It doesn't hurt Yi's case that Byun's company, Hyundai Asan, paid the North Korean government $1 billion for the exclusive rights to build a resort at the base of Mount Kumgang.

Yi makes it in. But the scene will be replayed when he leaves North Korea.

A person in a brown bear costume and women wearing banners reading "Welcome to Kumgang" greet our entry into the country. I don't know what we expected, but it wasn't this.

North Korea considers the area where the flag-bearing soldiers are posted a military base.

Tanks and trucks equipped with artillery stand poised to strike from concrete bunkers, usually in groups of five, in the brown hills above green but muddy farmland.

Farmers in dark clothing work the rice paddies while cows graze in the fields. A cow pulling a wagon passes a new-looking but idle red tractor, the only nonmilitary vehicle in sight. A man carefully carries his bike across a log bridge spanning an irrigation ditch.

Drab villages with traditional Korean slanted tile roofs and rundown apartment houses intersected by dirt roads aren't far from the fence line.

As we exit the bus at the Kumgang resort, we're finally allowed to take photos, though a village just outside the perimeter is off limits. But the photo freedom doesn't last long.

On our way to the trailhead for a hike to Kuryong Falls, the no-photo rule is imposed as we pass through some woods.

"If you take a picture here they will find out. Trust me. They are hiding," Byun says.

Once on the trail, photos are permitted. The path follows a crystal clear river through a narrow canyon. A light dusting of snow covers the rocky peaks, and rain falls for much of the chilly 5-mile hike. Young North Korean women dressed in red mountain gear sell snacks along the path, while young men in blue jackets work as a mountain rescue team.

Our hike ends with a North Korean meal called naengmyon, a dish of cold buckwheat noodles topped with eggs, meat and vegetables. It isn't too bad.

Workers in the shops and restaurants line the streets to wave goodbye as the buses head back to the border.

The trek to South Korea again takes us through the North's immigration tent. Yi, the Los Angeles Times reporter, is less than thrilled to see the same officer waiting for us. Again, the officer questions the discrepancy on his passport.

Again, Byun, our Hyundai Asan escort, isn't worried even as Yi is ushered to another immigration official. Byun pays a $10 fine and Yi is home free.

And we make it back to South Korea without a flag-raising experience.

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E-mail: romboy@desnews.com