American tourist posts amazing photos from North Korea on Instagram

Taylor Pemberton spent only four days in the last country he visited as a tourist, but the photos he took and posted on Instagram provide a fascinating glimpse into life there. Why? The American was in North Korea.

During a tightly-controlled visit - the itinerary is set and a liaison officer accompanies you at all times outside a designated hotel - the 26-year-old, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, managed to take a series of photos that, while vetted by officials, show North Korea in a rarely-seen light.

Getting into North Korea itself was easy after obtaining a tourist visa in Beijing - the biggest difficulty of the trip was the moral quandary of deciding whether to financially aid a very repressive dictatorship.

Taylor said one of the strangest things, apart from being told when to go to bed by his liaison officer, was having to explain the internet to locals, many of whom had never heard of it.

See all of the photos on Taylor's Instagram page.

HT BBC Newsbeat

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