Liberal New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is reporting from North Korea and sharing photos on social media of school children, food and the “fun” he is witnessing in the rogue country.
Kristof began tweeting and posting photos to Instagram on Tuesday and he said he has interviewed government officials and toured “a side of the country that doesn’t always come through.”
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One photo showed what appeared to be an amusement park. “North Koreans like to have fun, too,” Kristof wrote in the caption of one photo that showed a park ride. “People were shouting happily on this ride on an amusement park.”
In another photo from North Korea, a country that has long faced food shortages resulting in a largely starved population, Kristof showed a meal he was having.
“Lunch in Pyongyang, North Korea, at a pizza restaurant with live music,” the caption said.
North Koreans like to have fun, too. People were shouting happily on this ride on an amusement park. It’s a side of the country that doesn’t always come through.A post shared by Nicholas Kristof (@nickkristof) on Sep 28, 2017 at 4:14pm PDT
A third photo showed a group of school children singing in their uniforms. “Every kid at this North Korea high school supposedly signed up to join the army after the Trump speech to the UN,” Kristof said in the caption. “They said they’ll keep studying until war breaks out, which some say could happen any time.”
On Twitter, Kristof said his posts were not reviewed by the government but that, “I have a longstanding policy that as long as I’m in a place like North Korea, I think of my family before I tweet.”
He said he is staying in a government-provided guest house and that he has access to Internet, even though the country’s people are only allowed to use a state-controlled “intranet.”
On Friday, Kristof said, “In my interviews here in N Korea, the most tense discussion involved [likely tortured and released prisoner] Otto Warmbier and 3 Americans still detained & denied consular access.”
Kristof did not return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have reached an all-time high as President Trump has turned up his rhetoric against the rogue regime, which for years has threatened to attack America and its allies.
