Rare pictures of North Korea(mrlevek.com)
mrlevek.com
Rare pictures of North Korea
http://www.mrlevek.com/northkorea.htm
18 comments
Mirror: http://d-ro.ch/2011/01/rare-pictures-of-north-korea/
As the website is so slow, it is much better to access the Corel cache version: http://www.mrlevek.com.nyud.net/northkorea.htm
VBS has a great first-hand doc of North Korea: http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/vice-guide-to-north-korea-2-of-14
A lot of what they show resembles Artemii Lebedev's experience.
A lot of what they show resembles Artemii Lebedev's experience.
I also like Children of the Secret State. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1875007335054132657#
Most of the footage was shot with a pin hole camera in regions no press is allowed to go.
Most of the footage was shot with a pin hole camera in regions no press is allowed to go.
Just watched this - amazing in so many ways... I tried looking for more information on Ahn Chol and supposedly he is just MIA for quite some time.. Hope he is alive and safe somewhere.
Honestly guys, you HAVE to watch this.
I've watch a number of "inside NK" documentaries and I agree, this is one of the better ones (despite the hipster host's somewhat condescending attitude). There was some good footage of interaction with NK common folks and the host keep trying to push the buttons of the guide. Give you a sense of how repressed they are without even knowing.
There is also a very good french comics book :
http://www.amazon.com/Pyongyang-Journey-North-Guy-Delisle/dp...
The author describe 3 month of life there.
The author describe 3 month of life there.
I would recommend this too, it gives an interesting look at the somewhat boring life of a foreigner in NK.
Fave scene: the poor shop assistant serving her first customer in years. She was almost star struck.
Also available via Netflix streaming.
Have to recommend A State of Mind http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456012/
British documentary from 2004 following two young gymnasts (sisters, if I recall correctly) and their family as they prepare for the Mass Games
British documentary from 2004 following two young gymnasts (sisters, if I recall correctly) and their family as they prepare for the Mass Games
This is the original source of the photos in Russian.
I remember watching a video where a man in North Korea was trying to eat bark off of a tree because he was so hungry. It makes me sick even thinking about it...
Wow. Just finished reading the entire article. I can't believe how lucky I am to live in a free country.
I wish people would stop using that term, "free country". I don't know of very many "free countries". If you live in the United States, you live in a free-er country than North Korea, and indeed, that's something to be grateful for, but you do not live in a truly free country.
In a truly free country, you would, for example, have the freedom to eat whatever you want (so long as it doesn't impinge on other people's freedoms). You would be able to have sex with whoever you wanted (so long as both parties are 'mature enough' to agree). This too, is not the case in the states. You would be able to marry whoever you wanted. You would be able to do to your body whatever you wanted. In a truly free country, you would have the freedom to do things that in today's non-free country we consider taboo, punishable offenses. Etc.
In a truly free country, you would, for example, have the freedom to eat whatever you want (so long as it doesn't impinge on other people's freedoms). You would be able to have sex with whoever you wanted (so long as both parties are 'mature enough' to agree). This too, is not the case in the states. You would be able to marry whoever you wanted. You would be able to do to your body whatever you wanted. In a truly free country, you would have the freedom to do things that in today's non-free country we consider taboo, punishable offenses. Etc.
Clearly, a "truly free country" would fall apart instantly due to the inevitable chaos and evils. Thus why I didn't even bother making the distinction between "free" and "free-er". I assumed it was common knowledge.
My personal definition of freedom is the ability to do anything within the realm reasonable laws. I feel a vast majority of US laws are reasonable. Maybe you don't agree, maybe you do. I'm happy & patriotic US citizen and that's all that matters!
My personal definition of freedom is the ability to do anything within the realm reasonable laws. I feel a vast majority of US laws are reasonable. Maybe you don't agree, maybe you do. I'm happy & patriotic US citizen and that's all that matters!
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You would be able to have sex with whoever you wanted (so long as both parties are 'mature enough' to agree). This too, is not the case in the states.
Ok I'll bite. What laws are there in the US that restrict who you can have sex with? Laws against minors don't count as there needs to be some legal definition of "mature enough", unless you want a subjective judgment of maturity on a case by case basis.
Ok I'll bite. What laws are there in the US that restrict who you can have sex with? Laws against minors don't count as there needs to be some legal definition of "mature enough", unless you want a subjective judgment of maturity on a case by case basis.
That's a fairly naive notion of freedom, man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Liberty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Liberty
I don't understand your reply. I agree with Mill, and I gave examples that illustrate the Harm Principle.
Agreed. Living in a country pretty much means you're not free. You might be more or less free in country A than B, but you're not going to be free, otherwise there wouldn't really be a country, there'd be pure anarchy. Where you could do anything you wanted, but everyone else is free to do anything they wanted to you.
That is not my meaning. A pure anarchy where anyone can do what they want to you goes directly against the examples I gave and the Harm Principle (see response to apl).
Added (temporary?) mirror for HN people:
http://212.117.165.225/northkorea/
"The system cannot find the file specified."
Better use one of the mirrors in this thread.
Better use one of the mirrors in this thread.
I adore my extra server headers. Adds a few bytes, whateva.
% curl -I http://static.whalesalad.com/north_korea/
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx/0.6.32
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:44:45 GMT
...
Content-Type: text/html
X-Fueled-By: Plankton
X-Special-Sauce: Django
Accept-Ranges: bytesI always liked:
X-The-Number: 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0
X-The-Number: 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0
Probably previously posted, but "36 hours in North Korea without a guide..." is really interesting as well:
http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/
http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/
Allow me to express my undying hatred of imageshack since half of the images refuse to load.
All of sudden, my life seems so much more than how I feel about it.
I can never get over how Pyongyang has skyscrapers. Given how underdeveloped the rest of the country looks, I can only surmise that they must dump the majority of their GDP into building up Pyongyang.
The single biggest cost component of building a high-rise is wages, in a planned economy that factor pretty much disappears.
Other than that it's concrete, steel and time. In the former eastblock there are also plenty of highrises, very few of those would meet your expectations in terms of construction quality.
Also, highrises are actually more efficient material wise compared to building individual homes, after all each dwelling shares 4 surfaces with those around it (except for the edges).
Other than that it's concrete, steel and time. In the former eastblock there are also plenty of highrises, very few of those would meet your expectations in terms of construction quality.
Also, highrises are actually more efficient material wise compared to building individual homes, after all each dwelling shares 4 surfaces with those around it (except for the edges).
Ah, very good points. I never realized labor was such a costly component in construction.
Does anyone find the non existent capitalism and zero brands very peaceful?
I understand what you are saying, but the incredible challenges the people have just surviving from day to day erase any sense of peace for me. Give me ads all day if it means my kids are fed, clothed, and educated.
Peace in NK + healthy democracy, and good organic agriculture + great universities = heaven.
The peace of the grave.
Maybe if there was something there, instead of a whole lot of nothing replacing said capitalism & branding.
I don't need the world to be busy & full of visual & auditory noise, but these pictures are conspicuously vacant.
I don't need the world to be busy & full of visual & auditory noise, but these pictures are conspicuously vacant.
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If you've been to the South, the comparison is stark, and it's hard to believe the two were one country a few decades ago.
That said, if re-unification, happens I imagine the progress in the North will be rapid, and the country as a whole will become an even stronger regional power.
That said, if re-unification, happens I imagine the progress in the North will be rapid, and the country as a whole will become an even stronger regional power.
Re: reunification, Korea has the advantage to learn from Germany what worked and what didn't. I think the contrast is even sharper in this case, though. NK seems to be hopelessly destitute.
there is no comparison - east germany had some kind of industry. The issue was privatization and modernisation.
Also the population was very well educated and had watched west german TV for the last 30 years.
North Korea has no industry and the population has no education. The unification will be between a high-tech 21st century developed country and the middle ages. The first thing they will have to do is take over the schools so that the next generation in 15 years has a chance to build this country.
GDP 1990 West Germany in 1990 $24,485 East Germany in 1990 $10,430 (I'm not so sure about these figures but the direction is right)
North Korea has no industry and the population has no education. The unification will be between a high-tech 21st century developed country and the middle ages. The first thing they will have to do is take over the schools so that the next generation in 15 years has a chance to build this country.
GDP 1990 West Germany in 1990 $24,485 East Germany in 1990 $10,430 (I'm not so sure about these figures but the direction is right)
>I imagine the progress in the North will be rapid
For the most part, what I'm imagining is mass migration from the North to the South.
For the most part, what I'm imagining is mass migration from the North to the South.
and the biggest land buy in history in the north..
"That said, if re-unification, happens I imagine the progress in the North will be rapid, and the country as a whole will become an even stronger regional power."
South Korea is a prosperous country that has developed in a relatively short amount of time but North Koreans don't have the education or skill to compete in a South Korean economy.
South Korea is a prosperous country that has developed in a relatively short amount of time but North Koreans don't have the education or skill to compete in a South Korean economy.
Behind the scenes, South Koreans talk about a staged reunification over decades. The first stage? Use North Koreans as cheap, manual, unskilled labor like we in the U.S. use people from Mexico and South America (that's actually how it's described).
In a sense it's being tested right now in the Kaesong industrial area on the border. It gives the benefits of cheap labor, without having to use the Chinese.
In a sense it's being tested right now in the Kaesong industrial area on the border. It gives the benefits of cheap labor, without having to use the Chinese.
Progress was slower than expected when Germany reunified, and North Korea's poverty is deeper and its culture seems more profoundly damaged.
There's still a cultural divide in Germany.
Really clean and good roads. Not everything is bad in North Korea
It's amazing how little trash a nation of slaves generates. Also, very few emissions. It is always Earth Day in North Korea, as the nation does a remarkable job at conserving electricity[1], unlike decadent Western societies.
[1]http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8...
[1]http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8...
In a life where you have nothing, you do not throw trash away. A lot of stuff gets re-used.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_North_Korea#Roads
"Fuel constraints and the near absence of private automobiles have relegated road transportation to a secondary role. The road network was estimated to be around 31,200km in 1999 up from between 23,000 and 30,000km in 1990, of which only 1,717 kilometers—7.5 percent—are paved; the rest are of dirt, crushed stone, or gravel, and are poorly maintained."
"Fuel constraints and the near absence of private automobiles have relegated road transportation to a secondary role. The road network was estimated to be around 31,200km in 1999 up from between 23,000 and 30,000km in 1990, of which only 1,717 kilometers—7.5 percent—are paved; the rest are of dirt, crushed stone, or gravel, and are poorly maintained."
Given how orchestrated tourist trips in North Korea are, I would imagine the only roads you are allowed to see are good roads.
I also wonder about traffic; is it like The Truman Show, where you see the same cars over and over again.
I did a similar trip to his in April 2007. While you visit, you have to put aside your issues with the regime, that's not why you're there. You're there to experience something which seems so implausible yet exists, or rather, before it doesn't. We got to meet some really nice people and what we saw was remarkable. If they could make the rest of their country like the capital and the other places I was shown, then it would be a really nice country in the political sense. The culture that is there seems to me to be fragile yet precious. I shudder to think what will happen to it if reunification happens in anything but a gradual way.
My trip is documented here in the radio show Off The Wall: (link to mp3) http://www.2600.com/offthewall/mp3files/2007/off_the_wall__2... and http://www.2600.com/offthewall/mp3files/2007/off_the_wall__2...
My trip is documented here in the radio show Off The Wall: (link to mp3) http://www.2600.com/offthewall/mp3files/2007/off_the_wall__2... and http://www.2600.com/offthewall/mp3files/2007/off_the_wall__2...
I recently read and liked the first three Inspector O novels. For me, the novels added a human dimension that the pictures and travelogs miss--what it is like to live under what I would think of as repression?
Review of the most recent one: http://www.slate.com/id/2262159/
Review of the most recent one: http://www.slate.com/id/2262159/
One more documentary: http://www.infinitehumanstupidity.com/new.html
It's actually easy to tour North Korea as an American, and many tour companies offer travel packages for it: http://wikitravel.org/en/North_Korea#Get_in.
> In January 2010, North Korea lifted the restrictions on American citizens who are now free to visit at anytime of the year.
> In January 2010, North Korea lifted the restrictions on American citizens who are now free to visit at anytime of the year.