-
Dancing at Moranbong
The Moranbong park in the middle of Pyongyang is the place to be for two reasons. On weekends the elder inhabitants of the capital find their way to a complex on top of the hill to perform folklore dances. A very nice place to have a picknick with a few bottles of beer after another…
-
Juche Juche
The government bases most of the countries legacy and future onto the Juche ideology. Originally developed by Kim Il-Sung the idea transformed from the marxist-leninist foundation to a truly Korean belief over the years. The meaning of a unique Korean reception may not be underestimated. A society where certain sentiments have their own descriptive words…
-
Road to reunification
When I met a young south Korean guy in Bangkok the other night we started to exchange our travel plans. As it turned out South Korean citizens are denied entry to the DPRK. A question I was asked to think about However this interesting human asked me a very thought provoking question: Do you think…
-
Waterparks over revolutions
Recently the Pyongyang leisure and science departments had plenty of reason for celebrations. After the SciTech complex mentioned in one of my earlier posts the city opened the Munsu Waterpark in 2013. A leisurely paradise we were visiting incognito as guests before changing into our photographer outfits once more. As you can certainly imagine the…
-
Outbounds of the DMZ
On our way back from the DMZ we would stop in Kaesong which is the next town to the border that splits the Korean peninsula. In Kaesong we received a glorious lunch in an ancient Korean dining room. Sitting on the floor we feasted on pickles, noodles and various side dishes. The visit to the…
-
Movie sets
When we made a stop at the film studios of the DPRK I wasn’t expecting too much. I though we would be strolling through some empty facades with almost no action going on. A perfect place to store away some tourists that are asking too many questions anyway. Where all the movies are supposed to…
-
At the Sci-Tech Complex
This building has it all, a copy of a long range missile, hundreds of work stations, a library for disabled and study rooms. The heart of the exposition are dioramas about local culture and wildlife as well as a shootable table of elements. The government demonstrates access to modern media and research. Sitting largely empty…