Meet the locals: A phenomenology of experiencing residents in North Korea.

Abstract

Tourism in North Korea is limited by entry bans, visa restrictions, and stringently controlled itineraries. As a consequence, the experience of visiting the country is still poorly understood by academics and practitioners alike. In order to fill this research void, this study aims to understand the essence of the lived experience of encountering the residents of North Korea, following an approach embedded in the paradigm of transcendental phenomenology. Based on six narratives by tourists who have visited the country, the essence of the experience of encountering North Korean locals is identified as comprising dimensions of comfort, doubt and uneasiness. The findings are finally contextualized based on existing literature.