This picture taken on September 9, 2021 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a parade of “paramilitary and public security forces” to celebrate the 73rd founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo/Stringer)

A street vendor sells Dalgona candy from the Korean Netflix series “Squid Game” at a Dalgona shop in Seoul, South Korea, October 1, 2021. (Photo by Heo Ran/Reuters)

Participants prepare kimchi, a traditional Korean dish of spicy fermented cabbage and radish, during a kimchi making festival at the Jogyesa Buddhist temple in Seoul on December 2, 2021, before it is distributed among the less privileged from the local neighbourhood. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

A South Korea university student gets her head shaved during a protest against Japan's decision to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, in front of the Japanese embassy, in Seoul, South Korea, April 20, 2021. (Photo by Kim Hong-ji/Reuters)

A woman walks by a bank's currency advertisement board in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, September 23, 2022. Asian stocks fell for a third day Friday after more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to control persistent inflation spurred fears of a possible global recession. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Domestic tourists visit the beach at Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in Wonsan, North Korea's Kangwon Province on July 1, 2025. North Korea opened a massive resort area on its east coast, state media said on July 2, with the tourism pet project of leader Kim Jong Un reportedly set to welcome Russian guests later this month. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP 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)