Kim Il Sung’s summer retreat

Fine views on the East Sea / Sea of Japan (but not-that-fine vibes) at Kim Il Sung's summer house, a few kilometers south of the inter-Korean border.

The Supreme Leader of North Korea and founder of the Kim dinasty used this mansion, called "Castle of Hwajinpo" (and designed by a German architect during the Japanese colonial rule) as his summer retreat at the time when this part of Korea still belonged to the North, between 1945 and 1950.

The place is now in South Korean territory and open to the public. Here you can wander around Kim's bedroom and see a picture of his son Kim Jong Il, the father of the current North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, when he was six years old. Apparently, visitors of around the same age are not impressed.

I've wanted to visit this "villa" for a long time. But when I did, I felt a slight unease, a bit like when I go to former Nazi sites in France. There's something in the air here that's indefinable but noxious…