Two pins featuring former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung wearing different facial expressions are displayed in a glass case of Thomas Hui at his apartment in Hong Kong, China April 11, 2016. Collector Thomas Hui, 37, a former bank employee in Hong Kong, who is fascinated by North Korean pins and badges, has gathered over 100 featuring former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and has been buying and trading these Communist accessories since 2008. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

Taking the highways in North Korea is a great experience as it allows to see the daily life of the country not controled by the government like in Pyongyang. They connect the main towns of the countries and are totally empty of cars. Here: The kind of scene you can see along the highway. Overloaded trucks but broken down with lot of smoke coming out... I was allowed to make those pics as after lunch, my guides were enjoying the confort of the bus seats and snoring... (Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Exclusivepix Media)

In this Friday, January 6, 2017, photo, a North Korean woman working at the Kim Jong Suk Silk Mill looks up from her workstation in Pyongyang, North Korea. The silk mill, named after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's grandmother, is where 1,600 workers – mostly women – sort and process silkworms to produce silk thread that officials at the Pyongyang factory say is made into roughly 200 tons of silk a year. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus gets fever checked before going into the Pyongyang Railway Station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, August 13, 2020. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)

In this photo taken on April 14, 2022, people visit the Light Festival to celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)

A girl plays kayagum, stringed Korean harp, at the Tongmun kindergarten No.1 in Taedonggang District of Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Photo by Cha Song Ho/AP Photo)

A man inspects a plastic cover placed over an artwork attributed to Banksy on May 17, 2012 in London, England. The stencilled image depicts a poor child making Union Jack flags on a sewing machine and is located on the wall of a Poundland discount shop in the Wood Green area of north London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid)

North Korea has closed its borders in fear of the spread of the Ebola virus. But at a time when the secretive state was still welcoming tourists, former aid worker Andrew Macleod made the journey to the repressive nation. Andrew's holiday snaps and camera footage provide a unique insight into the reclusive country, where he came across deserted motorways, metro stations plastered with propaganda and attractive border guards. Here: a female traffic police officer in the snow in February 2013, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Andrew Macleod/Barcroft Media)