'I went to North Korea and couldn't believe Premier League team is BANNED on TV'

A British man has described what it was like being among the handful of foreign tourists allowed to enter 's last month. Anthony James Macfarlane, 31, said he would definitely be keen to despite being "watched constantly".

Anthony visited with Koryo Tours, which was granted access with two groups made up of about 180 foreigners to take part in the 31st Pyongyang Marathon. The company was invited by the country's athletic association to bring amateur runners as part of the official marathon delegation. Anthony stayed for almost one week, from April 5 to April 10.

Anthony, from Dover, Kent said: "People watching you all the time was pretty and you can't question things which aren't up for debate. I couldn't leave the hotel by myself and without authorisation.”

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He described how a whole rail carriage was cleared out specifically for his group so they “couldn't really interact with the regular public”. He added: "If that did happen, a guard would approach (the North Korean resident) and ask for their number, I assume so they could find out what we spoke about with them."

Speaking on the moment he crossed into the country from China, Mr Macfarlane said: "I had my laptop, phone and GoPro looked through briefly, but it was smooth and people spoke really good English.”

During his stay, he noticed habits were very different to the UK - largely due to political reasons. For instance, those watching matches were not allowed to see Tottenham Hotspur games because of a ban due to the club's captain, Son Heung-Min, being from South Korea.

But, the former P&O Ferries worker says the trip “felt more free and less controlled” than he expected, but stressed it was a “culture shock.” Talking about the behaviours he witnessed while in North Korea, he said: “Being completely dedicated to your government with everyone moving as one is alien to us, whereas there it’s completely normal. There’s a lot of patriotism though which I think has slipped a bit in the West.”

Anthony says his desire to visit the country was fuelled by his passion for visiting niche regions across Southeast Asia. "I saved up a bunch of money and the odd bits and bobs online like video editing where I get a tiny bit from making them on ," Anthony explained.

"I've just always had a passion for travelling and first went to Asia about 11 years ago. I fell in love with the region and have kept coming back as I have grown really fond of it.

"I like going off the beaten track and learning about places which are often overlooked. I wanted to take everything at face-value without any pre-conceived notions in North Korea."

As well as the marathon, there were shorter distances including a 10km race - which Anthony took part in. Founded in 1981, the event, which celebrates the birth of its founding leader Kim Il-sung, hasn't taken place since 2019 because of the pandemic.

Anthony’s group was taken on a tour of the marathon's route prior, seeing the bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il known as the Mansudae Grand Monument.

He said: "Using the marathon route was the ultimate way of being able to experience walking down random roads nobody else would have been able to walk down as a foreigner.

"The marathon [itself] was really cool, but very cold. It would have been nice to stream (online) what I was doing, but I actually quite liked not using the internet for a few days."

Now back in the Philippines with his girlfriend ahead of a flight back to the UK in the coming weeks, he says he is "still trying to get back to normality". Asked what advice he would give to others visiting North Korea, Anthony replied: “Try and go into it with a massively open mind.

"When I landed back in China, I got a McDonald's and just sat there because of how emotionally heavy it had been, and how much of a propaganda battering it was. It was just an odd experience and very strange, but I genuinely would still love to go back."