North Korea: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
In September 2012, I led a group of 16 top CEOs from 9 countries to North Korea. We were seeking to get behind the headlines and garner a better understanding of a country often referred to as the ‘Hermit Kingdom’.
Before visiting North Korea, I believed that it was impossible for foreign tourists to enter the country and that it would be very dangerous to travel there. Friends and family members were concerned that I might be detained, imprisoned in a labor camp, brainwashed, or worse. Media accounts and documentaries portrayed North Koreans as goose-stepping caricatures, starving peasants, or enslaved masses, validating those stereotypes.
Unfortunately, the mythology surrounding North Korea drives international policy. A nuanced understanding of the complexities involved would be beneficial for everyone.
For audio descriptions of behind the scenes, click here.
For an article detailing my experiences in North Korea, click here.
The Arrirang Games feature over 100,000 dancers, acrobats and other performers. Here displaying the North Korean (DPRK) flag with a ‘card trick’, thousands of placards are held up to create massive scale images as a backdrop for the performers.
Each person holds two placards to flip through to create the images. Card flippers’ heads peer out to look for the leader’s flag to signal when to change their placards.
University students mass folk dancing at September 9 National Day Mass Dance Celebrations in front of Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.
A woman dances under an image of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung, wearing a badge of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, in mass folk dancing in front of Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.
School children buy candy at a private shop, wearing their uniforms with red scarves that signify membership in the Korean Children’s Union.
Main banner – “We will Defend the Party which has the Great Comrade Kim Jung Un as its Leader with our Lives.” Side banner – “The Three Revolutions: Agriculture, Technology, Military”
This image is taken from the top of Grand People’s Study Hall, looking out on a new neighborhood with high rises on the banks of the Taedong River. The obelisk in the center of the image is a Tower of Eternity – Yongsaengtap – a Monument to the Great Leaders Comrages Kim Jung Il and Kim Il Sung who “will be with us forever.” This style of monument is found throughout the country.
Military construction workers from Korean Peoples Army working on a construction site next to the Koryo Hotel, Pyongang. While there are a million members of the DPRK armed forces, the army is involved in a range of activities unrelated to traditional military or defense.
Migok Commune, a ‘model cooperative farm’ , is showcased to foreigners. While it is a real farm, it is by no means typical.
Harvesting rice at Migok Commune with Sariwon city in the background
Petroleum Refinery Sonbong built in the 1970s idled by economic stagnation after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Garment Factory Work in Rasom. To circumvent the embargoes and sanctions placed on North Korea, Made in China labels are sewn in and retail hangtags attached for the boutique in Seoul which will be selling these booties.
The two signs contain quotes from Kim Il Song and Kim Jong Il with points of guidance delivered by them during visits to this factory.
Paying homage to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il at Mansudae Monument (meaning the 10,000 years, or eternal, life platform).
Navy women paying homage at Mansudae.
Grand People’s Study Hall offers foreign language study with special permission from one’s work unit.
Arial view of Pyongyang looking at the Ryugyong Hotel with the Taedong River, dividing the city, in the foreground
Korean Children’s Union march carrying plastic flowers to place at the base of a monument to celebrate the Leaders in Rasum.
Homes and back alley in Rasum Special Economic Zone
Traffic Policeman in front of Kaesong Famous Noodle house with a sign over the door commemorating when Kim Il Song visited in 1968. Kaesong was the only North Korean city not destroyed by American bombing during the Korean War.
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as seen from North Korea with the Freedom House in South Korea across the Armistice Line of Control. Soldiers from both sides guard the most heavily fortified border in the world.
North Korean soldier taken from inside one of the conference rooms spanning the border.
This North Korean Colonel is a military guide who shows the barricade spanning the peninsula built by the South, allegedly in violation of the Armistice Agreement that prohibits construction of fortifications inside the DMZ. South Korea claims that the barricade, built on their side of the border outside the DMZ, is not in violation of the Armistice that prohibited walls or other structures that create a sense of permanence in the division.
View from MAC (Military Armistice Commission) Conference Room, where talks take place between both sides. Outside the room North (on left) and South (on right) Korean soldiers stand guard in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
This North Korean Colonel is a military guide who shows the barricade spanning the peninsula built by the South, allegedly in violation of the Armistice Agreement that prohibits construction of fortifications inside the DMZ. South Korea claims that the barricade, built on their side of the border outside the DMZ, is not in violation of the Armistice that prohibited walls or other structures that create a sense of permanence in the division.
Guide at Anak Tomb
Chongsan Ri Model Cooperative Farm. The signs on the buildings read: “One Hearted Unity” and “Eternity with the general Kim Jong Il” while the red banner is the flag of the Korean Workers Party.
Kangso Mineral Water Bottling Plant outside of Nampho
Students at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Founded, funded and run by evangelical christians (in an atheist country where religion is banned) and has a management program which teaches free markets (but does not use the word capitalism) in a communist country. It is the only university of its kind in the country.
Mural of Kim Il Sung leading the people into the future at June 9th Middle School (The school is named for the date when Kim Il Sung visited the school.)
Running across Kim Il Sung Square with Grand People’s Study Hall in the background, Pyongyang.
Kim Il Sung Square and Grand People’s Study Hall at night
