No way out
There is no government sanctioned way of leaving North Korea and those caught trying to escape are severally punished. They only way to get out is to defect and that costs $8,000 and that only gets you into China. In realistic terms, $8,00 is an impossible sum of money to the majority of North Koreans to acquire.
The fact is, it is almost impossible to leave the corrupt country.
Widespread corruption
North Korea won the dubious honor of being named the most corrupt country in the world. This is probably not a big shock, but as of last year according to the Corruption Perceptions Index, North Korea is tied as the most corrupt country in the world! The share this “honor” with the country of Somalia with a score of 8. The rating system is between 0 (rampant with corruption) and 100 (squeaky clean).
The results as a whole are worrying, showing that almost 70% of all the countries in the world have a serious corruption problem. In case you were wondering, no perfect corruption free countries exist in our world so don’t pack your bags just yet.
Checking things out
Soldiers are a normal part of the landscape in North Korea and it is not uncommon to see them everywhere and in all aspects of life. In this photo, there are five officers checking up on something with a pair of binoculars. All things that happen in the country are strictly monitored.
Due to military security, the photographer would have probably gotten in a lot of trouble if he was caught taking this picture!
Sins of the fathers
North Koreans have to live by many rules and breaking even one of them means being sent to a prison or a work camp, currently holding roughly 200,000 prisoners. However, you are not the only one being held accountable for your crimes under North Korea’s “three generations of punishment rule.”
If a person with a family breaks the law, it is common for their entire family to be punished with them. Meaning both grandparents, the parents and the children of the offender are sent away too. Any other children born in the camps must also stay there for life.
Busy buses
The only form of public transportation available to North Koreans are buses and they are a common way for people to commute to work and home. Car ownership is almost non-existent, therefore even busy, full and slow buses are a good option. Even on the bus, a permit is still required to move between cities and towns.
If you can manage to catch the bus, I’m sure it beats walking or biking.