#​North Korea

[strideofpride]

“In North Korea, there’s no sun. They got rid of the sun. Cause communism”

[deerspace9]

[heritageposts]

What does life in North Korea look like outside of Pyongyang? 🇰🇵

Hey, I'm back again with a very scary "tankie" post that asks you to think of North Koreans as people, and to consider their country not as a cartoonish dystopia, but as a nation that, like any other place on earth, has culture, traditions, and history.

Below is a collection of pictures from various cities and places in North Korea, along with a brief dive into some of the historical events that informs life in the so-called "hermit kingdom."

Warning: very long post

Kaesong, the historic city

Beginning this post with Kaesong, one of the oldest cities in Korea. It's also one of the few major cities in the DPRK (i.e. "North Korea") that was not completely destroyed during the Korean war.

Every single city you'll see from this point on were victims of intense aerial bombardments from the U.S. and its allies, and had to be either partially or completely rebuilt after the war.

From 1951 to 1953, during what has now become known as the "forgotten war" in the West, the U.S. dropped 635,000 tons of bombs over Korea — most of it in the North, and on civilian population centers. An additional 32,000 tons of napalm was also deployed, engulfing whole cities in fire and inflicting people with horrific burns:

For such a simple thing to make, napalm had horrific human consequences. A bit of liquid fire, a sort of jellied gasoline, napalm clung to human skin on contact and melted off the flesh. Witnesses to napalm's impact described eyelids so burned they could not be shut and flesh that looked like "swollen, raw meat." - PBS

Ever wondered why North Koreans seem to hate the U.S so much? Well...

Keep in mind that only a few years prior to this, the U.S. had, as the first and only country in the world, used the atomic bomb as a weapon of war. Consider, too, the proximity between Japan and Korea — both geographically and as an "Other" in the Western imagination.

As the war dragged on, and it became clear the U.S. and its allies would not "win" in any conventional sense, the fear that the U.S. would resort to nuclear weapons again loomed large, adding another frightening dimension to the war that can probably go a long way in explaining the DPRK's later obsession with acquiring their own nuclear bomb.

But even without the use of nuclear weapons, the indiscriminate attack on civilians, particularly from U.S. saturation bombings, was still horrific:

"The number of Korean dead, injured or missing by war’s end approached three million, ten percent of the overall population. The majority of those killed were in the North, which had half of the population of the South; although the DPRK does not have official figures, possibly twelve to fifteen percent of the population was killed in the war, a figure close to or surpassing the proportion of Soviet citizens killed in World War II" - Charles K. Armstrong

On top of the loss of life, there's also the material damage. By the end of the war, the U.S. Air Force had, by its own estimations, destroyed somewhere around 85% of all buildings in the DPRK, leaving most cities in complete ruin. There are even stories of U.S. bombers dropping their loads into the ocean because they couldn't find any visible targets to bomb.

What you'll see below of Kaesong, then, provides both a rare glimpse of what life in North Korea looked like before the war, and a reminder of what was destroyed.

Kaesong's main street, pictured below.

Due the stifling sanctions imposed on the DPRK—which has, in various forms and intensities, been in effect since the 1950s—car ownership is still low throughout the country, with most people getting around either by walking or biking, or by bus or train for longer distances.

Kaesong, which is regarded as an educational center, is also notable for its many Koryŏ-era monuments. A group of twelve such sites were granted UNESCO world heritage status in 2013.

Included is the Hyonjongnung Royal Tomb, a 14th-century mausoleum located just outside the city of Kaesong.

One of the statues guarding the tomb.

Before moving on the other cities, I also wanted to showcase one more of the DPRK's historical sites: Pohyonsa, a thousand-year-old Buddhist temple complex located in the Myohyang Mountains.

Like many of DPRK's historic sites, the temple complex suffered extensive damage during the Korean war, with the U.S. led bombings destroying over half of its 24 pre-war buildings.

The complex has since been restored and is in use today both as a residence for Buddhist monks, and as a historic site open to visitors.

Hamhung, the second largest city in the DPRK.

A coastal city located in the South Hamgyŏng Province. It has long served as a major industrial hub in the DPRK, and has one of the largest and busiest ports in the country.

Hamhung, like most of the coastal cities in the DPRK, was hit particularly hard during the war. Through relentless aerial bombardments, the US and its allies destroyed somewhere around 80-90% percent of all buildings, roads, and other infrastructure in the city.

Now, more than seventy years later, unexploded bombs, mortars and pieces of live ammunition are still being unearthed by the thousands in the area. As recently as 2016, one of North Korea's bomb squads—there's one in every province, faced with the same cleanup task—retrieved 370 unexploded mortar rounds... from an elementary school playground.

Experts in the DPRK estimate it will probably take over a hundred years to clean up all the unexploded ordnance—and that's just in and around Hamhung.

Hamhung's fertilizer plant, the biggest in North Korea.

When the war broke out, Hamhung was home to the largest nitrogen fertilizer plant in Asia. Since its product could be used in the creation of explosives, the existence of the plant is considered to have made Hamhung a target for U.S. aggression (though it's worth repeating that the U.S. carried out saturation bombings of most population centers in the country, irrespective of any so-called 'military value').

The plant was immediately rebuilt after the war, and—beyond its practical use—serves now as a monument of resistance to U.S. imperialism, and as a functional and symbolic site of self-reliance.

Chongjin, the third largest city in the DPRK.

Another coastal city and industrial hub. It underwent a massive development prior to the Korean war, housing around 300,000 people by the time the war broke out.

By 1953, the U.S. had destroyed most of Chongjin's industry, bombed its harbors, and killed one third of the population.

Wonsan, a rebuilt seaside city.

The city of Wonsan is a vital link between the DPRK's east and west coasts, and acts today as both a popular holiday destination for North Koreans, and as a central location for the country's growing tourism industry.

Considered a strategically important location during the war, Wonsan is notable for having endured one of the longest naval blockades in modern history, lasting a total of 861 days.

By the end of the war, the U.S. estimated that they had destroyed around 80% of the city.

Masikryong Ski Resort, located close to Wonsan. It opened to the public in 2014 and is the first, I believe, that was built with foreign tourists in mind.

Sariwon, another rebuilt city

One of the worst hit cities during the Korean War, with an estimated destruction level of 95%.

I've written about its Wikipedia page here before, which used to mockingly describe its 'folk customs street'—a project built to preserve old Korean traditions and customs—as an "inaccurate romanticized recreation of an ancient Korean street."

No mention, of course, of the destruction caused by the US-led aerial bombings, or any historical context at all that could possibly even hint at why the preservation of old traditions might be particularly important for the city.

Life outside of the towns and cities

In the rural parts of the DPRK, life primarily revolves around agriculture. As the sanctions they're under make it difficult to acquire fuel, farming in the DPRK relies heavily on manual labour, which again, to avoid food shortages, requires that a large portion of the labour force resides in the countryside.

Unlike what many may think, the reliance on manual labour in farming is a relatively "new" development. Up until the crisis of the 1990s, the DPRK was a highly industrialized nation, with a modernized agricultural system and a high urbanization rate. But, as the access to cheap fuel from the USSR and China disappeared, and the sanctions placed upon them by Western nations heavily restricted their ability to import fuel from other sources, having a fuel-dependent agricultural industry became a recipe for disaster, and required an immediate and brutal restructuring.

For a more detailed breakdown of what lead to the crisis in the 90s, and how it reshaped the DPRKs approach to agriculture, check out this article by Zhun Xu.

Some typical newly built rural housing, surrounded by farmland.

Tumblr only allows 20 pictures per post, but if you want to see more pictures of life outside Pyongyang, check out this imgur album.

[siwolism]

if i see another liberal yapping about “listening to koreans” on the “north korea issue” im going to kms. south koreans are heavily propagandised from birth to view the dprk as an existential threat and their alignment with the u.s as a necessary safeguard. this propaganda isn’t just state-driven; it’s embedded in our education system, media, and culture. for decadesssss, south koreans have been told that their prosperity and “democracy” are thanks to u.s intervention. one of the many reasons the north is painted as a failed state ruled by a dictatorship is to create a “well you don’t want to be that guy” argument for south koreans in favour of u.s military occupation.

south korea’s economic success comes at massive cost: hyper-exploitation of workers, neoliberal conservative policies, and total subservience to u.s military and economic interests ect. but many south koreans are comfortable with this setup because they see themselves as benefitting from it, south koreans see themselves as both momentarily embarrassed millionaires and a momentarily embarrassed independent nation. it is a cultural problem and with every passing generation it gets worse, south korean elders who experienced the war and the dictatorships are treated as nutty demented boomers with no knowledge of the modern world as the youth of the samsung republic hurdle at full speed towards fascism.

[innervision-dai]

North Korean Pop

北朝鮮 高校の軽音楽部 （Pyongyang: High school music club -NorthKorea）

北朝鮮の『けいおん！』！！ （←©は『大陸ロック漂流記』著者のファンキー末吉さん）

韓国の隣、軍事境界線である”北緯38度線”を隔てた北にある国、北朝鮮。日本からは

1000kmと割と近い距離ながら、国際組織が発表する世界の報道自由度ランキングで

もっとも低い第180位の、『現代の秘境である北朝鮮の都市「平壌」の内部映像を

紹介』するYouTubeチャンネル、『Aramaki Project』の映像です。配信しているのは、

日本人の荒巻正行（Masayuki Aramaki）さん。荒巻さんは、東アジア学の研究者で

記録写真家、1997年から20年以上にも渡って北朝鮮で映像記録による現地調査を

続けているんですって！Superレアな音楽映像が、いくつもアーカイブされていて･･･

さらに、みんな大好き『やよい軒』や『風龍』のおかわり並に無料で提供されているよ。

北朝鮮 ガールズバンド （Pyongyang: Girls band - North Korea）

北朝鮮の高校の音楽クラブで結成されたガールズバンド、の映像ですって。ではー･･･

JKに続きましては、北朝鮮のJD！

北朝鮮 大学生歌謡 （NorthKorea:College Songs-Pyongyang）

荒巻さんの解説をコピりますと、”北朝鮮において””大学生の音楽隊は特別な位置に

ある。義務教育の子供の舞台音楽とプロの音楽家の間でセミプロ的な立場いわゆる

カレッジフォークのイメージ”らしいです。続いては、ウィキペディアを参考にしますと

北朝鮮において’23年の今、最も人気があるらしいガールズグループ！

北朝鮮の音楽コンサート （Pyongyang:Concert Hall -NorthKorea） 

現在の北朝鮮の最高指導者、金正恩総書記（39歳）が、2012年に創設したガールズの

エンターテインメント集団『モランボン（牡丹峰）楽団』の、ライブ映像が入っています。

荒巻正行さんによる”北朝鮮あるある早く言いたい”感ある解説によりますと、北朝鮮

”平壌のコンサートホール･･･ みなおしゃれし”がちみたいです！ファンダムの年齢層は

世界一高齢そうですね。ライブを見に北朝鮮へ行きたいな、『愛の不時着』スタイルで!

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

[mapsontheweb]

North Korea and Seoul Capital Area have roughly same population

[rongzhi]

A study abroad vlog from a student at Kim Il-Sung University in Pyongyang.

Context from a commenter:

Only those in [China’s] double first-class initiative [a government higher education development plan which began in 2017, seeking to bring programs of 147 unis and colleges up to world-class level by 2050] can be sent to North Korea on a one semester exchange program, which is very short. Dandong [Chinese city bordering North Korea]’s Liaodong College’s Korean Language** program is also able to do it. However, the Korean Language program is in a slump right now because there are too many people studying it, and foreign language professions are all foreign language + professional skills, so the industry is so-so. **朝鲜语 Chaoxianyu, the “Korean language” in question refers to the Korean spoken in North Korea as well as by many ethnic Korean Chinese citizens. It is differentiated from 韩语，Hanyu, the “Korean language” spoken in South Korea.

English added by me :)

[probablyasocialecologist]

South Korea’s conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol has declared martial law, accusing the left-wing bloc that controls the national assembly of North Korean sympathies and plotting rebellion. Yoon, a hardline former chief prosecutor, said in a late night television address on Tuesday that he would “eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalise the country”. The martial law declaration also bans “all political activities, including those of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties”, and demonstrations. It adds that “all media and publications will be subject to the control of the Martial Law Command”. Yoon pledged to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and protect the constitutional democratic order”, but did not elaborate on how martial law would be enforced. He asked the South Korean people to believe in him and tolerate “some inconveniences” as he accused the opposition of plotting rebellion. In response, opposition leaders called lawmakers to parliament and denounced the declaration of martial law as unconstitutional.

3rd December 2024

[nando161mando]

People power ✊

[miku-earth]

north korea, goguryeo miku by yasumisan_

[strideofpride]

Okay, for nine months now we’ve all seen firsthand how American media lies and spreads misinformation about the situation in Palestine and what’s really going on over there. Have you stopped yet to consider what other countries American media is lying to you about?

[mysharona1987]

This is one of the most fucked up dictatorship coup attempts in history, right?

Even Donald Trump is embarrassed by this shit. At least January 6th lasted liked 12 hours.

This failed coup barely lasted as long as the mediocre HBO mini series I just watched.

Theory: Yoon thought he could be Asia’s Donald Trump.

Except everyone said: “But, no.”

All 160 members of parliament voted against him.

[phobic-human]

Comrade Huey P. Newton

Black Panther poster from the DPRK

Date: Unknown

[jothb]

The DPRK is literally an totalitarionist tankinist authoritarian regime. According tot he Burger Eagle Institute kim jong un personally feeds yje dissidents to starving dogs. Here's a map I just found

As you can clearly see on this map of the Sou Northern Korea's Republic living there sucks. You can trust me because I have a map that clearly labels the super prison camps (it's bad because they're prison camps nad not prisons like in the god blessed US of A) and the execution chamber where they feed you to dogs (they're starving)

This is why it's sad that the Olympic hcmpions are going back. I think I've never heard of them so that means they kill the old ones and bring new ones everytime. We need to invade South No Sou the bad Korea to get them free. Here's another map i found

as you can clearly see the olympic silver medalists get fed to dogs when they come back. And then the dogs get eaten by starving rats. And then the rats are hunted down by starving children because they have nothing else to eat (kim jong un ate all the food because he's SOOOO fat ahahaha am i right? im body positive btw before you say anything so it's okay for me to say that). all these "tankis" will tell you that the Burger Eagle Institute is funded by the CIA but they are just conspiracy theorists because I dont think the CIA does that stuff. Here's another map I found

This one is extra bad

In conclusion I believe that we should invade North Korea and impose Democracy on its citizens (with nukes if possible)

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

The fact that North Korea invading Ukraine isn't an international news headline tells you exactly how much this world dehumanises Ukrainians.