Recent Google Earth satellite imagery of central Pyongyang shows that three new apartment buildings are going up in the Workers’ Party Complex next to the “Red Wall” apartment buildings and just north of the Organization and Guidance Department:
Pictured above (Google Earth: 39.022592°, 125.742889°): Images of the new housing construction in Central Pyongyang. Image Dates: 2012-6-20, 2012-10-13.
This is the second visible residential renovation in the area following the updating of Residence No. 15 (in 2009-2010):
The buildings surrounding the new construction house KWP VIPs, doctors, secretariat staff, guard command staff, and deputy directors, so it is likely that these new buildings will also house the families of new VIPs.
The buildings are being constructed on a tract of land that previously served as garden plots for nearby residents.
On Yanggak Island (Yanggakdo) we can see the new health complex taking shape where the golf course used to be:
Here is a poster of the completed project which is on display on Yanggak Island:
NK News gets creative: The innovative and informative NKNews.org is selling goodies this holiday season to fund its operations (I wish I had thought of that). When I saw these playing cards, I laughed out loud:
Inside Air Koryo:Martyn Williams notified me of this web page put up by tourists that took an aviation tour in the DPRK. Some incredible photos to be seen. Here is just one:
The photo set also includes interior pictures of the “famous” Ilyushin-14 given to Kim Il-sung. UPDATE: The source claims that Stalin gave the plane to Kim Il-sung in 1955, however, as a reader points out, Stalin died in 1953.
Mobile phones: A few days ago, NK News posted a link to these photos taken by Russian tourists to the DPRK. Among the lot was this great photo of North Koreans filming/photographing fireworks in Pyongyang with their mobile phones:
Rodong Sinmun photoshop: Perhaps it is unfair to hold Rodong Sinmun to the highest standards of professional journalism, but if you are going to photo-shop a picture, at least put some effort into it:
Click picture for larger version.
I am unsure why Rodong Sinmun felt compelled to badly photoshop what would otherwise have been a lovely photo. Is it really so hard to get a photo of a girl playing a violin in front of her (very loyal) family?
Rodong Sinmun has inspired me to coin a new word: Frankenphoto. Here is a working definition: When all of the compositional elements of a single photo were originally copied from separate pieces and painfully (badly) rendered together into a new image that at times seems to violate the laws of nature.
Just weird [revised]: Below is a very strange act that appeared on North Korean television. I did not understand it at all. After posting it, however, a reader informs me that is is a knock off of an act that appeared on Soviet Television. The original Latvian actor was named Arkady Raikin (Аркадий Райкин). See video of Raikin here. Wikipedia page here.
In this North Korean version, skip to the 3:26 mark. New characters emerge at 5:26, 7:08, 8:17, 10:06.
UPDATE: The Choson Ilbo, Yonhap, Guardian, Telegraph, and BBC all published this satellite photo without crediting the source–this web page. Thanks guys. Very classy.
ORIGINAL POST (2012-11-19): I am taking a break from blogging during Thanksgiving week. During the interval, I will leave you with an interesting image from Google Earth…
While going over new satellite imagery of Ryanggang Province, I noticed for the first time hill-side propaganda praising Kim Jong-un:
The propaganda reads “Long live the sun of Songun (military-first) Korea, General Kim Jong-un!” and it is positioned just behind the Samsu Power Station (Google Earth Coordinates: 41.308824°, 128.157993°).
Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. To everyone else, have a good week!
Although this site does not focus on human rights issues, I wanted to quickly point out a recent publication that is the result of a collaboration between Joseph Bermudez (Digital Globe and author of The Armed Forces of North Koreaand KPA Jounrnal) and The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK). It offers new satellite imagery and analysis of the DPRK’s camp 22.
Comrade Kim goes Flying: [Official web page here]The new North Korean film got an audience at the Busan International Film festival. According to Yonhap:
The film, which cost approximately 1 million euros to produce, is a three-way collaboration between North Korea filmmaker Kim Gwang-hun, Daelemans, and British entrepreneur Nick Bonner, whose Beijing-based company, Koryo Tours, has been taking global tourists into North Korea since 1993.
…
“Where this film differs from North Korean movies, though there are North Korean romantic comedies, is that this is a film about girl power,” said Bonner. “It is a film about a young girl achieving her dream — for herself.”
…
“When we wrote the script it was never our intention to put propaganda in but to make a movie for North Korean people, that is why we had to make those lines,” conceded Daelemans. “We tried to avoid putting a Western stamp on the movie, we wanted to stay as close to North Korean culture as possible.”
The filmmakers say they suffered no censorship from Pyongyang authorities, but there were cross-cultural issues — one of which appears specially designed to sink a romantic comedy.
“In Europe, a kiss is nothing on film, but in North Korea, a kiss is not possible,” said Daelemans. “But that is not so strange — in Bollywood films they don’t kiss either.”
While no romantic comedy might be expected to focus on the North Korean issues that capture headlines — missiles, nuclear programs, human rights abuses, malnutrition — the film’s publicist is working to ensure that cynical reporters pick up the film’s positive vibe.
The Busan audience on Wednesday, largely youthful South Koreans, appeared charmed, laughing at all the right moments.
“It was a bit like South Korean soap operas and home dramas with family settings,” said audience member Hwang Yun-mi, a 32-year-old teacher of English and film studies. “It was not alien to me.”
It is too early yet to discuss commercial releases. Their North Korean partners hold the rights in North Korea, while Bonner and Daelemans have the rights for the rest of the world.
They may hope to fare commercially better than the last European-North Korean co-production: The forgettable Italian-North Korean actioner “Tenzan: The Ultimate Mission” (1988) was described by one reviewer as “truly lamentable.”
However, a key market may be tricky to enter. With South and North Korea technically at war, all Pyongyang media is blocked by Seoul authorities, making it uncertain whether “Comrade Kim” can be viewed by South Koreans outside film festivals, where censorship is lifted.
Even so, Bonner said that South Korean authorities last month granted special permission for the film’s cast to visit South Korea for the festival; unfortunately, there was no time to arrange their visit. And he was delighted at South Koreans’ reaction to the film’s Busan premiere.
“Showing this film here, right now, having Han Jong-shim being loved in the north of the country and for you in the south to love her too — that is more than Anja and me could ever have dreamt,” he said following the screening.
The Associated Press has also released some more footage of the film:
Korean war footage: While exploring YouTube, I found this video made from USAF archival footage. It shows USAF pilots planning and executing an attack on railway bridges in Anju and what used to be the Nampho Smelter. Quite interesting:
Pyongyang Sinmun Advert: According to the Korea Times:
The ads in the Pyongyang Sinmun include those for flowers and flowerpots; “hanbok” or traditional Korean dress; and a water-heating device using solar power. Analysts say new leader Kim Jong-un is tinkering with the economy after pledging to improve living conditions.
Flower kiosks have gone up in several places in Pyongyang–most notably at the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital (how thoughtful). I suppose flower consumption is on the rise!
The solar powered water heaters are produced in a factory in Mangyongdae. Based on discussions with former North Koreans I assume these water heaters are valued for providing warm bathing water–a rarity for many North Koreans.
This is what wikipedia has to say about the Pyongyang Sinmun:
Pyongyang Sinmun (Pyongyang News) is a North Korean newspaper founded on 1 June 1957 by Kim Il-sung.[1] It launched an online version on 1 January 2005.[2] It is published by the Workers’ Party of Korea Pyongyang Municipal Committee[3] six times per week under the editorship of Song Rak Gyun.[4]
Date: October 18th (Thursday), 6:30pm
Location: New York: Learning Center, Unification Church, 4W 43rd Street (2 blocks from Grand Central Station)
Tickets are free but seating is limited. To RSVP, please visit us at www.hanconcert.org
There are increasing evidence of outside media trickling into the tightly locked country- South Korean dramas are a hit in the North Korean black markets. Will Korean popular culture (K-pop) be the new ping-pong diplomacy? Will the increase in informational flow have an impact in the general North Korean psyche- is a North Korean Arab Spring to be expected?
ORIGINAL POST (2012-9-9): This weekend KCTV updated their news format to give it a more modern appearance. See the videos bleow.
In recent years, the appearance of the the DPRK evening news has changed several times (following decades of the same unchanging format). See hereand here to learn more about past changes at KCTV.
Martyn Williams provides additional details at North Korea Tech. See here and here.
Above I have mapped out the borders of Gangnam (Kangnam/강남), including the town(읍) and all the villages (리), on Google Earth.
If you want to experience some inter-Korean culture shock, and get an idea of just how wide the gulf between the two Koreas has grown, I offer this video of Gangnam (North Korea) which aired on KCTV on 2011-9-24:
If anyone can put this to the real “Gangnam Style” video music, please do so and send me the link!
UPDATE: A Korean friend (Mr. Park) has told me that in South Korea “Gangnam” means “South of the Han River”. This makes sense because in the Korean spelling, Gangnam/강남, 강=river and 남=south. So it is probably the case that the North Korean “Kangnam” would mean “South of the Taedong River”.
