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Article snippet: North Korea is the most reclusive country in the world, run by a repressive government accused of systemic human rights abuses. Last week, the United States barred Americans from traveling there, after the death of a college student who was detained in the country for 17 months. But a small number of tourists have gone despite the risks. We asked readers who had traveled to North Korea to tell us why they went and what they found. Here is a sampling of about 60 responses we received. Rebecca High, from Los Angeles visited the country in April to run in the Pyongyang Marathon. She joined more than 1,000 foreigners running in the race. When did you visit North Korea, and what prompted you to go? I’d lived in South Korea during the sinking of the Cheonan and had visited the DMZ [Korean demilitarized zone] from the south side, which sparked my curiosity. I heard about the marathon in Pyongyang and figured it would be a good way to get into the country, but also to do something productive and personally challenging. What did you see on your trip that resonated with you? North Korea was aesthetically even more surreal than I’d expected: very few cars on the road, people hand-painting propaganda billboards, people on their hands and knees working vast dirt fields, Socialist Party uniformed-citizens filling giant stadiums for mandatory sports events. I was also somewhat surprised at the conversations we were able to have with our guides. We happened to be there, without ... Link to the full article to read more