Reaching North Korea's Forbidden Border from Hunchun, China

Americans have been banned from traveling to North Korea for nearly a decade, making it one of the most secretive and restricted countries in the world. While traveling through China, I decided to push the limits and see just how close I could get to the North Korean border.

What started as curiosity quickly turned into one of the most intense and risky adventures I’ve ever experienced in China. In some places, North Korea was only a few hundred feet away, separated by nothing more than a narrow river. Even more surreal, this remote region also borders Russia, placing me at the edge of two of the world’s most heavily controlled nations.

Over the years, many foreigners and Western travelers have been stopped, questioned, or even detained trying to explore this forbidden border region. Would I actually be able to reach one of the most isolated and difficult-to-access borders on Earth?