Earlier this year, we opened Koryo Cinema in Pyongyang, the city's first international cinema to show foreign films to locals. Koryo Tours has had a long history of film industry engagement with North Korea, not least through Comrade Kim Goes Flying, North Korea's first girl-power rom-com that was co-directed by Koryo founder Nicholas Bonner. The film was hugely popular in the DPRK and was the first North Korean film to be shown to a public audience in South Korea at the Busan International Festival.

Last week, we caught up with the actor Pak Yong, who starred in Comrade Kim Goes Flying, as Tong Il, the friend of Pak Jang Phil (the spoilt acrobat who falls in live with Han Jong Sim). During the making of the film, he joked that he did not like being in Comrade Kim Goes Flying because playing alongside the bulk of Jang Phil would make his fans think he was small.

Pak told us that he is starring in a new film that is being made in co-operation with a Chinese company. The DPRK film industry is changing: last year, no films were made, but a new genre is about to hit cinemas – North Korea's first thriller is set to be released in May.