The little-seen passport of a North Korean citizen

The North Korean passport reads: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK requests the parties concerned to allow the bearer of this document to travel freely and provide all necessary assistance and protection." Photo:Newscom.

According to the Henley & Partners ranking, the North Korean passport ranks 96th out of 104. North Korean citizens are exempt from visas or only need a visa on arrival when visiting 42 countries and territories such as Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Belarus, Egypt, Uganda, Haiti, Bolivia, Iran... They can visit and stay in Kyrgyzstan as long as they want.

In fact, North Korea has a more powerful passport than many other Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Lebanon, Yemen, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan...

There are four types of passports in North Korea: ordinary (blue), official (green), diplomatic (red), and ordinary (blue) for official travel, issued to athletes participating in international competitions. Not much different from other countries in the world, the ordinary passport of North Korea has 36 pages with the national emblem printed on the first pages.

Mike, bloggerIrresponsible Life, had the opportunity to visit North Korea in 2015. On a train, Mike met a student who was traveling with many others to China after a summer in his home country. He borrowed this person's passport and took a photo of it.

He revealed that he saw a North Korean carrying an Armani wallet, while others wore Real Madrid football shirts or Mickey Mouse T-shirts. They spoke English quite well and knew a lot about the outside world.

Mike's passport is shown. Photo: Irresponsible Life

Therefore, Mike believes that North Korea is not really as closed off from the world as many people believe. "I was also surprised to learn that there are minority Korean communities around the world, especially in Malaysia where some people work as construction workers," Mike said.