Given the current volume of articles on North Korea circulating the media, a re-introduction of an Emmy-winning documentary--one of only very few made about the mysterious nation--seems appropriate. Released in 2001 by Dutch filmmaker Peter Tetteroo and his associate Raymond Fedemma, Welcome to North Korea provides a candid and sobering window into what is without question the most talked about Asian nation, but likewise the least understood. Filmed over the course of a week in North Korea's capital Pyongyang and the surrounding region, including rare footage capturing one of the notorious Labor Camps, like the ones in which American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been sentenced to serve for 12 years, the film paints a bleak picture of life in country with no economy to speak of, extreme food and commodity shortages and a complete lack of free thought and personal freedom. Providing a concise narrative of the personality cult that developed in the country during the reign of former leader Kim Il-Sung, a dictator endowed by the regime's propaganda machine with Godlike qualities and superhuman achievements, the documentary uses the words and actions of the "chosen" ones allowed to speak to Westerners to illustrate a seemingly imaginary world plagued by myopia, nightmares from barbarian terrorism committed by Americans during the Korean War and, most disturbingly, a "lost generation" of homeless children who struggle like wild animals for survival in the wilderness, often subsisting on tree bark and clay.

Not surprisingly, tourism by Westerners is next to impossible, both due to seething public resentment of Americans as well as the long and complicated visa process, which places each applicant under excessive scrutiny. The New York Philharmonic was granted permission to perform in Pyongyang in February 2008, a privilege that many believe was a hollow attempt by North Korea to warm its relations with the United States. The event actually incited outrage from some journalists, including the Times of India's Ian Brumer, who asked if North Korea was "the right venue for a Western orchestra [to entertain a leader like] Stalin or Hitler?"

Recently, there has been speculation as to what might ensue should Kim Jong-Il, now 67 and rumored to have suffered a severe stroke last August, die or be otherwise removed from office. Scenarios range from smooth, even transitions, to complete economic collapse and a costly (to the tune of $1 trillion) reunification with the South to the more grim prospect of a military coup and institution of martial law. Regardless of what might happen, North Korea today largely remains an enigma, though the few images and sounds we have in our possession shed a scant amount of light on a nation that is destitute, stagnant and perhaps even veering toward genocide. Wounds from the war, the subsequent submission of an entire people to the ego of one man and decades of malnourishment and imprisonment are still very much open, begging to be bandaged but stifled by fear. It is my personal goal to travel to every country in the world in my lifetime and it is my hope that my journey to North Korea will not be for the purpose of making a documentary to convince others that the time for change is now. Stay tuned to the Austin International Travel Examiner for breaking news on the Yemenia 626 crash, AF447 investigation, as well as destination profiles, time-saving travel tips and more.