The British tourist has recently gone viral after documenting his unique experience as one of the first Western tourists to visit North Korea for over a decade.
Mike Okennedy boasts over 500,000 followers on her YouTube channel “Mike Oke.” His travel documentary, “Inside North Korea after Five Years of Isolation,” about his journey to North Korea, has gained over 3 million viewers in its first week since it was posted on February 28th.
“I like to do uncensored as much as possible,” Okennedy spoke with Fox News Digital about his experiences visiting isolated countries. He arrived in Layson City on February 20th (see the video at the top of this article).
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“My main takeaway was that this is an incredibly developing country and is at least 50 years behind someone else,” Okendy said. “It’s where China was… in the middle of the last century.”
“I’m not politically entitled to talk about it,” he continued. “But all I can say is it is an incredibly proud country.”
Mike O’Kendi, a British man known as “Mike OK” on YouTube, has won millions of views after documenting his trip to North Korea. (via @mikeokay youtube)
Okendy’s candid video of the trip showed some strange circumstances. While flying through North Korea, he and his fellow plane passengers had to keep their window blinds closed to prevent them from seeing the country from the air.
North Korea partially resumed international tourism last year, nearly half after, according to tourist operators.
The “Hermit Kingdom” closed its borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, banning almost all outsiders from entering the country for business, travel or non-life diplomatic relations.
Fox News Digital reports that the country partially reopened its borders in 2023.
However, it is now reported that the trip to North Korea has been cancelled as of Thursday.
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As the BBC reported, on Wednesday on Facebook, China-based KTG Tours, which specializes in tours in North Korea, said, “We just received news from our South Korean partner that Rason is closed to everyone.
Since O’Kennedy’s visit, North Korea has once again closed its borders and has halted foreign tourism a few weeks after welcoming its first Western visitors.
At one point in his documentary, Okendy is seen trying to open a window into his hotel room before he realizes it is closed.
“I was able to get rid of the tension with a knife, and I could feel the weight of this moment.”
He told Fox News Digital that “the whole situation is under pressure.”
“This is the first time that foreign tourists, non-Chinese and non-Chinese tourists have entered the country for five years,” he said.
“So there were times when I could get rid of the tension with a knife. I could feel the weight of this moment.”
O’Kennedy was not granted the freedom to normally enjoy while traveling, such as interacting with locals, using the bathroom without permission, and doing solo walks, but he was still acutely aware of the special treatment he and his fellow tourists are getting.
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“Instead of making it like, ‘We’re not allowed to see this’ because it’s a secret…it was just trying to show you the best it had to offer,” he said. “I didn’t have this overwhelming sense of being a bad place.”
Okennedy said his experience in North Korea made him claustrophobic. (via @mikeokay youtube)
“There were so many happy moments. They were just engulfed in a certain kind of subtle topic, delusions and anxiety.”
Okennedy said he witnessed dozens of Layson’s enthusiastic children performing songs and dances dedicated to Kim Jong Un leader. The show included visuals of the future space costume, light show and rockets.
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“As expected, almost every song that comes out of DPRK is a tool for worshipping the country’s current or former leader,” he says in the video. “A recurring theme during this trip was the complete dedication that people had towards the UN Kim Jong … To them, he is God.”
“I did karaoke one night…I drank North Korean beer (and) North Korean beer.
However, expert travelers also said they enjoyed easy delights on the trip, such as North Korean beer, but the food left something that was desired.
Much of the streets Okennedy showed from North Korea’s Layson was eerie empty, he said. (YouTube via @mikeokay; Getty Images)
“One night, I did karaoke… I drank North Korean Sojou (and) North Korean beer. By the way, it’s delicious,” Okendi said. “All the guides smoke North Korean cigarettes and sing karaoke with them. It was pretty cool. It was pretty fun.”
He said, “Food had nothing to write about at home for me. It didn’t feel like something I really had in Asia before. Maybe it’s heading towards the strange side of Chinese food like sea slugs and beetles.
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Okenedy also said he had never encountered a remote-like region in North Korea before.
The Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in northwestern China was the only place that came close.
A group of North Korean children gave an elaborate show in honor of Kim Jong Un during their trip to Okenday. (YouTube via @mikeokay; Getty Images)
“I’ve been hitchhiking a lot (at Shinjiang) and the police do jump out of everywhere a few times.
“So, there was (a) a level of control and curiosity, but not on the same level as (North Korea), which was very limited to the fact that I sometimes feel claustrophobic.”
O’Kennedy said he expects North Korea’s tourism to return to its restricted pre-paternal level. He also hopes that more tourists will have the opportunity to interact with North Korea.
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“The more people go to North Korea, the more we can meet, and I think it’s a step forward for the world.”
O’Kennedy’s documentary can be viewed on YouTube.
Bradford Betz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
