We wanted to get closer to the country and its people, but our miners kept us from leaving
the hotel on our own.
After all, this was North Korea.
This is Edward Wong, the correspondent for The New York Times.
The world's most secretive nation went to open its doors wider for business.
In the push to bring in more foreign investment, North Korean officials invited me and other
foreign journalists to accompany Chinese business people on a tour of a remote region.
To enter the North Korean port town of Rassau, we crossed the border in far northeastern
China and took a bus along a dirt road for nearly three hours.
On the bus was our young English-speaking guide, Mr. Moon.
It flows 560 kilometers.
Out the window, we saw cornfields, villages, bicyclists, and occasional man on horseback.
Before entering Rassau, we had a lunch stop at a hotel.
North Korea has suffered bouts of mass starvation that have led to the deaths of millions, but
our hosts laid out a banquet for us.
We ate crab legs, scallops, and fish.
The poverty of North Korea became obvious as soon as we drove into Rassau.
This is called a free trade in economic zone, but there is no commercial boom that we could
see.
We didn't see many cards of stores, and many of the roads were unpaid.
When we got to the heart of Rassau, they brought us to what they said was a five-star hotel.
The tap water was brown, and my bathtub didn't even have running water.
From the window, I got a glimpse of village life.
We wouldn't get much closer to ordinary people.
The tour was highly orchestrated.
Guards and soldiers would sometimes stop us from taking pictures.
Our first stop in Rassau was a towering portrait of Kim Il-sung, the nation's founder.
Mr. Moon laid down flowers and asked us to bow to the great leader.
Then there was a children's performance.
China is a very close relation with Korean people.
It's very kind of people to Korean people.
It's a good job to see the Chinese song for the Chinese tourists.
This time, I'll teach them English song.
We had heard there was a free market that operated differently than these government
run shops.
Prices at the market were not fixed, but changed according to demand, like in a capitalist
system.
Some markets are extremely sensitive areas.
Some North Korean leaders have even recently tried to quash them.
Mr. Moon said we couldn't bring any recording devices in, and we couldn't even pull out
our notebooks.
We had to march single file behind him.
But we were allowed to buy things.
For example, I picked up this cap for the equivalent of three U.S. dollars.
North Korean officials have been trying for years to develop Rassau.
In recent months, a Chinese company began shipping coal to Shanghai through the port
in Rassau.
The Russians also have a lease on another pier, and I saw a Russian ship there.
It's supposedly used for seafood processing.
But the North Koreans have bigger plans.
They want factories, high-tech industry, and tourism.
We're trying to revise the law of the zone to provide more favorable conditions for investors.
But the border guards still confiscate cell phones.
We didn't bring any into the country.
There's also no internet, and there are occasional blackouts.
All that could discourage business people from investing there.
Many of the Chinese businessmen are trips that investing here was still too risky.
I've been observing North Korea's economy for a long time, including investment opportunities.
In the future, of course, I want to come here to invest.
For now, the conditions are not yet mature.
There are a few signs of nascent capitalism, and North Korean leaders want foreign investment.
But you never forget for a minute that you're in a communist country.
