One of the biggest complaints among tourists visiting North Korea is their inability to get out and explore.
Tourism is highly restricted, so booking a guided tour with one of the dozen or so companies endorsed by the state-run Korea International Travel Company is the only way in – even for those flying solo.
Outside the hotel, a guide accompanies visitors at all times and every tour is carefully choreographed.
There are strict guidelines in place dictating what tourists can and cannot do in North Korea – and that includes photography.
London-based tourist and amateur photographer, Michal Huniewicz, discovered just that while on a recent visit to the reclusive country.
Though many of his photos were acceptable, he admits others were taken against the wishes of his minders.
See inside a Soviet-era North Korean passenger plane
‘Nothing controversial’
The photographs show different sides of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and pose a stark contrast to the tightly controlled image the government attempts to project both within and outside the border.
“All of the pictures I took are North Korea seen through my eyes,” Huniewicz tells CNN.
On smuggling – and publishing – the photos, Huniewicz says he’s “a little bit concerned” on whether that might mean trouble for the government minders.
“I don’t really know whether they’re [under] any real threat, because there’s nothing highly controversial in those pictures,” he adds.
Click on the below gallery below to see some of his North Korea snapshots.