His comments try to bring drama to every shot, yet there is none. For example: the "staggering" difference between a small town in NK and a larger one i China. It is normal to have small buildings too, you know. Obviously they have skyscrapers as well, just in different cities as can be seen from other photos.

Far from me liking anything North Korea related, but the author/photographer clearly went out of his way (through his comments) to portray everything very dark and gloomy. Pretty much every other former and current communist country has architecture like that. I don't see anything shocking in it.

The same ideology and rules that applies for North Korea, you can see it in China as well. But there we like them because they create our smartphones, laptops, clothes, 60" TVs, shoes and everything so cheap(for us, not for the poor workers) that we forget that they have "communism"- which is actually dictatorship with the proud sponsorship of western multinational companies. This can be an idea for a future post.

"smuggled" out, let me guess you jammed your cf cards up your a*s to avoid detection?

Thank you for showing this sad reality

There were no birds or animals of any kind in any of these photos but one, the one with the bus and showing a wagon on the field. Sad, no pigeons, no squirrels not even rats can survive there.

it looks like 70-80th in USSR...but more worse!!!

Socialist posters? Wouldn't they be communist? Or are they trying to say they are socialist to its people?

Ok, unless this is from years ago most pictures aren't actually illegal and would present no problem for North-Korean authorities or guides. The pictures involving soldiers or the only partly photographed statue are not allowed so they are the only ones that have to be smuggled out and kept away from the guides' attention. Taking pictures from the train of from the bus is generally no problem. Generally, I don't think they're bothered with staging scenes for tourists. They simply won't take you to sensitive areas. By the way, the guides don't tell you when to sleep or wake up. Just like any guided tour they tell you when they will pick you up in the morning (of course, you're required to have woken up ;) ) and they leave you at start of diner. Unlike any normal guided tour they won't leave you alone in between those moments. Well, plenty to hide from you of course. Even though you only get to see the window dressing, it's a fascinating country to visit.

To the Photographer: I just returned from Iran and published about 50 photos of the inside of that nation, and NONE of them had people, license plates, addresses, etc. of people that could get anyone in trouble. I think you should have known better.

I was in North Korea last year, and looking at this reportage, i feel a bit uncomfortable, for what the author mostly tries to stress the negative / dangerousness of his trip, which doesn't reflect my impressions. I personnaly had very nice and attentive guides, who were eager to show the the most of their city, and share about their life experience. People in the street, even though not used to foreigners, were also nice and welcoming. Last about pictures: taking them where you re not supported to really is not smart. You put someone that helped you all along in a delicate positiont.Not smart, especially since contrary to what we read here, you are allowed to take pictures pretty much all the time Personnaly, i really liked it, and regret a bit that kind of "alarming" photo shoots

The people look and act like robots. Their faces are completely blank. I couldn't find a single photo showing anything even approaching a smile. This is truly a totalitarian country.

For anyone who doubts the veracity of what the OP says, I'd suggest watching Vice's documentary on North Korea: http://www.vice.com/video/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3 As for me, I lived for two years in South Korea and visited the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between South and North Korea and I kid you not, you're not even allowed to look at North Korean soldiers for a few seconds out of curiosity or they'd take it as an open declaration of war.

I am so greatful to see these photographs. Sometimes, it seems the US is falling into a pit of some kind of dictatorship, then I see these and wonder if we are not being warned. At the least we are still able to have a fair information highway. Keep it up. Thank you!

What a f*****g liar.

I rather enjoyed the visual trip. Thank you for sharing. I'm not into bashing, the main reason being . . . . my mother remembers Korea as ONE country, lived through WWII, and the Korean War to seek freedom from her own country so she didn't have to live as second class citizen. I don't understand criticism of your visual trip for curious viewers like me. Perhaps if one grew up with such awareness there wouldn't be so many opinions, but rather appreciation. I touched on North Korea briefly in my own style at www.GStreetJewels.com

I have viewed your pics of NK and I am inviting you to come and tour Nigeria for comparison.

How terribly depressing, the fact that no pictures are allowed, the fact that the people dont look happy, the fact that the buildings look grey&forboding, the fact that your guide (who is only a guide after all) takes away your property(passports)then lies about not being able to go anywhere without him(thats incase you speak to anyone who does not wish to live like that), the fact that you took the pictures anyway (what of your 'Guide Will he be punished for failing to uphold the tourist laws)...Not one animal in sight, not one smiling face...How sad!

I can EASILY find living conditions in the USA that are FAR worse than anything seen here

I think the photographer should have blurred out the faces. Because everyone of those people in those photographs are witnesses to you and who your guide is.And if North Korea has mass surveillance then they can find out exactly when those people were there at the time those photos were taken in order to find out which tour guide was on duty. Nice photos but your carelessness probably caused some poor guy and his family to be sent to a slave labor camp or worse.

I just read a book about North Korea, it is about a family who managed to survive generations and have escaped to south korea. If you want to know what North Korea is like, listen to the people who lived there for generations. This book made me so sad that at one point I had to put it down and cry. But it also was incredibly informative of a world where very few people are able to escape. It is incredibly eye-opening and also inspiring. The one thing about this family is they had faith, which in North Korea, if there is any talk discovered by the government that you have any kind of faith in any religion besides worshiping their leaders, they are sent to prison, and usually sentenced to death for. This family survived because of their faith, from world war II all the way to the present. I highly recommend reading this, it will change your life and the way you see the world! https://www.amazon.com/These-are-Generations-Eric-Foley/dp/0615678351

These photos seem very typical of every Asian country. North Korea, and her citizens, look very normal and not starving (!), so that is good.

To the photographer: I came back from Iran and posted about 50 photos of all parts, but NONE of them had people. You should know better than to publish faces, addresses, license plates etc. of people doing things things that may be considered "undesirable".

Beautiful photos.

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The Floor 5 thing is a myth... It's just a staff-only part of the hotel and the spying rumour was started by guides as a joke long ago. These photos are pretty good (some of them, anyway) but the comments make them sound more exciting and daring, and yet are often misleading about the realities of life in North Korea. The title, too, smacks of clickbait. http://davidswills.com/2016/03/15/photos-from-inside-north-korea-pt-1/