Smoke and Mirrors

'In May 2017 I left my familiar life behind, and stepped nervously on to a plane to North Korea, where I lived for nearly two years. I had no idea when I arrived that I would be living there during arguably one of the most tumultuous political periods in North Korea's recent history... 'Some months later I stood in the garden of our flat in in Pyongyang watching an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) fly through the air. I experienced the diplomatic fall-out of its biggest nuclear test to date, stood next to enormous missiles ready to be paraded in front of Kim Jong Un, watched 100,000 people unite in anti-US rallies and every day wondered if I would be evacuated to China. A year later, I stood amongst Koreans in the centre of Pyongyang watching Kim Jong Un shaking hands with Donald Trump on a giant cinema screen and watching the city prepare itself for its first visit from South Korean president Moon Jae-In. I shared beers and Netflix with North Korean train conductors on the train to China, ran the Pyongyang marathon, watched the 70th anniversary of the Korean Workers' Party celebrations and had the opportunity to travel around the country to its coasts and poverty stricken rural areas with no minders or guides. For nearly two years I was able to interact with this country and its people in a way only experienced by the few non-Koreans who can also say they have lived there. 'Yet the greatest insights came from quieter events and travels. Friends made, sorrows and celebrations shared. In the end the experience has provided me with so much more than those basic answers I was seeking when I arrived.'