I spent the majority of my North Korean trip in their capital of Pyongyang. The city is by far the largest in the country with a population of three million. It’s here that you’ll find the majority of North Korea’s memorials, nice restaurants, entertainment, and the upper class. North Korea was founded by Kim Il Sung in the 1940’s and though he passed away in 1994 he is still considered to be the president of the nation today. He is credited by North Koreans for defending the country against foreign imperialism including both the Korean War and World War II. Immediately upon my arrival to Pyongyang Airport, I saw his large portrait while still in the plane.
This large bronze statue was dedicated to Kim Il Sung after he passed away and proudly stands at 65 feet (20 meters) tall. A statue of President Kim Il Sung is built in every city in North Korea and almost every home or office hangs his portrait. I visited North Korea when Kim Jong Ill was still in charge, but he passed away soon after. His own bronze statue now also stands at the same height directly next to his father’s.
As a matter of fact, the first significant place that I was taken to inside North Korea was a trip to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang. Photos within the palace are strictly forbidden, but I was able to photograph the outside and also get my photo along with three North Korean women. In the far right of the photo is someone I met on the trip who happened to live only 10 miles away from me back in Virginia and is now one of my best friends!
The mausoleum was once the headquarters of the North Korean government, or where Kim Il Sung once ruled from. This is one of the best maintained structures in the country, and the inside was filled with enormous rooms made of marble that were elegantly decorated. After the president’s death, the palace became the final resting place for Kim Il Sung. The late president is preserved in a room and is available for viewing. Many North Koreans were also visiting the mausoleum. A few of the women even got a bit emotional and ran away crying after viewing their former president. Visiting the Kumsusan Palace was certainly a unique experience.
Above is a photo of downtown Pyongyang that has one of the largest portraits I saw of Kim Il Sung. The building at the very top of the photo is the Rungrado May Day Stadium, which is the largest stadium by seating capacity in the world. The Rungrado May Day Stadium has enough room to seat 150,000 people, and it’s here that the world famous Arirgang Games are held.
The Arirang Games are said to be the largest human arts performance in the world, and has earned its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s pretty damn expensive to be honest. A ticket cost me over $200 but this is something you simply can’t miss out while in North Korea! These two photos above and below show a gymnastic performance and a huge crowd of kids after they had finished their portion of the games.
The performance lasts about an an hour and a half and aside from the different stunts, singing and other performances, the Arirang Games overall tells the history of North Korea. The characters created by people in the center of the stadium I learned from a friend means self reliance. In most of these performances there are people seated on the opposite side of the stadium holding up boards to form giant pictures or messages.
There are so many different performances going on during the Arirang Games that I could dedicate an entire page to the event itself! The grand finale though was a giant firework show. The 65 represents the 65 years that North Korea has been an independent nation.
The Arirgang Stadium is built along Pyongyang’s the Taedong River. This region of the city is probably the nicest in the capital, and maybe even the entire country. You’ll find North Koreans riding bikes here, going for a stroll, and a few enjoying the benches or a seat long the river. Along this part of the river are also several statues and memorials. The photo below shows some wealthy North Korean women. Luckily they didn’t freak out when I took their photos!
One memorial along the Taedong river is the Juche Tower. Juche itself is a philosophy and belief that is the foundation of the North Korean government. North Korean leaders believe that by focusing in resilience and independence, their nation will eventually transform to a life of prosperity. If you notice the Juche symbol that the workers are holding up, you can see it’s directly inspired by the Soviet hammer and cycle.
These two photos were taken elsewhere in the city; above is the Pyongyang TV tower, which rises to roughly 500 feet (150 meters). Below is the North Korean Arch of Triumph, which is larger than France’s Arc de Triomphe. It was built in 1982 to commemorate Korean resistance against Japanese rule.
This is a random photo I took while in Pyongyang. The building above I was told is actually a large ice skating rink. At night time it’s actually nicely lit up and looks pretty amazing from a distance. I wasn’t able to enter the building, but I’d loved to have seen what it looked like inside.
Here is a city park with the famous Ryugyong hotel in the background. This hotel was not yet completed when I visited, but it was already the world’s 30th tallest building. My understanding was that government ran out of money but an Egyptian construction company took over the project some years later. The building is now completed and is the tallest buildings in the country.
With a population of several million, the subway and trolleys are important forms of transportation in Pyongyang. I also saw a few taxis parked at hotels, although I did not use one during my visit.
The Pyongyang metro stations are beautifully decorated and built deep underground. Riding the metro was one of the more interesting ways to see another part of the capital.
Trolleys also seemed to be common in Pyongyang and were another form of transportation I saw throughout the city.
Above is an example of a residential building I photographed while traveling through Pyongyang. Large apartment buildings are a prominent part of the city’s urban landscape.
These women were cutting the grass and doing maintenance along the street. I saw similar outdoor work being done in several parts of the country and photographed the scene as part of my trip.
During my visit I also photographed this bag from the United Nations World Food Programme.
I was surprised to find Coke and some American liquor, including the Kentucky whiskey above, in the hotel store. The hotel also carried other familiar products such as chocolate. As a foreign visitor, I did most of my shopping at the hotel and at designated shops in the city.
At one of the shops I asked for change in local currency and received some modern bills. Later I showed them to my guide and learned that they were not intended for me to have, so I eventually gave them away.
I photographed this truck because it appeared to be in civilian use. It was similar in style to several other vehicles I saw during the trip.
The modern way of life in North Korea all is because of the vision of their founding father Kim Il Sung. Within the capital is supposedly the location that Kim Il Sung was born in. His birth was in 1912 where he allegedly grew up in this humble cabin with his family.
The cabin has been rebuilt, but some of the original tools and items that he used as a child are here on display. His son Kim Jong Il was allegedly born in another cabin in the foreground of snowy mountains in the northern parts of the country. During the Arirang Games, they even showed a performance with a giant picture of Kim Jong Il’s birth place in the background.
The exhibits I visited presented Kim Il Sung’s early life and his role in the anti-Japanese struggle. The photo above shows a North Korean painting of Kim Il Sung in battle.
The museum presented Kim Il Sung’s role in the anti-Japanese struggle and the liberation of Korea. The photo above depicts Kim Il Sung after World War II being greeted by children, civilians, and members of the military.
The War Museum presented the Korean War from the DPRK perspective. A video explaining the conflict was one of the more memorable parts of my visit.
The museum continued its presentation of the Korean War through paintings and captured military equipment. Above is a painting depicting the war, while below is an American aircraft displayed at the museum.
These two surrounding photos are from the War Museum in Pyongyang as well showing captured American tanks and jeeps. According to the guide, a North Korean aircraft on display was responsible for downing numerous American and South Korean aircraft in dog fights. Other items on display included uniforms, destroyed gear, artillery, and even letters written by westerns during the war.
North Korea’s most prized possession of all the American equipment captured is the USS Pueblo which was taken in 1968. The US version of the story is that the boat was traveling in international waters when it was captured by North Koreans, but the North Koreans say this was a spy ship in their waters who didn’t respond to any communication attempts so it was then boarded and the crew arrested. Above is the ship docked in Pyongyang, below is myself after getting permission to climb to the top of the ship’s largest mast.
Above and below are two photos aboard the USS Pueblo, including a North Korean sailor who maintains the ship. The US originally requested that the ship be returned to the states, but it will likely remain a trophy by the North Koreans forever. When this incident happened it sparked quite a scare with fear of a new Korean war being flaring up again. 83 Americans were captured from the USS Pueblo and one American was killed. After 11 months they were returned home after the United States signed a document taking responsibility for trespassing in their waters. A year after I visited Pyongyang I saw something about North Korea on TV, and this same lady in the photo above was doing an interview.
I never realized all the fighting that took place when the ship was taken over. Above are bullet holes that were sprayed into the ship after it was boarded. The photo below shows the large machine gun on the USS Pueblo against Pyongyang in the background.
From it’s modern day confrontations with the United States and South Korea to its ancient battles against Japan, North Korea has seen a fair amount of war. The country honors their own veterans by burying them in Martyr’s Cemetery which is located in Pyongyang on top of Mt. Taesong. This is North Korea’s equivalent of USA’s Arlington Cemetery. The cemetery was founded in the 5th century on the remains of an old fort. You can see most of the graves above date back to the earlier parts of the 20th century. Below is a grave likely from a more recent death that has been decorated by flowers.
The rest of my time in Pyongyang was spent mostly visiting cultural areas, such as the Grand People’s Study House. It was built in the 1980’s by Kim Il Sung as a way to honor his 70th birthday. The Grand People’s Study House has over 600 rooms with a capacity for tens of millions of books. There were dozens of people in here studying books, receiving lectures and even listening to music. The woman below was my the escort for the building.
The photo above shows the entrance and main hallway to the study house. The building contains an enormous collection of books and numerous rooms devoted to study and education.
The building itself was impressive, with rooms devoted to books, study, music, and other educational activities.
I also saw computers, including a room with flat-screen monitors. During my visit I did not have Internet access. I tried to open a browser on one of the computers and received the message shown above.
For a small performance, I was taken to the Children’s Palace where students learn music and performing arts. Above are some kids learning Tae Kwon Do in the Children’s Palace, below is a female student from the Grand Study Hall.
The surrounding photos are from the Children’s Palace, where they put on an hour performance. The events included everything from singing, playing instruments, dancing, and Tae Kwon Do.
I’m not sure how the children are selected or enrolled in the Children’s Palace, but all of them were definitely good at what they did.
I almost never buy souvenirs, but in North Korea I made a big exception. I saw people creating pottery and other artwork, including large paintings and some amazing pottery. One of the most impressive pieces was a giant pot that must have been seven feet (2 meters) tall and was beautifully decorated.
For breakfast, lunch and dinner, I ate nothing but Korean food during this entire trip. Above is a photo of a restaurant with my dinner in the picture below. I’ve eaten Korean food plenty of times in my life, but of course not on a daily basis, so by the time I left the country I felt like I knew all their cuisines really well. I never liked cabbage before my trip here, but kimchi certainly grew on me and I learned to like it!
The first restaurant I visited in North Korea actually had a live band. A woman played a piano while one played the drums and four singers came on stage. Obviously the song was in Korean so I’ve no idea what it was about, but music always goes well with dinner.
I stayed at several different hotels during my time in North Korea. This was my first accommodation in Pyongyang. The rooms were comfortable, and the door below is the entrance to the hotel bar, where they sold some foreign imports.
Pyongyang is definitely one of the most unique cities I’ve ever visited, and there simply isn’t any other city in the world quite like it. My visit was one of my most memorable trips. One thing I certainly learned from traveling, regardless of what type of country you’re in or where you live, kids will always be kids! Most of the youth I saw in the capital seemed to spend their free time doing what kids in other cultures around the world would do.
