Trip to Korea People: images and impressions about a blocked country

Abstract

Between July 3 and 15, 2019, at the invitation of the Korean Association of Social Scientists, we formed a political-academic delegation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) - commonly called North Korea. Comprising 11 members, we believed from the outset that this was a unique opportunity to gather impressions and information about a country, whose information in western countries brings little concrete elements to its real knowledge. In the context of prevailing anti-scientificism, it is not surprising that the proliferation of false information is a constant, even without any bibliographic basis, nor greater contact with the institutions or the daily life of the nation in question. Aware of this context, we were, over these 13 days, immersed in an experience marked by fruitful conversations with the Association's leaders, attending lectures, interviewing social scientists in the country and visiting its main economic, social and cultural facilities, in the countryside and in the city.