Hong Kong students return from eight-day trip to North Korea

Most parents would probably hesitate about allowing their children to visit a potential war zone.

But the group of Hong Kong high school students who returned on Saturday from an eight-day tour of North Korea will have holiday stories better than anything their friends will have managed in Phuket or Singapore.

Twenty-two students from Chinese International School watched teenagers practise military drills in Pyongyang, took photos with "friendly" soldiers in the demilitarised zone and stayed two days in the region of Kaesong.

Last week, North Korea banned South Korean managers from entering Kaesong's joint industrial park, striking a blow against the decade-old symbol of inter-Korean co-operation.

But the returning travellers said they noticed little unease among the North Koreans they encountered.

"Of course, we saw only what they wanted us to see. But the locals were all so warm and relaxed," said 14-year-old Martin Banson, who is half Korean and half Filipino. "Everyone seemed used to the constant threat of war and were interested in talking to us about other things."

Parents had pressured the school to cancel the trip after Kim Jong-un threatened to turn South Korea into a "sea of fire" earlier this year and the US sent nuclear-capable bombers over South Korea in exercises last month.