DPRK Blues: Getting ill - and meeting Kim Jong Un - as a foreigner in N. Korea | NK News
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October 04, 2026Oct 04, 2026

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DPRK Blues: Getting ill – and meeting Kim Jong Un – as a foreigner in N. Korea

"There he is, 5 meters away from me"

This is the fourth part of a weekly series written by a former development worker in North Korea. Read part one here, part two here, and part three here.

JANUARY

Being sick in this country is a nightmare. The locals put pressure on us to use the hospital located inside the diplomatic village. It is called Friendship, and it is apparently meant to be dedicated to us, like everything called Friendship in this country.

In the expatriate community, there are a few other options, that I will not list in detail, for those who don’t want to use