Editor’s note: The following is the first in a multipart memoir series written by Alek Sigley about his time studying at Kim Il Sung University.

North Korea is a country that remains paradoxically distant even when seen up close, but this only makes many outsiders all the more curious, wondering what kind of place it really is and how its people really live. Or at least this certainly was the case for me.

The first time I had any contact with a North Korean was as a foreign student in China. The man was a kind soul brimming with curiosity