North Korea photo essay

[blasterman]

A few months ago I stumbled on this rather haunting photo essay at boston.com of North Korea, taken from the border with China.

With all the events that have taken place in the news recently, it made me think of these images, many of which are quite stunning and thought I'd share.

 

[Vesper]

Just flat out fascinating. Has the aire of wasteland in every photo. That place is a prison. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Monocrom]

Simply stunning. Notice how in all the pics, not one soldier was smiling. Not even the female ones. Looking at all the angry gestures from all the soldiers being photographed, I was surprised that not one pointed his weapon at the photographer . . . Then I saw pic #35.

 

[fishinfool]

Those were some pretty amazing but eerie pictures. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[MarNav1]

Reminds me very much of my two years in Berlin Brigade. A Co 4/502 Feb83-Feb85

 

[jtr1962]

Fascinating stuff, and sadly I think a vision of what most of the planet will look like in about a generation. Also a testament to the human spirit for the people there to be able to endure a regime which treats people like worker ants, for lack of a better description.

 

[LukeA]

The Vice Guide to North Korea is a really interesting and creepy documentary. These two journalists spend a few days in the country as "tourists."

 

[StarHalo]

If you have a big enough shortwave antenna, you can point it in that direction around 6PM and hear their english-language broadcast; it usually features news of national achievements, songs about the Great Leader, biographical segments about the Great Leader, etc. It's a remarkable piece of 100% pure dictatorial propaganda, like a moment from the cold war era Soviet Union perfectly preserved in amber, broadcast for the whole world to hear..

There was also a moment last year when a college student competed annotating North Korea in Google Maps; it features all the public, government, and military installations nationwide labeled, and can be added on to the program for free. I realized only a few moments after using it that this meant I now know more about North Korea than someone who actually lives there..

 

[fyrstormer]

It is truly amazing what you can get people to put up with if you can convince them they're living in the best of all possible worlds.

What would be really great is if China would build a huge, gleaming, modern metropolis right up against the border -- but then North Korea would just build a 100-foot-high wall, relocate everyone away from the river, and kill anyone who ever breathed a word of what they saw.

People who say violence is never the answer have no comprehension of a place like North Korea. If there were ever a nation that needed to be forced on pain of death to re-evaluate its place in the world, that is it. Of course, the flip-side of that coin is we're to blame for the segregation of Korea to begin with -- we stupidly ceded the northern half to the Soviet Union after WWII, after we took it away from Japan, because we didn't want to **** off Stalin. And look at the mess it's in now.

I like this picture the most:

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/nkorea_04_24/n25_18563365.jpg

 

[Monocrom]

So the situation in North Korea is America's fault? Right . . . Has nothing to do with the fact that its current leader is a power-mad lunatic who would brutally kill off anyone just for the heck of it.

Let's not ruin a fascinating thread with something that's blatantly Underground material.

 

[kramer5150]

Wow amazing pics... each soldier posing with a spotless AK47.

thanks for sharing:thumbsup:

 

[Black Rose]

If you have a big enough shortwave antenna, you can point it in that direction around 6PM and hear their english-language broadcast; it usually features news of national achievements, songs about the Great Leader, biographical segments about the Great Leader, etc. It's a remarkable piece of 100% pure dictatorial propaganda, like a moment from the cold war era Soviet Union perfectly preserved in amber, broadcast for the whole world to hear..

That sounds rather Orwellian.

 

[blasterman]

In several images the subjects were making provocative gestures towards the photog. The gun pointed at him perhaps being the most intense. Which makes me wonder if it was because the photog was aiming a camera with a big lens at them, or perhaps because the photog was Western and not chinese.

I watched the video series 'Vice Guide to North Korea' that LukeA linked, and it's pretty facinating. Seeing the DMZ from the North side is surreal to say the least. I thought the guy doing the narrating though wasn't exactly the best 'ambassador' . Tea girl shooting pool was *hot* though.

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Comparing South Korea and North Korea is like comparing Heaven and Hell.

 

[The Black Knight]

I love the Big Picture! Here are some propaganda photos of the "dear leader"
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/on_the_spot_with_kim_jong-il.html

 

[Monocrom]

I love the Big Picture! Here are some propaganda photos of the "dear leader"
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/on_the_spot_with_kim_jong-il.html

The comments at the bottom of pic #31 are worth reading.

Also, someone help me out here . . . I lost track when I tried counting the number of fake & forced smiles.

 

[TorchBoy]

I like this picture the most:

Fyrstormer, that's a hotlinked image, and oversize. Haven't I reminded you of Rule 3 before?

 

[dim]

"Crossing Heaven's Border" is an episode of PBS's "Wide Angle" documentary series that depicts North Koreans escaping North Korea to freedom by way of China. This is truly one of the most intense hours of television that I've ever seen.

It is an absolute MUST SEE!!

http://video.pbs.org/video/1171612608/

73
dim

 

[dudemar]

Whenever I see something about the DPRK I can't help but be completely fascinated by it. Kim Jong Il is stupid and uninteresting, but I always wondered how the average citizen (the "privileged" citizens of Pyongyang included) lives in such a strange place.

 

[BentHeadTX]

Thanks for the link, dim!

Watched the entire episode and it mixes well with my experiences. I went to the DMZ back in the summer of 2002 and it was a very odd place. On the North side, they have this "city" type thing that is all fake and they turn the lights on and off every night (two switches) Has a giant flag pole with the worlds largest flag flying the colors of North Korea.

All along the line are North Korean soldiers looking at South Korean soldiers and then things turned terrifying yet comical. The biggest Koreans stand on either side of the line and glare at each other. They would strap on "male enhancement" (giant manhood devices) under their pants to intimidate each other for some reason. The my flag pole is bigger than your flag pole thing.

I looked through the binocular things they have and looked at giant tunnels which transport thousands of troops to hit the border at a moments notice. Saw the movie about some American troops that went to trim a tree at the DMZ and got chopped to pieces by their own ax. Those people don't play nice with others!

There is this long building that crosses the DMZ and I was able to go inside as part of the tour. Basically a long table with a microphone in the middle and the cord tells you what country you are presently in. I stepped over the cable and the North Korean soldier standing there kept very close watch what we were doing. Yep, I was in North Korea and that microphone was on so they could record what we said. No, no pics with the North Korean soldier and we did not approach him. The look in his eyes was related to "Just give me the signal and these American pigs are toast"

Not sure if they do those tours anymore since the US has pulled back from the DMZ. I have a piece of the DMZ barbed wire that was removed in 2000 as a gesture of peace. It sits next to my piece of the Berlin Wall as a historical reference of peoples oppressed by governments. No, you can't have my Iraqi, Afghani or USSR stuff either...

Maybe if people would pay more attention to history instead of Hollywood bimbos, child molesting singers or idiot politicians... maybe these sort of things would happen less often. Alas, real news is harder to report than tripe I guess.