@Ingo I've watched a few documentaries/news reports on North Korea and Kim Jong Il and that's basically what they say, that the government spends all its money on the military while the population starves, that it's the most secretive country on Earth and one of the worst for human rights, although like you say this may have been more what things were like 10 years ago and things may have improved a little. But, although you've actually been there yourself and I haven't, maybe you only saw what they wanted you to see and it's quite different outside the capital city?

Anyway, can you describe more about your visit? Were you allowed to go around by yourself or did you have to stick with tour guides all the time? What happened when you entered the country, did you have to go through checkpoints etc. What were you not allowed to do? Did you see anything outside of Pyongyang?