Man reveals what it is REALLY like at a North Korean summer camp where kids were 'indoctrinated' and played games 'to destroy the White House'

A man who attended a summertime campy in North Korea as a teen has shared what it was really for illustration to enactment successful nan totalitarian state - revealing that kids were 'indoctrinated' and played games 'to destruct nan White House.' 

In a first personification portion for Business Insider, Russian man Yuri Frolov recalled nan summers he spent successful 2015 and 2016 astatine nan Songdowon International Children's Camp successful nan Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Yuri, who is now 25, said his liking successful North Korea first piqued arsenic a kid aft he saw a documentary astir the communist dictatorship. 

He desperately wanted to spot nan state for himself, discovering nan campy in Wonsan, North Korea, aft doing immoderate investigation online.  

'I tried to find much information, truthful I subscribed to a group called "Solidarity pinch North Korea" connected VKontakte — Russia's balanced to Facebook,' he explained successful nan piece. 

Once successful nan group, he discovered a 15-day-long children's summertime campy offered by nan Communist Party of nan Russian Federation, which for only $300 included food, accommodation, each nan facilities, level tickets, and everything else.

'I saw it arsenic an opportunity to spot North Korea for myself, truthful I asked my parents, who agreed to nonstop maine to Songdowon,' he said.

Yuri traveled from St Petersburg, wherever he grew up, to Vladivostok, a metropolis successful nan acold eastbound of Russia.

From there, he and nan different children - each aged betwixt 9 and 15 - were met by immoderate Communist Party officials wherever they traveled to North Korea - arriving first astatine Pyongyang, nan superior city.

'I was astir apt nan only 1 walking to North Korea to spot this dystopia,' he candidly admitted. 'The others seemed to spot it arsenic a chance to spell to nan formation aliases play successful nan playground inexpensively.'

Yuri recalled nan activities nan officials took them on, which included warfare museums showing nan captured American vehicles and nan USS Pueblo, an American vessel that was seized by nan North Korea successful nan 1960s.

He besides said they were often pushed into supermarkets to walk money, noting they were allowed to bargain intoxicant and cigarettes - pinch immoderate of nan young children connected nan campy ending up drunk.

Yuri said nan unit at Songdowon were 'very welcoming,' to nan kids, pinch astir of nan campers from Russia but others from Laos, Nigeria, Tanzania, and China.

While they spent clip pinch nan different children, nan North Korean kids astatine nan campy were mostly separated from them.

'I deliberation that was deliberate, preventing them from talking pinch america astir their experiences,' he reasoned.

While galore of nan activities were fun, including formation outings, sandcastle-building competitions, and swimming, Yuri said location were besides immoderate 'really weird rituals.'

'We had to cleanable statues of North Korea's erstwhile leaders,' he revealed. 'One morning, we woke up astatine 6am to cleanable nan monuments of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.'

Yuri said nan kids took portion successful galore activities designed to 'brainwash' them, including singing propaganda songs astir nan North Korean Supreme Leaders and a machine crippled wherever your character, a hamster successful a tank, had to destruct nan White House.

While Yuri had attended nan campy retired of curiosity, he reported immoderate of nan children were influenced by nan experience. 

'One kid became truthful indoctrinated afterward that he joined nan Communist Party successful Russia and was ever posting astir North Korea,' he recalled.

North Korea isn't for those seeking a culinary acquisition either, pinch Yuri only eating rice, wedges, and bread, losing a batch of weight successful his 15 days away.

Yuri said that contempt nan campy being a 'boring, miserable and overly controlled experience,' he returned nan pursuing twelvemonth arsenic the Communist Party officials had already signed him up. 

'It was a stupid determination to return, and I don't cognize why my parents fto maine go,' he admitted. 'But I'd wholly do it again.'

The Songdowon International Children's Camp has been operating for astir 30 years.

It was primitively intended chiefly to deepen relations pinch friends countries successful nan Communist aliases non-aligned world. 

But officials opportunity they are consenting to judge younker from anyplace – moreover nan United States. 

The campy is besides unfastened to North Korean children who execute bully grades.