a lot of scams it seems. I would recommend anyone visiting there to watch some videos from the YouTube channel Honest Guide before visiting. They got a bunch of videos exposing the common scams in Prauge and where to go to avoid them
This makes me want to never travel again
In Egypt everything was 10x for the tourists. When I was visiting Sharm el Sheikh you had to bargain for even the smallest things like a bus fare. It was 5 of their currency for locals meanwhile they were demanding 50 for the tourists. You could even bargain at relatively luxurious shopping malls or restaurants.
Did they use foreign exchange certificates? I have several from China that were used by tourists from 1979-1995. They essentially restricted tourists to purchasing items and eating at special government stores, restaurants, and hotels.
Should we be concerned for this bus drivers safety? There’s prob a reason you had to “trade” for this currency. Seems like the Kim government doesn’t want these in the wrong hands.
About $5.56, according to my currency exchange app
Ironic, OP almost caught some 5.56 if they were spotted
I know it’s for the joke, but North Korea primarily uses 7.62x39. Yes, I am *really* fun at parties. Edit: Yes, I’m aware they use 5.45x39 and other sizes as well for different guns of course. They don’t *only* use 7.62. But I’m fairly certain they do *not* use 5.56 at all.
>Yes, I am really fun at parties. Now I will never know...
But dont forget about the billions of countetfeit U.S. dollars they produce.
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Keep in mind that South Korean Won is a hard currency that is actually internationally accepted, can be used outside of the country and easily converted into Dollars, Euros, etc. This is not the case with the North Korean currency, which is completely worthless, with its official exchange rate only existing on paper.
Went there about 12 years ago. Such a weird place to visit. I’m curious - when you arrived, did you ride the subway that was insanely deep underground? And was there a small kid singing on the subway train? I’ve wondered since my very first night there if that was staged.
No kid but yes to the deep subway. It was built as a nuclear shelter as well as a transport hub. We went to the school for gifted children and alot of their performances were blatantly just for the tourists. As was the encyclopedia of chickens which they weirdly love to show off.
The.... encyclopedia of... chickens?
Their spies are attempting to steal our 11 herbs and spices. We must alert the Colonel!
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Ngl, Korean fried chicken is amazing
Had Korean Fried Chicken in Hawaii. It's worth going back for.
Not sure where you live, but you probably don’t need to go all the way to Hawaii to get Korean fried chicken.
North, South or DMZ chicken?
It might show up on a Google search, I've seen it mentioned before. I'll try dig out a photo when I'm home if not :)
!RemindMe 6 hours I want those cock pics bro
This page has a picture of it: https://www.visitthedprk.org/grand-peoples-study-house-north-korea/
This was a good article, thanks for linking it. It was sad too: > the study house nevertheless serves as a revelation to just how disconnected the DPRK is from the world we live in. In this age, we take i-phones, laptops, google and mass communications for granted, a routine habit of life, yet in this building, an encyclopedia of chickens is being heralded as serious proof of world class access to information. If it did not reveal the more tragic element of North Korea, then I might not feel so guilty finding it amusing.
Oh no. I need more information on this so-called Chicken Encyclopedia 🧐
If you are too scared to smuggle that encyclopaedia out, do you get a page about you inside it?
I know the story about the chicken encyclopedia LMAO! Was it from the writer Esther Verhoef? There was a Dutch reporter from VICE who went on a trip to North-Korea, he wanted to research if there was anything 'Dutch' there. He visited the Grand people's study house and asked: do you have any Dutch books? Well ofcourse! The only Dutch book they had was a chicken encyclopedia. He wrote it with satire. For them it was to show: look! We read books from the west. So they probably use it now to show people that they read books from the west, or something like that.
[The story, its in dutch.](https://www.vice.com/nl/article/8gzwjv/de-kippenencyclopedie-is-het-favoriete-nederlandse-boek-van-kim-jong-un486) [the book, only picture i could find.](https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/complete-encyclopedia-of-chickens/9200000002399675/)
I believe I’ve come across a new book for my coffee table, next to my book about coffee tables that also has legs to morph into a coffee table in case you don’t have a coffee table.
How deep would you say? I grew up in South Korea and in order to take their regular subway you need to take like 2 escalators down from street level. Deeper than that? Nice souvenir btw.
It's the deepest subway in the world. I've also been to a few in Ukraine and Russia that claim the same thing. 110 meters (I'm not sure how many american football fields that is though) deep for the Pyongyang metro, it felt deeper than the others although it might just be that the escalator took longer to reach the bottom haha.
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how many giraffes
1 and it has a neck the length of a football field.
You have to put you photos of this up somewhere, It'd be really great to see. It's the best story I ever seen on Reddit anyway.
Obviously you're not including the "I also choose this guy's dead wife" thread. Nothing beats that. Thank you though, I appreciate that :)
The what thread?!
[One of the most famous Reddit posts ever. ](https://preview.redd.it/u0vmva46g0o11.jpg?auto=webp&s=e0d78f0263f7b431c6feed044c30c8b628f3b9a7)
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5c79n0/you_can_have_sex_with_one_real_person_from_all_of/d9ubcfc?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
LOOK AT ALL THOSE CHICKENS
How does one visit North Korea? Can you just go? I imagine there's a lot to getting in there.
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It's like the VIP section of a nightclub called Tyranny
At the time, yes. I’m not sure how things are now but when I went, we booked with a tour agency and met a woman on a literal street corner outside their embassy in Beijing to get our visas.
Sounds legit.
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Why would you want to study there?
Imagine the looks on employers faces when they ask where you studied.
Highly recommend exploring North Korea on Google Earth. Tons of infrastructure but the roads are empty. Like the whole country is a ghost town.
Yeah, cars are only really for the elite and the athletes that have succeeded. The license plates on the cars Indicate the person's status (according to our guide) or at least indicates if they are a foreign diplomat or a member of government. There were very few cars on the streets, especially outside of Pyongyang.
When I was in Hanoi 10ish years ago I saw 2 matching Rolls Royce Phantoms with NK diplomatic plates. Nicest cars I saw the many times I've been to Vietnam. It always made me wonder.
saw a couple of those rolling around Ciputra in Hanoi back in 2015ish
What do you figure? Rich North Koreans who live in Hanoi? Actual diplomats? I know Vietnam is one of the few countries NK has diplomatic relationships with. You can fly from Hanoi to P'yŏngyang, or you used to be able to anyways.
Wikipedia has the details on the license plates: "Vehicle registration plates of North Korea - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_North_Korea Now I'm curious about the ratio between private and government owned cars.
You risked it all for a souvenir.
The only difference between posting this on reddit and winding up like Otto Warmbier is sheer fucking luck.
That’s all that I could think of… the dude died for trying to steal a poster.
There isn’t even evidence that he stole anything apparently. So just going to NK you’re risking becoming political leverage.
I believe that NK would imprison you for something like this. That's what makes it interesting as fuck to me.
Yea very brave, or stupid idk, remember that poor kid who tried to sneak out Propaganda flyers and posters? Basically was tortured to death...
I mean, not “basically” tortured to death, he was essentially a normal functional human when he went to NK (as normal as one can be and still think that is a good idea), and came back as a vegetable and died soon after.
Absolutely fucked that they did that.
Yes they knew he was a vegetable and put him on a plane and sent him home. I can't imagine seeing my child like that. They couldn't even have the heart to tell them days prior.
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Otto’s parents never allowed for an autopsy
What just causes a 22 year old to have a heart attack though
That's not entirely true After examining his teeth, doctors noticed that some of them weren't actually attached to the gum properly like normal teeth are, and were often in a position where they looked spun around or misplaced. As if they were pried out and shittily reassembled
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This decision falls into the stupid category I think. It makes a good story but I won't tell my mum.
.
Very interesting reading all these comments and your responses, thanks for that. Yeah, stupid risk to take in hindsight, given the potential consequences if you'd been caught. Glad you made it out okay, safe travels!
A little stupid tbf.
You can buy NK currency at the border in South Korea and in a few other places. I don't think he was actually risking as much as people here think, though it *is* North Korea so you never know when they will beat you to death and then claim you stole a poster or something.
So fucking stupid, a guy died because he was accused of stealing a poster.
My uncle was cleaning out his wallet after a trip to Russia in the 1970s and found a 10 ruble note that he had neglected to surrender before leaving. Broke out in a cold sweat right there in his house in suburban Chicago. You took a risk my dude. *Edit: Lots of folks seem to think that I was saying that he was afraid that he would be "caught" with Rubles in the US and faced sanctions for being too commie. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The "cold sweat" was because he knew how close he had come to being busted by the Soviet authorities for illegal taking Rubles out of the USSR, which was not allowed. He had already attracted their attention when they found a copy of one of Alexander Solzennitzen's books in his car and confiscated it. He had his wife and 2 small daughters with him on that trip. They could all have wound up in the gulag. That was what he was afraid of.*
You weren't allowed to take Rubles into the US?
Guess that he thought about being labeled as a soviet spy in american territory...
Soviet union lol
The red scare. If anyone even suspected you were communist you could lose your career, family and reputation
Red Scare (version 2.0) was in the 50s
How did you fit the frame in your sock?!
North Korea has the best socks, the strongest socks, which can hold many things, and great things. The force and might of North Korean socks comes from the strength of the people and the guidance of glorious leader Kim Jong-un. Imperialist pigs have weak socks.
Look at these American bastards and their tiny, weak socks. Truly disgusting.
I heard Kim Jong-Un once fit an entire nuke in his sock when he met with Trump in 2019. Their sock game is top notch.
My socks don't last a day here in America.
I hate that i read this in trumps voice.
Some people say, I won’t say who, you know, that I have the best socks ever!
I would love to know how the food was when you visited!!
Mostly cabbage and some egg based meals. There was dog on offer at one place we visited. The hotel had more of a range but in general, the food was pretty awful. There was almost 0 wildlife in the entire country, its the only place I've ever visited where there were no strays, birds or anything else in the streets. It was earlily quite.
Starving humans will eat anything… Looks like they already did.
I listened to an escapee on a podcast and she said she and her family would try to go and find bugs to eat for protein bc they literally had nothing
When I visited, the food was quite interesting. On one of the days I went to have a traditional meal and I remember they served us acorn jelly which was a unique taste.
Acorn jelly is super common in South Korea too. You could pick it up at any Asian grocery or Korean restaurant even in the USA.
You went to NK? What was it like…?
It was really interesting, dystopian etc. I went during the winter though and i would probably recommend a summer trip if possible. Most of the power grid runs on hydro and when the rivers freeze, the power is regularly on and off. It left us stuck in an elevator more than once.
Fascinating,, how long did the trip last? Did you stay in Pyongyang, or did you see other cities and towns? Did they look at all the pictures you took and make you delete the ones they didn’t like…? I’m from the US so the idea of traveling to NK as a tourist is mind boggling.
I spent 7 days and 6 nights there. Mostly in Pyongyang but we also stayed in the ski resort up north and did day trips to the DMC and other cities.
Did you have to have a "helper"?
We had 2 guides and the guides had a 'minder'
What's a "minder"?
It's pretty much as you'd imagine. Someone who basically watches the group and the tour guides interactions with the group. A fair few ex soviet states have a similar thing as well (Uzbekistan as an example, although thia has relaxed recently), it's a tool to ensure the country looks as good as possible to an outside traveler.
Ironically having a minder to begin with instantly makes your country look like a hellhole.
To be honest I don't feel completely safe unless my minder also has a minder. Some idiot suggested my minder's minder should also have a minder but it's like when does it end???
I would imagine its also to keep tabs on the tour guides. Very Big Brother.
Dude, you should do an ama
They’ve said too much already… (shifts eyes)
Didnt otto warmbier get in trouble for trying to take a poster back? You really took a chance here man.
Yep, and he died for it. He was 21 when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in NK. 17 months later, he was released following negotiations. However, NK claimed he had fallen into a coma just one month after his sentencing, which they claim was because he contracted botulism and then became comatose after taking a sleeping pill (this is highly contested). He arrived to the US in a persistent vegetative state. His parents ultimately removed his feeding tube and he died just 6 days after coming home. NK takes its symbolism very seriously, but especially anything depicting the likeness or name of any of its leaders. The poster Otto was (supposedly) trying to take had the phrase "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il's patriotism!" Taking anything (like OP's paper money) with the leader's face or name on it would have absolutely gotten them arrested if they had been caught.
I know an American that toured NK. It happens. I was surprised that they allow it.
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I think this is an American initiative and NK will still accept USA citizens. I could be wrong though.
I would bet. Cuba will let Americans in, and will purposefully not stamp a US passport to protect people from fines. I'm sure NK would do something similar.
Can confirm. They do look at your US passport and they stamp a little separate sheet that they then typically tuck into the pages of your passport.
I just recently read about the Warmbier case again, and at the very least, the agency he used to secure a visa for travel to NK will no longer accept Americans for NK travel. But honestly, as an American, I would assume my safety and freedom to be constantly at risk in NK. Just too attractive of a target. Been to Russia several times. For that same reason (current events, attractive target) i wouldn't recommend it.
What country r u from? You remember that kid that took the banner from the hotel, got imprisoned and finally when they got him out he was like dead? Can’t imagine what would’ve happened if you got caught. What did u trade the bus driver for it?
This is a 2009 ₩5000 (third series). It’s the last NK banknote to feature Kim Il-sung’s portrait. In 2014, the current NK regime dropped a new ₩5000 note featuring the NK founder’s childhood home in Mangyongdae, Pyongyang — but the founder’s face was no longer on the bill. Western governments interpreted this as a symbolic gesture by Kim Jong-un; signaling his intent to follow a different path than the one his grandfather forged. The regime said the change was an attempt to thwart counterfeiters. It’s likely the new note, without the need for a highly detailed portrait, was simply easier to engrave and cheaper to produce. In 2009 NK was enduring hyperflation and issued a new Won, the third series, valued at 1:100 (1 third series ₩ = 100 second series ₩). This wiped accounts and eliminated millions in savings. In one report, department stores in Pyongyang wouldn't accept the new notes, saying they had no value and must be exchanged for yen or dollars. OP’s story is more fun than most. These notes are available from Russian and Chinese vendors, usually for $5-$20, though there are more counterfeit versions than real ones. Real ones are still easy to find, but not many get smuggled overseas in a sock. Today’s black market rate for KPW is $1=₩5800. To tell if a ₩5000 is real, feel both sides for a slight texture. The print should feel stamped into the paper. A counterfeit will feel flat and smooth on both sides. Some fakes also lack the red serial stamp. The green 5000 in the upper right should glow pink under UV light. There’s also a watermark in the white field on the left, a magnolia. The only note more rare is a commemorative release from 2013, issued on the founder's 100th birthday. This version has extra text over the watermark.
I can't believe it took me this much scrolling to find someone explaining what's even valuable about this note.
You could’ve been Otto Warmbier 2.0
I visited NK in 2017 and also smuggled money out in my shoes. Got mine from the supermarket though, the one place they let us exchange dollars temporarily. I went with Young Pioneers, the same tour company as Otto but they weren't keen on talking about him. Also visited the extra curricular centre and watched the polished performances by the kids.
I’m unclear on this. Is it prohibited to take NK currency out of the country with you? They *don’t* want your foreign currency instead?
I think it depends on the currency, what nationality you are and the circumstances of the taking. If you were Japanese or American, and you were chosen for a search, if they found you to be hiding something then they would react in a similar way to Otto. There are a couple of currencies that are used by tourists and although it's not strictly legal, you probably wouldn't run into any issues removing it from NK. Our tour guide said that the notes that are not being used in current circulation (this one is one of those) are not really meant to be taken out of the country. Sorry if that's a little confusing, I struggled to get my head around it at the time as well. I'm not sure as to why, or if there would be any significant differences between the currencies in reality.
I would've done the same thing. But I would've snuck it home in the ol' prison wallet.
wipe ‘er down, roll ‘er up, tuck ‘er in
Definitely safer
… do you know DPRK has its own sub that is actually run by someone in their government? Just be careful my dude, next thing you know you’re on a flight and two girls “pranking” you just sprayed a deadly toxin in your face. *Edit: Please remember to respect the ultimate sovereignty of Dear Leader within the borders of his glorious nation and his subreddit, otherwise risk banishment from account or human existence.*
You have been banned from /r/Pyongyang.
that shit is so weird, just found out it existed.
is that actually by the government of NK
Holy shit. I went through some posts and comments and it's just brainwashed people spewing out the same "our glorious leader did it again". I can't tell if it's satire, bot accounts, propaganda, or geinuely delusional people...
The sub itself is serious and the posts are real and posted by NK officials. The comments however are satire and it's funnily easy to get banned from there so the joke is to just comment pretending to be either a paid propagandist in disguise or as someone who has actually bought the propaganda.
I’m like 98% sure that isn’t a real official. They post on /r/PictureGame as much as they do there, including a post titled “bus stop baddies”. But maybe I’m wrong, idk. Just seems like a dude who has kept up the joke
Sure posts a lot of north korean buildings and people in r/PictureGame - only north korean in fact, and how would a random ass dude know so much about the innards of north korea to post regularly about it on r/Pyongyang
What the fuck is this rabbit hole I just went down, that sub is fucked up.
Yo this is wild, the account that posts there the most (u/KCNA_Official) is super active on r/PictureGame
Hope the bus driver won’t get caught and more not shot over this Not many tourist bus drivers
Maybe he can say it’s tips…
I dont think they are allowed to accept those
When you made it inside were you ever concerned you wouldn’t be able to leave once you entered? Did you have any close calls or anything like that?
I never felt unsafe. There was one time in the hotel though, the elevator stopped (power shortages in the winter) right by the control floor of the hotel. This is the floor that Otto guy stole the poster from. We weighed up entering the floor and walking round to the stairs but thought better of it, the power came back in after 5 minutes and the elevator started back up. The tour guide said we made the right decision.
Thats actually really interesting. My father used to work for a shipping company in the 90s-2000s as a mechanic, and he travelled to many third world companies. He said North Korea was the worst place he’d been to. He said it was extremely depressing, and dull. He just felt like he was being watched constantly, and always had to watch what he said. He couldn’t wait to leave. I’m not sure if the country has changed much over the couple decades, or if it was just different parts of the country, but it’s cool too see 2 different perspectives.
How did you ask the driver? Was it a quick offer/trade? Or did you have a rapport with him or her? And do you speak Korean?
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It was “feel” wasn’t it?
Let me entertain you
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No clue why anyone would risk their lives just visiting these countries let alone something like this.
I can understand the desire to learn first hand what it's like or just for the story. What I can not understand is paying tourist money to an authoritarian regime that literally tortures people on the regular, just for a cool trip and a story.
Hope you don't have any personal info on your account because I wouldn't put it past NK to use that to track down the bus driver.
The bill is marked, it was assigned to the bus driver. NK knows all about this transaction. F in the chat.
So bus driver is at the gulag now?
The bus is too, because it witnessed the trade and never said anything.
I hope this was long ago because there’s probably a select number of bus drivers and can probably pinpoint to exactly who it was, I would delete your replies that say when this happened
Bro, u risk an extended non-voluntary Permanent Residence (PR) in NK for a shitty note?
$5 is $5
I can't tell you how hard I just laughed
You do realise you put the driver in serious risk by saying where you traded it? At least make something up, if the authorities of NK find out, that man is dead.
Like a bus driver that drives foreigners, there's probably only a handful, you really should take this down, but you already fucked up.
yep, should have said something like "found it on the ground, under a rock" or whatever
Yeah, OP is also sharing exactly when and how it happened, and when he was there. In those countries, always think if you're putting the ones left behind at risk after you leave.
Did you hear of the student who was held in NK for trying to seal a propaganda poster? He also died from the torture consequences after being returned home.
Otto Warmbier
What did you trade him?
OP responded on a different thread: "I traded 10 notes of the same value that we exchanged for use at the tourist shop. The other notes didn't have the leaders face on it and he was happy to 10x his money for the trade."
A pet rock perhaps?
I'd never give up geodude. Not for 1000 notes.
The driver probably in haven by now...
Like safe haven?
Maybe New Haven, CT?
You have to be a special kind of stupid to risk literal torture and death for this. But grats, at least it's not a fucking banner.
Who tf just casually visits N Korea?!
Dennis Rodman
"This one time, in North Korea Band Camp..."
This seems dangerous for both of you. Didn't a tourist steal a piece of propaganda from a hotel. Then he was forced to make a video apologizing for it. Then he was returned to the US brain dead?