Metro of Pyongyang – OLIVER JOEST

The metro of Pyongyang lies deep beyond the surface. At 100 meters depth the escalators running down are very steep and take their time to deliver their passengers to the underground stations. The stations themselves (I was able to visit 3 of them in total) are beautiful displays of colorful propaganda and depictions. There are 2 lines in total that have one intersection. Thus the system of the capital feels very intimate and approachable to it’s counterparts in other capitals like Seoul, New York or Beijing.

The deep underground

Every platform has a set of two uniformed employees that take care of the passenger loading and unloading and make sure the operation runs fluently. The trains are material from Germany. The layout of the cars is well known if you have been riding a Berlin U-Bahn train once before. Interesting fact is that despite the fact you never and nowhere see any sign of graffiti or paroles in Pyongyang the windows of the cars still show the original scratch marks from Germany of vandals itching their tags into the windows.

No train car would be complete without the depictions of the President Kim Il-Sung or the General Kim Jong-Il. The advertising frames in the car sit abandoned and empty. What a waste of precious space for some truly socialist paroles.

Modern times

The passengers in the trains are not that far away from the average metropolitan subway user. With the rise of the DPRK unique Arirang smartphone digital reading and games have arrived to a broad mass. The people use the time between stops to read some publication or play simple games to kill time. The subway stations have more functions than initially recognized. In the middle of each station stands a display of the latest Rodong Sinmun newspaper issue. People gather around this distribution spot for latest gossip and state news.

Some of the stations have shops at their entrance or exits. These shops evenly colorful to the stations themselves hold the opportunity to buy products of the daily live as well as presents and toys for kids.