North Korea Guide
Outside Pyongyang
Kaesong
Other than Pyongyang, KAESONG is usually the only North Korean city that foreign travellers get to see. From the capital, it's an easy ninety-minute trip south along the traffic-free Reunification Highway; the road actually continues all the way to Seoul, just 80km away, though it's blocked by the DMZ a few kilometres south of Kaesong. Its proximity to the border means the surrounding area is armed to bursting and crawling with soldiers, and it's hardly surprising that Kaesong's long-suffering citizens often come across as a little edgy. The city itself is drab and grimy in comparison with Pyongyang, but offers a far more accurate reflection of "typical" North Korean life.
Despite the palpable tension, Kaesong – romanized as "Gaeseong" in the South – is actually a place of considerable history: this was once the capital of the Goryeo dynasty, which ruled over the peninsula from 936 to 1392, though thanks to wholesale destruction in the Korean War, you'll see precious little evidence of this today. One exception is Sonjuk Bridge, which was built in the early thirteenth century; it was here that an eponymous Goryeo loyalist was assassinated as his dynasty fell. The one sight guaranteed to catch the eye is somewhat more modern – a huge statue of Kim Il-sung. One of the most prominent such statues in the country, and even visible from the Reunification Highway on the way to Panmunjom, it's illuminated at night come what may owing to its own generator, which enables it to surf the crest of any power shortages that afflict the rest of the city.
Groups heading to or from Panmunjom often have a lunch stop in Kaesong; the unnamed restaurant favoured by most tour leaders lays on a superb spread, apportioned into little golden bowls. It's also possible to stay overnight in Kaesong, and this is highly recommended – the Kaesong Folk Hotel is a parade of traditional rooms running off a courtyard, the complex dotted with swaying trees and bisected by a peaceful stream. The rooms are basic, and sometimes fall victim to power outages, but it's a unique experience with an entirely different vibe from the big hotels in Pyongyang.