I have been wanting to visit North Korea for a long time, due to many reasons, I decided to visit this amazing and "exotic" country on my own. Visiting North Korea is definitely not cheap, I paid large amount of money to North Korea government to attend their tour in the country. As i am a chinese national, I paid USD500 for 4 days, if you are from Europe, you have to pay around USD1200 for 4 days tour.Why European should pay more?

One of my tour guides is the daughter of North Korean Trading Minister. Through her, I am able to know some of the business information e.g almost all the business and trading in North Korea are being controlled by government. Overseas investment is allowed with a special permit from the Central government.Getting the said permit is not a big problem if you know the right way and right people. Presently, most of the foreign companies in North Korea are from China due to good diplomatic relationship and cheaper labour cost.

Don't be surprised if the business counterparts you are dealing with from North Korea are wearing their traditional costume but not business suit.

Visa or Master card is unavailable there as they only accept cash. They don't even accept US dollar but Chinese currency and Euro are widely accepted. DHL service is available in hotels. Foreigners are charged much higher price than locals for shopping and sometimes you may have to pay up to 1000 times more. For instance, a pack of cigarette is only 0.002 Euro for locals while the foreigner shall pay 2 Euro for that.

If you get an opportunity to visit North Korea you will find that some North Koreans are always follow you wherever you go. This is not bad at all, the intention is to monitor and help you in some ways, notwithstanding, you shall always be careful and prepare yourself before heading to this beautiful and amazing country.