In 2002, the Swiss power company ABB appointed Felix Abt its country director for North Korea. Reflecting on the seven years he spent in one of the most secretive and isolated nations on Earth, Abt reveals that it was a place where plastic surgery and South Korean TV dramas were wildly popular, and where he rarely needed to walk more than a block to grab a quick hamburger. He was closely monitored and once faced accusations of spying, yet as Abt recounts here, young North Koreans are hopeful, signing up for business courses in anticipation of a brighter and more open future.