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I landed in Pyongyang on 10th April, 2012, after flying with Air Koryo, the only airline in DPRK for an hour and a half. From then, with curiosity and anxiety, my life as a foreign correspondent in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over two years begun.
It was a few days ahead of the first Kim Il-sung's Birthday, also known as the Day of the Sun after Kim Jong-il's death upon my arrival. At that time, Kim Joong-il's son and successor Kim Jong-un just took his office.
I arrived the Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport around 9 a.m. on April 1, 2012. It was quite early and the check-in counter displaying "Pyongyang" was empty. I waited for a while but was informed that the plane which was planned to take off around 11:30 a.m. had been delayed to 1:30 p.m.. I found out later that the delay was due to the increasing passengers from Beijing to Pyongyang, at the time of celebrating Kim Il-sung's 100th birthday and the Day of the Sun on April 15, the most important festival of the North Korea.
The boarding began around 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and I was going to take the antique airplane as showed above in the photo to fly to Pyongyang. The planes of Air China flying between Beijing and Pyongyang on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and can be cancelled due to reasons such as fewer passengers. At other times, Air Koryo is the only choice.
The aircrafts of North Korea's Air Koryo are mainly Tu-204 which can be dated back into the time of the Soviet Union. I was worried at first while many people may feel anxious taking this "antique" aircraft. But I feel relieved when my colleague who had been working in the North Korea told me that the pilots of DPRK were quite professional.
The North Korea is a mountainous country. Arable land in the country is limited, for more than 80% of its territory is hilly area and its average altitude is 440 meters.
There are more than 138 rivers longer than 40 km in the North Korea. Two of the main rivers are the Yalu River and the Tumen River runs at the China-DPRK border. The Yalu River is the longest river in the country, which is 790 km.
Most of the people in the North Korea reside separately on the flat lands among mountains, and their house are mainly white.
I landed at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport. At the time when I firstly entering the North Korea in 2012, the mobile phones were prohibited in the country and taking pictures of the airport was also strictly forbidden. Tourists are allowed to take their mobile phones when enter the country now in 2014 and there are even mobile services at the airport, but a SIM card of the North Korea is needed.
About the writer
Zeng Tao
Born in China's Shandong Province in 1984, Zeng Tao became a TV reporter of Xinhua News Agency after acquiring his Master Degree from the Capital University of Economics and Business. He was the first TV reporter of Xinhua News Agency working in the Pyongyang Branch from April 2012 to August 2014, and now he works in Xinhua's Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau in Hong Kong.
During his term in the DPRK, he covered events including several military parades, the missile launch and leaders' visits, etc. Travelling around the North Korea, he has witnessed and collected rich materials of the mysterious country.
