The people are angry
The leaders of North Korea make sure to portray their country as a communist dictatorship paradise, with full employment, significant buildings, and, most importantly, happy, smiling people.
However photographer Eric Lafforgue used a secret camera to sneakily capture this candid show of average North Koreans on their way to work. These people look miserable, and you can almost feel their bitterness through the photo.
The train has no final destination
It’s not because it’s not rush hour; North Koreans are simply prohibited from leaving their nation, which explains why this train station is almost deserted. Eric Lafforgue, the photographer, might have gone to jail or worse for this picture.
North Korean propaganda makes an effort to present the nation as having a thriving, contemporary economy. Unfortunately, they fail to see that people require the capacity to travel in order for the economy to be strong!
Soviet style buildings
This image, which appears to have been taken in the Soviet era in Russia, is actually a view of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. These buildings, like most things in the Hermit Kingdom, may seem sturdy and sound physically, but they are really more like a house of cards that could fall at any time!
In actuality, most people merely live in huts with dirt floors because it’s so dangerous to live in these buildings!
Taxis waiting for no one
There is no possibility that you could find an Uber or Lyft in North Korea because the country forbids private enterprise. As long as you are on a tour, of course, the state owns all the taxis, which appear to be everywhere.
The elite are the only ones who can afford them; they have a reputation for embezzling money to themselves, keeping their people in abject poverty. Real communism at work!
Are they really that scary?
Photographer Eric Lafforgue discovered an odd scenario while passing through the North Korean countryside on a train. He immediately took a picture of the strange occurrence.
Even though it would seem like this photo only features a few folks sitting in the back of a pickup truck—something that happens frequently to people from rural America—up close, you can see that the people traveling in the back are actually soldiers from the “mighty” North Korean military! There is really nothing to worry about for the world if that is what passes for troop transport.
The electrified coastal fence
North Korea boasts endless beaches and kilometers of coastline due to its peninsula location. But nobody is permitted to make use of them. A high-voltage electric fence separates the whole shoreline from the rest of the nation, as seen in this covertly taken shot!
There are only two purposes for fences: to keep things in or out. This fence is most likely the result of the former.
No need for sidewalks
Only the wealthiest people in North Korea, a destitute communist government, can buy cars. People still don’t really own automobiles, and travel as a culture hasn’t really taken off in a nation that hasn’t really advanced since the early 20th century.
Because of this, it’s not unusual to see individuals strolling about the streets, knowing that the likelihood of a car approaching is almost zero!
Fake buildings
Tour guides reportedly relish showing off these ostensibly ultramodern buildings to visitors, as they represent a source of great pride and joy for North Korea. It looks like these buildings house accountancy, engineering, and legal firms, among many other types of businesses.
But as is often the case in North Korea, these structures are merely for display and are fakes. The vast majority of them are unoccupied and not even connected to the power system!
Going on the side
Relieving oneself in public is a crime that carries a concentration camp sentence, even though doing so in the US might get you a ticket! Because North Korean infrastructure and ground are regarded as “holy,” using them for personal hygiene is viewed as a form of subversion and protest against the country’s government.
I hope there are enough restrooms to ensure that this kind of event doesn’t happen too often!
Always watching
The North Korean government and military constantly monitor everyone and everything, taking a cue from George Orwell’s novel 1984. Everywhere in the nation, covert cameras and microphones are installed to make sure you follow orders from the regime.
There are a lot of military watchtowers across the countryside as well, although their purpose is to monitor citizen behavior rather than to protect against enemies.
Central government building
This photograph is fascinating since it captures not just government employees and bureaucrats going about their daily business, but also the remarkable dearth of automobiles that allows people to move about on Pyongyang’s streets even in the city’s center!
Furthermore, it is quite dangerous to take pictures of this building because doing so is regarded as an act of espionage, which carries the potential for arrest, detention in a concentration camp, and even execution.
Still no cars
North Korea’s rural areas have very little infrastructure and largely retain the appearance of 1945. This dirt walkway that serves as a remote train station is unmistakably proof of that!
But since North Koreans require special permission from the government to leave their communities, it’s not like any of those locals can really board or use the train. Perhaps missiles were purchased with the infrastructure funds instead?
Constant propaganda
Can you imagine being forced to watch CSPAN all the time, every day of the year, by law? Imagine now that CSPAN was playing patriotic country music and replaying the president’s comments nonstop. Most likely, your brain would melt!
Regretfully, for North Koreans, this is their reality. There is only one TV channel there, and it is always airing propaganda from the government. Occasionally, nevertheless, North Korean soccer teams play matches on television. Since that is, of course, the player.
Where are the people?
Occasionally, the North Korean government may force entire villages to relocate to other, unoccupied villages in order to present the impression of having a large and contented population. They take this action to give the impression to foreign satellites that the nation’s towns and cities are inhabited, content, and brimming with life.
However, as everyone is aware, occasionally a change of environment may be quite beneficial!
Empty shelves
This is what’s referred to be a busy store in North Korea. The photographer, Eric Lafforgue, is a Frenchman who took this snap undercover while visiting the nation recently.
The majority of North Korea is starving and what little food there is is typically rationed out due to terrible farming practices. Families in North Korea provide a variety of foods, including potatoes, apples, leeks, and turnips. I suppose anything is okay in the event of starvation.
Grass soup
Although Pyongyang’s main grocery shop catered to the average North Korean, most outlying villages lack a grocery store, and its residents rely solely on subsistence farming.
However, a number of people are starving and are forced to eat grass in order to survive because of inadequate soil management and a drought that has lasted for several years. In fact, things have grown so terrible that a cookbook for grass has been released by the government!
Ever present military
In North Korea, the military is always there, even in the smallest towns and villages. They are employed to monitor the populace closely and make sure that nobody even ventures to stray from the path.
With the largest military in the world, and the majority of it focused on repelling a US invasion, soldiers just need something to do! This soldier is manning the crossing for a train that probably passes through here once a week.
Cult of personality
North Korea’s primary religion is prayer to their leaders, in contrast to many Western nations where Christianity is the predominant religion or even Far Eastern countries where Buddhism, Shintoism, and Hinduism are practiced! They have a man named Kim Il Sung, who is “105 years old,” as their leader.
These people are all bowing down to these sculptures because the Kims have created a cult of personality around their family; they are treated like gods!
The only way to move up is the army
In terms of personnel, the North Korean military is the biggest in the world. For a period of roughly five years, everyone in the nation is compelled to enlist in the military.
You may guarantee that you and your family receive a living wage and be able to afford to purchase at a real food store by becoming an officer if you can pull the proper strings! Regretfully, they will never be able to own a vehicle.
No hiding
These women are sanitizing Pyongyang’s streets. Why would any administration decide against having elderly women bend over for hours on end to sweep the streets when there was a serious gasoline scarcity and no fear of cars on the road?
A military officer stands straight and keeps an eye on them to make sure they do their noble duties without complaint. Who knows, perhaps these ladies will spark a revolution!
New building
It takes a lot of labor to establish the hermit kingdom, particularly in light of the lack of contemporary technology to facilitate the safe and effective construction of skyscrapers.
It’s amazing that any building is happening at all, even with these guys’ heroic and amazing efforts—remembering that they’ve probably just been eating grass soup for the previous week!
Tours with an interest
You must take a state-organized tour if you wish to visit North Korea. Most visitors are transported from site to site on a massive tour bus; there aren’t many individual tours available. To ensure that the state’s message is the only one heard, everyone who wants to talk to the typical person must first be approved by the state.
Just make sure you don’t get lost or you and your tour guide could end up sharing a bunk in a concentration camp!
Where are they going?
This official government-approved image of Pyongyang’s main rail station in North Korea depicts a crowded, bustling train station full with passengers. However, the absurdity of this image only becomes apparent if one understands the picture’s backstory.
When this picture was shot, the trains had already ceased operations for the day, but for some reason, no one had bothered to tell the actors posing as passengers!
North Koreans have no mobility
You will almost certainly be traveling on a bus from 1965 like this one, and most likely without heat or air conditioning, if you are a North Korean citizen who is permitted to travel within your nation.
However, this is even more envied by the typical North Korean, as at least those folks got to leave their village!
Everyone has a job!
The North Korean leadership takes great pride in highlighting the fact that there is zero unemployment and that every individual has a fulfilling job! However, performing what these girls do, which is using brooms made like they did in the 1500s to sweep dust off the street, would qualify as a “meaningful job” in North Korea.
Given that this government is notorious for lying about almost everything, perhaps we shouldn’t be too concerned about the unemployment rate.
Paradise across the river?
It is not difficult to determine which bank of the river is North Korea and which is China. In case you were wondering, North Korea is not on the side with the large, contemporary structures.
When the river, also named Tumen, freezes over in the winter, North Koreans physically run to this Chinese city, Tumen. But it’s also well known that North Korean forces will cross the river to abduct victims.
Agriculture which isn’t working
Farmers are compelled to try and produce food where it cannot be cultivated, including this boulder-filled field, in an effort to feed their starving populace. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been much of a food scarcity if the government had been able to give him farming tools that were more advanced than what the American settlers employed in the middle of the 1700s.
Sadly, this man has to plow this field of pebbles with a hand plow and hope that something would grow.
Completely alone in the world
The Korean peninsula is a component of North Korea, as far as the North Korean leadership is concerned. Actually, North Korea prefers to refer to itself as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and doesn’t even call itself that.
This is intriguing because there isn’t even a republic or democracy in the nation! Only four countries in the world stand with this pariah state: China, Sudan, Syria, and Iran.
The bridge to nowhwere
This bridge is large, exquisite, and fully illuminated. It must be a dramatic representation of North Korea’s might and power, am I correct? As it happens, though, it is not. This $350 million Friendship Bridge connects the North Korean town of Ponbu-Dong with the Chinese metropolis of Dandong.
The North Korean side is still unfinished, though. On the North Korean side, the bridge ends in a dusty road without even a customs office!
Pyongyang at night
North Korea hardly ever has electricity due to ongoing fuel shortages; Pyongyang is the only place where electricity is available for more than a few hours each day. In fact, the only thing visible in a nighttime satellite photograph of North Korea is pitch-black darkness.
This is a unique view of Pyongyang’s apartment complexes illuminated at night! However, the city truly goes dark when the lights go out.
Separation of the genders
In North Korea, it is not uncommon for ladies and occasionally even men to be seen strolling hand in hand, as seen in this photo. This is due to the stark gender division that exists in North Korea, where men and women are assigned to different conventional responsibilities.
Women labor side by side with one other for the most of the day and develop particularly strong relationships with one another.
Yes, there are tourists
There is a budding tourism business in the Hermit Kingdom, despite the fact that obtaining a tourist visa is very difficult. An increasing number of Japanese, Chinese, Europeans, and even Americans will travel the nation in an attempt to peep behind the curtain of secrecy.
When visiting North Korea, you can distinguish between actors and non-actors because the former will mingle and respond to inquiries from tour guides, while the latter will simply gaze at you in amazement.
The leaders are always watching
Every North Korean home, company, and educational institution is required by law to display framed portraits of the country’s leaders in a hallowed area of their residence. Even at home, it is against the law to act foolishly in front of the cameras!
A 12-year-old girl drowned while attempting to salvage the photos during a flood, according to a well-known tale! She’s regarded as a national treasure.
Sweet Blades!
Children can be seen in this unusual photo participating in one of the few sports or physical activities that are allowed in North Korea. For some reason, kids rollerblading makes the government very happy, even though they outlaw practically anything Western!
Even though their agriculture, infrastructure, and economy are all relics from the late 1800s, at least their sports are firmly rooted in 1995! These fortunate children are most likely the offspring of the affluent, as children in rural areas cannot buy roller blades.
Illegal gun show
For the past three generations, the people of North Korea have been indoctrinated to despise the West and the United States. They are informed that a conflict with the US could start at any time.
However, because guns are completely prohibited in the nation to prevent the beginning of an uprising, this is a highly hazardous snapshot. For the sake of this photo, the girl may be placed in a concentration camp.
The richest woman in the village
While private industry of any kind is officially forbidden in North Korea, the government ignores small-time booth merchants like this one in a rural village.
Given that she is presumably one of the few locations in the area where the troops may purchase non-military given items, like cigarettes and homemade baked goods, she most likely enjoys some level of police protection.
A real subway?
This photo was taken in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, using the metro system. In an attempt to portray North Korea as a wealthy nation, the state has acquired opulent 1950s-era subway vehicles featuring oak wood interiors.
The entire structure appears to be for show, though, as visitors have only ever seen two metro stops. The pictures of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung are always there.
Getting married by the leaders
This pair has gathered at Pyongyang’s main square, which is home to the life-size bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, in what is perhaps the “holiest” location in North Korea.
It’s hard to tell from the picture’s lack of excitement whether the pair is a couple of actors feigning marriage or if they’re genuinely starving to death after surviving on grass soup for a week.
Humanizing the soldiers
Unless the photos are taken by an official photographer at an officially authorized event, it is forbidden to snap pictures of the North Korean military. If not, you risk being arrested for taking a photo of a soldier who isn’t at attention or standing at his best.
The photographer who took this touching picture of the two soldiers sharing a smoke ran the risk of being arrested or deported.
