Lisbon – City Of Street Art
Interesting factsLisbon is a city on Portugal's coast that skillfully combines modern ideas with old world appeal. Lisbon is a world center for street art although…
North Korea, formally the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), occupies the northern half of a peninsula that juts between two great seas. Bounded by the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east, its land frontiers trace the winding courses of the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, where China and Russia stand across the water. To the south lies the Korean Demilitarized Zone, a buffer of barbed wire and silence that separates Pyongyang from Seoul. In this land of steep ranges, volcanic peaks, and narrow valleys, history has left its mark in stone and ideology alike.
From early European explorers came the remark that this terrain resembled “a sea in a heavy gale,” as rolling ridges ripple across some 80 percent of the country. The spine of its mountains carries all of the peninsula’s peaks above 2,000 metres. At 2,744 metres, Paektu Mountain—a volcanic summit revered in local myth and woven into the state’s founding narratives—hovers at the frontier of earth and sky. Other ranges, like Hamgyŏng in the northeast and the central Rangrim highlands, cradle the upland heart of the nation. Only in the west do plains broaden, drawing most inhabitants to their fields and towns.
A humid continental climate shapes the seasons. Siberian winds bring clear, bitter winters, while monsoon currents from the Pacific drape the land in summer heat and rain—nearly three fifths of the annual total falling between June and September. Transitional springs and autumns flicker briefly between these extremes, offering respite and colour.
Rivers thread the hills—most notably the Yalu, which flows nearly 800 kilometres before widening into a delta against China. Forests once cloaked nearly all slopes; though pressures of logging and land use have tested them, more than 70 percent still wear green, nurturing mixed deciduous and coniferous ecoregions.
The Korean Peninsula has been peopled since the Lower Paleolithic, and by the first millennium BCE its northern reaches were already chronicled in Chinese records. Over centuries, the Three Kingdoms—Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla—competed for supremacy. Unification under Silla in the late seventh century gave way to the balanced reign of Goryeo (918–1392), whose name lives on in “Korea,” and then to the long rule of Joseon (1392–1897).
The Korean Empire (1897–1910) was short-lived. In 1910, the Japanese annexation absorbed the peninsula into a colonial structure that sought to suppress local culture, language, and religion. After Japan’s defeat in 1945, Korea was cleaved along the 38th parallel. The Soviet Red Army occupied north of the line; the United States, the south. Rival governments emerged in 1948: a Soviet-aligned socialist state in the north, and a Western-aligned republic in the south.
When North Korean forces crossed the border in June 1950, the conflict that followed drew in Chinese troops and United Nations forces. The 1953 Armistice froze front lines near the original divide, creating the DMZ yet leaving no peace treaty. In the war’s aftermath, the DPRK received extensive aid from fellow socialist nations, rebuilding cities and industry. Yet beneath official slogans lay the seeds of isolation. Kim Il Sung, the first supreme leader, wove the philosophy of Juche—self-reliance—into every facet of governance.
As the Cold War thawed in the 1980s, North Korea’s ties with its former patrons frayed. The Soviet collapse in 1991 precipitated economic contraction. Between 1994 and 1998, famine struck, exacerbated by flooding and systemic inefficiency; hundreds of thousands perished, and malnutrition shaped a generation. Despite gradual recovery, the state’s official goal remained the same: a centrally planned economy, state ownership of all enterprises, and collectivized agriculture.
Today’s DPRK is a hereditary totalitarian state, centred on a dynastic cult of personality. Power is vested in the Kim family and the Workers’ Party of Korea, while national ideology fuses Marxist-Leninist frameworks with Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism. Elections occur but offer no genuine choice: candidates run unopposed, and votes affirm pre-selected outcomes.
Every aspect of life—housing, healthcare, education, even food distribution—is administered by the state. Through elaborate Songun, or “military-first” policy, resources funnel to the Korean People’s Army, which stands among the world’s largest, with over 1.2 million active personnel and a growing nuclear arsenal. Outside observers view the regime’s human-rights record as one of the world’s worst.
Society is structured by songbun, a caste-like system tracing family histories across generations to determine loyalty and access. Marriages follow a pattern of extended-family households in modest two-room units; divorce is almost unheard of. With a 2025 population of roughly 26 million, the demographic growth rate remains low—just above zero—hampered by past famine, late marriages after mandatory military service, and housing constraints.
The Korean language unites north and south, yet dialect and vocabulary diverge. In Pyongyang, the “cultured language” of the former Pyongan dialect has been purged of foreign loanwords and hanja characters, reinforcing linguistic self-reliance. Across the country, only the Hangul script is used.
Though officially atheist, the state’s constitution nominally guarantees religious freedom. In practice, worship faces strict limits, and proselytizing is banned on grounds of preventing foreign interference. A small number of sanctioned churches in Pyongyang—three Protestant, one Catholic, one Orthodox—serve mostly as showpieces. Surveys estimate that some 27 percent of citizens adhere to traditional beliefs—Ch’ŏndoism, shamanism, Buddhism—while fewer than half a percent identify as Christian or Muslim.
Cultural policy discards “reactionary” pre-modern elements and reintroduces “folk” forms aligned with revolutionary spirit. Over 190 sites and objects are catalogued as national treasures; an additional 1,800 are protected as cultural assets. UNESCO has inscribed the Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesŏng and the Complex of Koguryŏ Tombs, whose wall paintings hark back to the Goguryeo kingdom’s funerary rites.
Since the 1940s, North Korea has remained one of the world’s most centralized economies. It pursued five-year plans aimed at self-sufficiency, buoyed by aid from the USSR and China. By the 1960s, inefficiencies surfaced: shortages of skilled labour, energy bottlenecks, limited arable land and ageing machinery eroded growth. While South Korea’s economy surged, the north stagnated.
In the early 1990s, the government ceased announcing formal economic plans. Food and housing are largely subsidized; education and health care are free; taxes were abolished in 1974. In the capital, department stores and supermarkets offer a range of goods, but most citizens buy and sell in informal markets—jangmadang—where small-scale trade thrives. Attempts in 2009 to suppress these markets, ban foreign currency and revalue the won sparked inflation and rare public protests, compelling policy reversals.
Industry and services employ 65 percent of the workforce. Major sectors include machine building, mining, metallurgy, chemicals and textiles. Iron ore and coal extraction outpace South Korea by tenfold. Offshore oil surveys have revealed promising reserves. Agriculture, once organized through 3,500 cooperatives and state farms, suffered chronic shortages post-1990s disasters; rice, corn, soy and potatoes remain staples, supplemented by fishing and aquaculture. Specialized plots produce ginseng, matsutake mushrooms and herbs for traditional medicine.
Tourism, though constrained, has been a growth area. The Masikryong ski resort and coastal projects in Wŏnsan aim to attract visitors, but the COVID-19 border closures of 2020–2025 interrupted momentum. Today, the nation seeks to reopen under strict conditions.
Rail lines span some 5,200 kilometres, carrying 80 percent of passengers and 86 percent of freight; blackouts and fuel scarcity often disrupt schedules. A planned high-speed line linking Kaesŏng, Pyongyang and Sinŭiju was approved in 2013, though progress remains opaque.
Roads total over 25,000 kilometres, yet only 3 percent are paved; maintenance is limited. River and sea routes handle just 2 percent of freight, though all ports stay ice-free and a fleet of 158 vessels plies coastal and international routes. Eighty-two airports and 23 helipads serve primarily military or state-run Air Koryŏ flights; Pyongyang International is the sole gateway for civilian travellers arriving from China or Russia. Bicycles are common; cars are rare.
Ordinary meals center on rice, kimchi and banch’an—side dishes that include vegetables, soups and pickles. Okryugwan, Pyongyang’s flagship restaurant, is famed for raengmyŏn (cold noodles), mullet soup, beef-rib stew and seasonal specialties collected by culinary teams scouring the countryside. Soju, a clear spirit distilled from rice or maize, remains the customary liquor.
Electricity shortages shape routines: brownouts can strike without warning, silencing streetlights, stalling lifts and halting jukeboxes in bowling alleys. In the capital’s wakeful evenings, karaoke rooms pulse with off-beat versions of 1980s pop, state-approved folk songs and military tunes—occasions where guests must feign enthusiasm, even as secret police listen. The all-female Moranbong Band, comprising army musicians, performs propaganda-style pop across the nation.
Foreigners may enter only on organized tours, always accompanied by guides from the Korean International Travel Company or select partner agencies worldwide. Visas are typically procured in Beijing; passports are held for registration upon arrival. As of early 2025, most Westerners see the Rason Special Economic Zone; full-country itineraries remain available mainly to Russian visitors.
Costs start around US $1,000 for a five-day package from Beijing, covering lodging, meals and transport. Visitors must bring foreign currency—euros, Chinese renminbi or US dollars—since the North Korean won is confined to souvenir transactions and border zones. Exchange at unofficial rates may vastly exceed official valuations, but laundering won across borders is forbidden.
Minders supervise every step: photographs deemed unflattering must be deleted on the spot; cameras are searched at exit. Military personnel, installations and certain monuments—particularly at the DMZ—are off limits. Within Pyongyang, guests join locals in solemn respects at bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Straying beyond sanctioned areas invites detention, often without due process.
Pyongyang stands as the showcase: Kim Il Sung Square hosts military parades beneath banners; the Grand People’s Study House houses over thirty million volumes, fetched by conveyor. A triumphal arch, taller than its Parisian counterpart, marks loyalty to the regime. The zoo, museums and restaurant clusters offer glimpses of everyday life under watchful eyes.
Outside the capital, Kaesŏng preserves Goryeo-era walls and the UNESCO-listed tomb of King Kongmin. Mount Kumgang and Myohyangsan draw those permitted to hike mist-shrouded forests and visit ancient temples. The DMZ’s Joint Security Area at Panmunjŏm remains both icy tunnel of tension and landmark of frozen conflict—a must-see on any tour.
Hamhŭng, Chŏngjin and Namp’o are industrial hubs, rarely open to casual travellers. In the northeast, Rason operates as a special economic zone and casino enclave. Wŏnsan, recently opened to limited tourism, highlights North Korea’s sole ski resort at Masikryong, along with coastal vistas.
Korean culture, tempered by centuries of foreign rule and ideological reinvention, asserts its own identity in art, music and folklore. Official narratives celebrate revolutionary struggle and leadership brilliance while discarding unwanted traditions. Yet in homes and markets, villagers continue age-old farming methods, elders whisper shamanic chants and artisans carve masks for ancestral rites—echoes of a heritage that the state both harnesses and constrains.
Within its mountains and its monuments, its planned factories and unplanned markets, North Korea remains a nation of contradictions. To the visitor, it offers a glimpse of order under total surveillance and beauty bound by ideology. To the scholar, it poses questions of resilience, adaptation and the very meaning of sovereignty. And to those who dwell there, it is home: a place of deep history, harsh reality and unexpected traces of everyday humanity.
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