North Korea
A journey into the world’s most inaccessible country

6th June 2024 - Meeting with Junko Terao, a journalist for Internazionale magazine

A meeting with Internazionale magazine journalist and Asia and Pacific editor Junko Terao took place at Palazzo Invernizzi Conference Centre. The journalist told an audience consisting mainly of young students from Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Statale, Bocconi and Politecnico Universities of Milan about her experience when travelling to North Korea in 2016.

When one thinks of North Korea, probably also due to the press and the story it tells, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, his army and atomic threats immediately come to mind. The truth is probably not very distant from that, as Junko Terao, who knows this country well, recounted. However, it is certainly worth trying to go deeper and discover how people live in North Korea and what internal and external dynamics have made it one of the most inaccessible countries in the world, which has made it one of the least known and understood nations by those who live outside of it.

In recounting her travel experience, Junko first outlined when and in what international context the separation from South Korea - divided sharply by the 38th parallel in 1948 - took place. She explained the specific procedure required to enter the country and showed a number of pictures and videos she took using her smartphone.

Through these pictures, i.e. the ones she was allowed to take, the audience discovered a country that was probably different from the one they had imagined, where buildings are not so cramped but rather colourful and cheerful, albeit basic, where there are places for entertainment in the centre of the capital city, including a water park, a beer bar, a bowling alley and parks to spend one’s (little) spare time.

The rest of the country is extremely different: it is surrounded almost entirely by countryside that is farmed using rudimentary tools by rural inhabitants. It was particularly interesting to find out that an Italian agronomist lives there, being in charge of the Italian cooperation office in Pyongyang (the only Italian representation there, as no Italian diplomatic office exists in Pyongyang and the embassy in Seoul is also responsible for the North), who follows the Italian government’s cooperation project to help some local agricultural cooperatives improve rice production.

The North Korean leader’s propaganda is everywhere. Images, pictures, statues and rituals, complemented by censorship and misinformation, denied access to the global internet and a rewritten history that is taught from the earliest years of schooling, make it a truly difficult country to be understood, but the meeting with journalist Junko Terao was undoubtedly an opportunity to discover more about this mysterious place.

This initiative is part of the Foundation's planned cultural activities, which started with the opening of Palazzo Invernizzi Conference Centre. The Foundation is committed to organising and promoting cultural and dissemination activities for students, collaborators and friends.