A photographer captured these dismal photos of life in North Korea on his phone

"No, absolutely not," he said.

We asked Chu if he was scared of retribution for publishing the photos from his trip.

Eventually, Chu reached the railway station in Pyongyang.

Photography of anti-American protests is also welcomed. These students were marching against South Korea and the US.

The tourism bureau encourages visitors to take photos of student-exercise groups. These kids rehearsed for a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Several locals reported him to the police. "A policeman and a solider stopped us and checked our cellphone. I hid most of the pictures, [but a] few pictures were deleted," he said.

Whenever he hopped out, Chu shot photos on his phone. "DSLR is too obvious to take pictures in that condition as people in the village were extremely vigilant," he said.

Korean People's Army soldiers rested on the tracks.

Anytime the train pulled into a station, there were painful reminders of the country's poor living conditions. This little boy begged for money at a station in Hamhung.

Some scenes were quaint. Children took an afternoon dip in a river.

Many people rode bicycles to get around.

The train chugged along, giving Chu glimpses of everyday life. This boy collected corn cobs beside the tracks.

The customs agent also checked his laptop and DSLR camera. Chu said the agent had no trouble operating the devices, with the exception of the MacBook.

A customs agent on board checked his tablet to make sure it wasn't GPS-enabled. The government also jams signals as a security measure.

The next day, he boarded a train for the nation's capital.

At night, these shrines were the only lit structures in the village. Other buildings sat in darkness.

When he later returned to the train station, he noticed portraits of the country's former leaders and the words "long live" hanging overhead.

Many of the residential buildings looked run down and in need of repair.

"There are nearly no fat people in North Korea, everyone looks very thin," Chu said.

He saw scores of people living in abject poverty. Many begged for money.

"Fortunately, we had a whole day to go out and take some pictures in the village," Chu said.

The train ride from Tumangang to Pyongyang — the capital of North Korea — lasts a day. It was canceled because of a dispute between North Korea and South Korea.

Most Chinese tourists enter by train through Sinuiju or by plane through Pyongyang. He instead traveled to Russia so he could access the northern port at Tumangang.

Chu took the long way around during his visit to North Korea.