Zombie46

No, they don't seem happy. Of course, they have their happy moments with family or at events but generally, no.

They had coal powered trucks! They took out the engine in the front and built a steam engine on the back and there was always one guy shoveling coal. Petrol is hard to come by without money and they have trees to produce their own charcoal. But that definitely was the weirdest thing in my eyes.

The mass games were kind of weird but in a "better" way.

The people we got to talk to usually were curious but also very cautious in what to ask. They just asked about our lifes, nothing political or anything.

Thinking about how bad the life is for people, not even starting with the ones in the camps: probably. Not an easy yes/no question because china wouldn't just sit there and do nothing. I think north korea will collapse sooner or later and even that won't be an easy thing to handle

Well, you're very very very much encouraged to do so. I think you can refuse to do so but they will hate you and make your trip a lot more complicated.