Here is a concise summary of the provided text:
**Title:** A Journey to North Korea (Part 1)
**Author's Experience:**
* Spent 8 days in North Korea (NK), visiting Pyongyang, Hamhung, Wonsan, and the east coast
* Entered with many questions, left with even more due to the country's mysterious nature
**Pre-Trip and Arrival:**
* Mandatory briefing in China before entry, signing a document confirming not being a journalist/missionary and agreeing to respect NK's laws and leaders
* Received a separate visa paper (no passport stamp) with dates in the Juche calendar
* Declaration of items (e.g., books, phones, computers) with strict rules for entry/exit
**Observations in Pyongyang:**
* Rare cars (only 3% of population own one); mostly owned by high-ranking officials
* Visited a metro station, debunking Western theories that it's a "trick" or unfinished project
* Notable restrictions: no photography of people's faces, no stopping on certain hotel floors (5th-11th)
**Hotel and Library Insights:**
* Hotel located on an isolated island, with a peculiar room key and mysterious floors
* Library with books on NK's history (from their perspective), leaders, and Pyongyang Times in multiple languages, including Arabic
* Strict rules around handling newspapers and leaders' images
**Cultural and Social Interactions:**
* Encounters with locals, including a child who asserted that there is only one "Korea", not "North Korea"
* Observations of the reverence for leaders, including rules for interacting with their images.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text, numbered and in short sentences:
**Travel and Entry**
1. The author spent 8 days in North Korea (NK) visiting various places, including Pyongyang, Hamhung, and Wonsan.
2. The trip started from Beijing, China.
3. An appointment was mandatory a day before the trip to understand NK's laws and regulations.
4. Visitors must sign a paper confirming they are not journalists or missionaries and will respect NK's laws and leaders.
**Laws and Regulations**
5. Declaration is required for items like books, mobile phones, and computers upon entry and exit.
6. Prohibited items include books in Korean, the Bible, USA flags, pornography, GPS devices, and certain camera lenses.
7. A foreigner was sentenced to 5 years in prison for leaving a Bible in a public area.
**Incident Reference**
8. In January last year, a tourist named Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years with hard labor for "hostile acts" (stealing a propaganda poster).
**Pyongyang and Infrastructure**
9. Only 3% of the population in NK owns cars, mainly teachers, scientists, doctors, and high-ranking military officers.
10. In 1974, NK bought 1000 Volvo cars from Sweden, which still have not been fully paid for.
11. These Volvo cars are still in use in Pyongyang.
12. Pyongyang Metro is one of the deepest in the world (100 meters underground) and is nuclear-resistant.
**Hotel and Living Quarters for Foreigners**
13. Foreigners stay in a hotel located on an isolated island in the capital.
14. The hotel has restricted floors (5th to 11th), with the 5th floor not having an elevator button.
15. Room furniture is old-fashioned, with peculiar fire detection devices.
**Library and Media**
16. The hotel has a library selling books on NK's history in various languages, including Arabic.
17. Newspapers (like Pyongyang Times) have specific folding rules to avoid covering the leader's picture.
18. Throwing away such documents after reading is prohibited.
**National Identity and Leadership**
19. NK's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
20. Maps and references often combine North and South Korea as a single entity under DPRK sovereignty.
21. Leaders' images and sayings are widely published and revered (e.g., Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un).