In Pictures: A Note from North Korea (Part 2)

Central & South Asia / Culture / 360° Analysis / Korean peninsula / North Korea / Pyongyang / South Korea

In Pictures: A Note from North Korea (Part 2)

1 May 2013
Michael Bassett
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - The Korean Workers' Party (KWP) Foundation Monument in the capital of Pyongyang. It was completed under the rule of Kim Jung Il, and signifies a Stalinist vision of industrial, agricultural, and scholarly workers laboring in unison to build an independent nation.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - The Korean Workers' Party (KWP) Foundation Monument in the capital of Pyongyang. It was completed under the rule of Kim Jung Il, and signifies a Stalinist vision of industrial, agricultural, and scholarly workers laboring in unison to build an independent nation.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural on the wall of a showcase station in the Pyongyang Metro — a pictorial lesson of the history of the construction of the Pyongyang Metro system. It displays a procession of laborers led by an engineer and an architect. In the background, steel factories that bellow steam and rail cars for the transport of raw materials that are waiting in line are depicted.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural on the wall of a showcase station in the Pyongyang Metro — a pictorial lesson of the history of the construction of the Pyongyang Metro system. It displays a procession of laborers led by an engineer and an architect. In the background, steel factories that bellow steam and rail cars for the transport of raw materials that are waiting in line are depicted.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A typical example of a billboard that promotes the unification of the Korean Peninsula which can be found throughout North Korea. This particular billboard depicted was posted in the southern North Korean city of Panmunjom, close to the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ).
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A typical example of a billboard that promotes the unification of the Korean Peninsula which can be found throughout North Korea. This particular billboard depicted was posted in the southern North Korean city of Panmunjom, close to the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ).
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural in the Railway Museum in Pyongyang. It represents the triumph that North Koreans felt after achieving independence from Japan through resistance, and by fighting United States and United Nations' forces to a draw on the Korean Peninsula. North Korean pride in the infrastructural development of their country after years of war is depicted by the simple rail cart used by Kim Il Sung during World War II to the laying of the country's railways.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural in the Railway Museum in Pyongyang. It represents the triumph that North Koreans felt after achieving independence from Japan through resistance, and by fighting United States and United Nations' forces to a draw on the Korean Peninsula. North Korean pride in the infrastructural development of their country after years of war is depicted by the simple rail cart used by Kim Il Sung during World War II to the laying of the country's railways.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A statue of Kim Il Sung that was erected to overlook the southwestern North Korean city of Kaesong, in the Special Economic Zone of the Kaesong Industrial Region — jointly administered by North and South Korea. The photo was taken on the same day that the North Korean government forced workers from South Korea out of the Special Economic Zone during a periodic of diplomatic brinksmanship between the countries.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A statue of Kim Il Sung that was erected to overlook the southwestern North Korean city of Kaesong, in the Special Economic Zone of the Kaesong Industrial Region — jointly administered by North and South Korea. The photo was taken on the same day that the North Korean government forced workers from South Korea out of the Special Economic Zone during a periodic of diplomatic brinksmanship between the countries.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A scene crafted onto the side of a monument celebrating Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il in the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) Foundation Park in Pyongyang. It depicts the union of the labor of soldiers, agriculture and industrial workers, and scholars.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A scene crafted onto the side of a monument celebrating Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il in the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) Foundation Park in Pyongyang. It depicts the union of the labor of soldiers, agriculture and industrial workers, and scholars.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - The Juche Tower by night in Pyongyang. The Juche ideology that guides North Korean society emphasizes self-reliance, self-sufficiency, self-defense, and survival against a hostile outside world.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - The Juche Tower by night in Pyongyang. The Juche ideology that guides North Korean society emphasizes self-reliance, self-sufficiency, self-defense, and survival against a hostile outside world.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A billboard with a typical message found throughout North Korea: "Under the Leadership of the Dear Leader." The photo was taken near Pyongyang.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A billboard with a typical message found throughout North Korea: "Under the Leadership of the Dear Leader." The photo was taken near Pyongyang.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural, painted on the wall of a popular resort at Mount Myohyang in the central region of the country. It is meant to depict the Kim family's great love of the North Korean countryside, and particularly its majestic mountains.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural, painted on the wall of a popular resort at Mount Myohyang in the central region of the country. It is meant to depict the Kim family's great love of the North Korean countryside, and particularly its majestic mountains.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A billboard with a typical message found throughout the country which exhorts the North Korean people to seek "Single-Minded Unity, Strength in National Defense," and independence against the outside world through self-determination and self-reliance. The photo was taken near Pyongyang.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A billboard with a typical message found throughout the country which exhorts the North Korean people to seek "Single-Minded Unity, Strength in National Defense," and independence against the outside world through self-determination and self-reliance. The photo was taken near Pyongyang.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - North Koreans chatting in a public square, in the city of Kaesong that commemorates the history of the Korean Peninsula. The monuments in the square depict an ancient printing press and pottery center.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - North Koreans chatting in a public square, in the city of Kaesong that commemorates the history of the Korean Peninsula. The monuments in the square depict an ancient printing press and pottery center.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural in the Ancient Artifact Museum in Kaesong City that depicts Korean warriors resisting the invasion of Chinese and Japanese armies in battles fought two thousand years ago. North Koreans are strongly encouraged to be proud of their peoples' history and to glorify the act of self-defense against hostile foreign enemies.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A mural in the Ancient Artifact Museum in Kaesong City that depicts Korean warriors resisting the invasion of Chinese and Japanese armies in battles fought two thousand years ago. North Koreans are strongly encouraged to be proud of their peoples' history and to glorify the act of self-defense against hostile foreign enemies.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A billboard in Pyongyang that praises Kim Il Sung and promotes the unity of the Korean people.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A billboard in Pyongyang that praises Kim Il Sung and promotes the unity of the Korean people.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - The Unification Monument near Kaseong City, on the road to the DMZ that all travelers going south must pass under. The monument is a symbol of Kim Il Sung's desire that North Koreans will lead the unification of the entire Korean Peninsula.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - The Unification Monument near Kaseong City, on the road to the DMZ that all travelers going south must pass under. The monument is a symbol of Kim Il Sung's desire that North Koreans will lead the unification of the entire Korean Peninsula.
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A small statue in a monument park near Pyongyang. It is a tribute to the military struggle of the North Korean People's Army against the Japanese, and later the United States and United Nations' forces during the Korean War (1950-1953).
COPYRIGHT © MICHAEL BASSETT - A small statue in a monument park near Pyongyang. It is a tribute to the military struggle of the North Korean People's Army against the Japanese, and later the United States and United Nations' forces during the Korean War (1950-1953).

Read Michael Bassett's article, "Beyond Brinksmanship: An Analysis of the Asia Pivot Strategy".

View "In Pictures: A Note From North Korea (Part 1)".

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