The Greek who went into North Korea to break a world record

Greek-American film director Michael Angelo Zervos, 36, was among the first group of international tourists to enter North Korea in late February after a five-year hiatus.

As soon as the country reopened to outsiders, he quickly booked the tickets, which would bring him one step closer to his goal of breaking the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to visit every UN nation in the world.

Zervos began his journey in January 2024 after some soul-searching. Since then, he has visited numerous countries, documenting his travels on his Instagram page, Project Kosmos. In every country, he asks the people he meets about the happiest day of their life.

“So, I had to visit North Korea, it was country 163,” Zervos told Kathimerini English Edition from Paris, adding that the current record is 554 days.

The hermit kingdom was stuck in Zervos’ mind, as he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to visit. Since January of 2020, the country had been closed to all international travelers following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“While I was traveling to every single country, I would contact the tour company every month and say, ‘Hey, do you know anything?’” Zervos said.

“I was boarding the plane to go to Sudan, which was my last African country that I had to visit before I completed Africa, and the person next to me said: ‘Oh my God! North Korea opened.’ I just could not believe it.”

Soon, Zervos was on the China-North Korea border, along with other tourists visiting the city of Rason, which is also close to the border with Russia, and spent five days there. Before entering, the group, which consisted of approximately 15 people, was briefed on the rules – many of which concerned the country’s leadership.

“You could not photograph the leaders, the statues, or the images of them if their heads or bodies were cut off. They would always have to be in the full frame of the image.”

‘You could not photograph the leaders, the statues, or the images of them if their heads or bodies were cut off. They would always have to be in the full frame of the image’

During his stay in Rason, Zervos witnessed some surreal moments. The group was taken to the Rason Children’s Palace, where they saw a musical performance by children dancing in front of a screen displaying war images.

“I could not believe it – missiles were being shot from launchers into the skies, showering buildings, ships and cities, while children danced and sang with smiles on their faces in front of the screen,” he said.

Zervos was allowed to interview some North Koreans on camera about the subject of happiness. The answers were interesting, to say the least.

“Every single one of their answers invoked the leadership, they invoked the state and they invoked gratitude for the benevolence of the leaders,” he said, describing a woman who told him that the happiest moment of her life was when Kim Jong Un visited her house after it had flooded, before reciting a poem about the leader.

But one of the things that surprised him the most was when his North Korean tour guide, Mr Kim, started asking him about the Greek Civil War.

“He was asking me what it was like and what side my grandfather fought for. And I said, my grandfather was kidnapped by the communists, but he escaped. And [Mr Kim] just nodded and grunted. He didn’t really push the matter, but I don’t think he liked that answer,” said Zervos, adding that his grandfather was from Kosmas, a small village in Arcadia.

News of the Greek economic crisis and Greece’s complex relationship with Turkey had also reached North Korea.

His guide, while discussing the Greek economic crisis, blamed the West for “spending money they don’t have.” When talking about Greece and Turkey, he drew parallels to North Korea’s own relationship with South Korea, asking him whether Greeks “hate the Turks.”

“He’s like, ‘Well, maybe it’s like us and South Korea.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know if it’s exactly like that.’”

Zervos’ intuition to visit North Korea as soon as possible proved to be right, because the window of opportunity was very narrow. Just two weeks after his visit, North Korea abruptly closed its borders again.

“On March 5, we were informed that the Rason border would be closed again temporarily, with no explanation given. It remains closed, with no sign of when this will change and no reasons provided,” said Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, which organizes North Korean tours, in a statement to Kathimerini English Edition.

Now, Zervos has only 37 countries left to beat the record, and he is confident he will achieve it within the next three months.

“All I have is Latin America and the Caribbean, and I’m done.”