North Korea, while a terrible place to live and the exact image of what can be wrong with a country both internally and externally, is still a very interesting place that a lot of people are interested in as it feels like it’s disconnected from the real world and thus reality. The people there have zero idea what the rest of the world is actually like, what television or movies can be and definitely what the internet really is. So, the “Hermit Kingdom” as it’s known, does draw a lot of interest from people who risk their lives by traveling there to learn more about what it’s like to live under the hyper-strict dictatorship of the Kim family. One of those people was Michal Huniewicz, who risked his life even more by taking “illegal” pictures while on his extremely controlled (and choreographed) sight-seeing trips. So, let’s check out the first part of a three-part series of illegally taken pictures from his trip to North Korea (illegal in that there are a ton of rules about taking pictures on these trips which include not taking pictures from the train, not taking pictures of their soldiers from certain angles and as you’ll see, not taking pictures of statues that didn’t include the entire statue).
25. Real North Koreans Crossing the Street
24. North Koreans on the Bus (Note the Lack of Smart Phones)
23. Waiting for the Train to Pass from One of MANY Dirt Roads Outside Pyongyang
22. A Waitress Works While Propaganda Blasts from the TV Behind Her
21. Street Cleaners Work (with Brooms) Under the Constant Watch of a Soldier
20. A Train Full of Human Feces Waits to Be Sold for Fertilizer (Which is Why It’s Thought Most Every North Korean has Parasites like a Tape Worm)
19. A Staged Photo at the Train Station Showing the Difference Between What’s Real and What Isn’t
18. Workers Carry Something While the Mental Toll of their Existence is Evident on their Faces
17. One (of Many) Documents Stating that Tourists Can’t Bring Items Like Lap Tops into the Country
16. Told You There Were a Lot of Documents, Mostly Restricting the Ability of People to Leave their Controlled Groups to Explore the Country on their Own
15. What the Train Station Really Looks Like (This is Where Foreigners Enter the Country)
14. A Man Relieving Himself, Definitely Something that Could Land Him in a Work Camp
13. Another “Illegal” Photo as All Pictures of North Korean Soldiers Need to Be Taken From Certain Approved Angles
12. Another Illegal Shot of Soldiers from the Train (Another No-No)
11. A North Korean Farm with a Dirt Road and Workers, Which Shows the Real North Korea
10. Another Great Shot of Farmers and their Farms (as Well as the Abundance of Dirt Roads Outside Pyongyang)
9. Another Restricted Shot of 50’s Era Architecture that is Seemingly Dark Inside
8. The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge that Connects North Korea to Southeastern China (Which has Been a Point of Contention During the Recent North Korean Nuclear Tests and Subsequent Sanctions)
7. A Half-Empty Grocery Store
6. Guard Towers as Seen from the Train, Showing Just How Controlling the Regime is as the Countryside is Peppered with Countless Towers Like This to Ensure that People Can’t Escape/Protest/Revolt
5. Another Shot of the Real Korea, Dirt Roads and Sadness
4. Another Staged Shot, Which is a Good Juxtaposition to #5
3. A Double Negative: Showing Soldiers from the “Wrong” Angle and also Taking a Picture of the Statues of their Former Leader(s) Without Showing the Entire Statue (Which is a Rule for Some Reason)
2. A Bus Showing that it’s Not Just Tourists Who Are Constantly Monitored, as Citizens Need Permits to Travel Outside their City
1. Perhaps the Worst of Them All, Children Working the Fields In Order for Their Families to Have Enough to Eat
