"Buffalo Bob"
Casale's Corner

Smuggled Illegal Photos of North Korea

When one hears about North Korea , only two things are likely to come to mind immediately: nuclear weapons and its Leader, Kim Jong Un.  Not much else is known about the Asian country, even by the world's most nosy press corps.  Why?  Because the country's leadership prefers it that way.  When any photograph is captured by chance, it is a revelation of sorts.  Nowhere else has a picture said a thousand words better than when it is about North Korea .  Below are 40 revealing photos taken by various visitors to the country.  Prepare to be shocked about life in North Korea .

Empty supermarkets

North Korea continuously parades the notion that its economy is good and that its people are well off, well-fed, and financially stable. It makes the world believe that there is enough to eat and enough to spend money on. But in a country locked out of business with many other countries, this is purely conjecture. This photo shows what it's like to live in North Korea . This is essentially what North Koreans consider a supermarket, but the difference here is that this one is barely staying open, courtesy of empty stalls and nothing to sell, except a few groceries.

Lots of farming, lots of hunger

North Korea still has most of its citizens depend on agriculture for survival, and farming remains a major activity every season.  But as more and more farming gets done, reports of increasing hunger also become public.  It's an ironic balance that's hard to understand, especially for a foreigner.  Where does all the harvested food go?  This photo shows how big a deal farming is here; the farming lands are quite expansive.  But as it turns out, most of this food isn't for the farmers themselves, as are the farms.  Some of it is reportedly grabbed by government officials after the harvest.

Trains for show

Because North Korea is so secretive about life inside its borders, it's hard to determine what's true and what's not.  Plus, the country not only determines what's picked up by the international press - it's also determined to stage what visitors to the country see.  This photo shows a starkly empty train station with a good-looking train ready to go.  It was shown to tourists (one of whom took the picture) as part of the country's 'Everything Is Well' propaganda.  But this is all a façade because North Koreans don't ever travel freely within their own country.  No one's using that train.


Empty multi-storied buildings

North Korea once had strong relations with fascist nations like the Soviet Union , and as a result, copied a few things from the latter's culture. Communism was one such copied trait, and since North Korea has consistently proved averse to change, communism is still center stage countrywide.  One way to see the extent of this leadership style is through the uniform design (see the cold grey paint job and the architecture) of the storied buildings in this photo.  Plus, these buildings have been mostly empty since their construction years ago, so they're just another part of the façade.

An excess of cabs

North Korea 's capital Pyongyang is always a source of wonder.  It is starkly different from other parts of the country, though not in a positive way.  There's more going on in Pyongyang than in the country's river towns, although it's hard to know what exactly because of national secrecy.  This photo is one good depiction of life in Pyongyang .  It's a photo of a cab stand and the well-dressed drivers that man the cabs.  As it turns out, not many in the city own or drive cars.  Cabs are therefore big business and are mostly owned by North Korea 's elites.


Electric border

No country would be blamed for guarding its borders unless that country was North Korea .  In addition to keeping its citizens in the dark about everything, the North Korean government also makes sure its citizens don't escape to other countries illegally or otherwise.  But that's not why this photo of a border fence is cause for alarm.  This fence around North Korea is an electric fence, i.e., it is powered by electricity.  And because North Koreans have very limited access to electricity, it means a lot of it is spent on the border fence instead.  What's a better priority?

People traffic

Unless it's designated as a car-free road, such as those in densely populated shopping areas in developed countries, not many roads are designed just to experience people traffic. Except for North Korea 's roads of course, which see more people than cars every day. In this photo, a surprising number of people cross a city road at the same time with abandon, the way one would cross when there are no cars to be expected. This is because there aren't that many personal cars in the country, so roads can afford to be empty - and crossable - at many times during the day.


Military watching posts

If you thought George Orwell's 1984 was too fictional, North Korea has a surprise for you.  They've got all-seeing eyes here and it's not fiction.  Because of its fascist and communist leadership, the government believes in constant surveillance of its citizens where they are.  In this photo, taken with expertise and top secrecy by a tourist in a moving bus, one can see what looks like a small house out in the fields.  But it's no small house; it is an outpost of the North Korean military featuring a soldier or two that monitors the fields and the villages around.

Empty government offices

What does the average workday look like in North Korea ?  How busy are government offices?  It's hard to find answers to those questions, thanks to the secrecy of the government and the naivety of the country's citizens.  But this photo taken illegally gives us a sneak peek into what's really like around government offices.  There are fewer cars parked outside government buildings for sure, and fewer people walking around.  Most noticeably, the building walls are adorned with larger-than-life paintings of the Kim Jong dynasty's two main members, which as reports show, are literally worshipped by the workers every day.

The Daily Propaganda Show

North Korea is already known to be a secretive country, but that's only half the story.  It also makes sure its citizens don't ingest information from abroad in any form, as it might contaminate their thinking.  As a rule, all televisions and radios must play government-approved content only, which in North Korea 's case is essentially a mix of political speeches, political songs, and political documentaries.  This photo, in which a waitress works her shift as the television behind her plays a speech from the country's leader, Kim Jong Un is a good sneak peek into what this information ban looks like.


Empty Towns

According to reports from people who've been to North Korea , many of the towns are empty, partly because of low birth rates and also because of constant moving orders from the government. The latter happens when the government decides to shift a whole town to another town for a while, mostly if the new town is going to be receiving foreign visitors. As a result, many of the towns in rural areas stay empty for a period of the year. This photo of an empty, people-less town edged by crop fields is a good example of North Korea 's ghost towns

Green Feeding

Despite what the government keeps telling the outside world, that there is no hunger in North Korea and that everything is fine, that doesn't seem to be the case.  But it's hard to know for sure unless you visit the country and see for yourself.  This photo was taken discreetly by a visitor to the country, and it reveals exactly what the North Korean government prefers to keep secret.  In the photo, an older man can be seen harvesting grass from a field.  He is not harvesting it for his animals; however, the grass is for dinner and for his family.