SEOUL, South Korea — You'll learn far more about what’s going on in North Korea when you leave the country, several former residents of the country have told GlobalPost.

With scarce access to foreign media, the government has set up an information cordon for the hundreds of expatriates in Pyongyang. Journalists and tourists can only travel there with two government minders.

So it’s understandable why many reporters have trouble unearthing the real story. Most prefer to gather information from Christian missionary groups at the China-North Korea border, or by interviewing defectors in Seoul and Beijing.

But despite the difficulty of gathering information inside the country, North Korea is full of untold stories that you can hear from around the world, rather than in North Korea, said Adam Johnson, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his novel, "The Orphan Master’s Son."

The book, released in January 2012, follows the life of a fictional orphan and model citizen from the country. The storyline includes appearances from the late dictator, Kim Jong Il.

On this International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, GlobalPost Special Reports launches a continuing series about gay, lesbian and transgendered refugees, following upon our extensive reporting on LGBT rights around the world, "The Rainbow Struggle."

BOSTON — Germans are rightfully famous for their engineering prowess.

They're also famous for fretting about things.

Those two national characteristics congealed this week in the very German person of Norbert Reithofer, the chief executive officer of BMW.

According to Bloomberg, Reithofer essentially told his fellow Germans to fight their natural instincts to doubt and fear new things.

He wants them, instead, to embrace the future. To be precise, the future of electric cars.

Here's how Reithofer put it: