Pablo

I would like to visit PY ONGYA NG in North Korea.

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 * = Some history about the city. =

Pyongyang was founded in 2333 BC as Wanggomsong. Pyongyang has been the capital city of many different Korean kingdoms and it used to be a happy city until 1945, when Japan lost Korea and the Russians occupied the North of Korea and supported communism.



Traditional Korean top soldiers. Pyongyang used to be like this around 1450.


 * = Pyongyang today. =

North Korea is a communist dictatorship where most people are starving and only members of the Workers' Party of Korea (the only political party in the country) have a good life.

However, Pyongyang is still a nice place to live for North Koreans since it's different from the rest of the country. Pyongyang is a big city, but it's different from the rest of the big cities in the world: there's no internet, videogames, immigrants or even fashion in this city.

North Koreans are COMPLETELY isolated from the rest of the world, they can't escape from the country or else they would get killed. Also, if you get to go into North Korea without a special invitation, you will get killed.

This is a very special picture because you can see some cars. There are almost no cars in this country. Arirang games, North Korean mass games (officially "The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang") are held in Pyongyang for several months just to entertain the party's members. Ryugyong hotel. This hotel was supposed to be finished some years ago, however, they couldn't do it on time so they just stopped building. You can see on the right what this hotel should look like.

Kim Il-sung died in 1994, but he is still the president of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He founded North Korea and created their own ideology: Juche ideology. He is called "The Eternal President". When Kim Il-sung died, his son, Kim Jong-il became the new leader of North Korea. He is now the Supreme Leader of the DPRK, but citizens call him "The Dear Leader". Due to his father's health problems, Kim Jong-un (Kim Jong-il's youngest son) assumed the leadership of North Korea, however he won't be North Korea's leader until his father dies.
 * = President of North Korea? =

Communism in North Korea is an extreme communism. Marxism-Leninism used to be North Korea's political ideology, but their new one is called "Juche". Juche means that man is the most important thing in the universe and can control everything. Korean soldiers and the flag of the party. As you can see, their symbol is a bit different from the "hammer and sickel" symbol. Their symbol is a hammer for the workers, a hoe for the peasants and a brush for the intellectuals.
 * = Dangerous communism =

Communist propaganda.

North Korea has one of the most powerful armies in the world and it's also the country with more soldiers per capita. North Korea is nowadays the greatest threat to stability in the world.

After the Korean War, both Koreas developed in different ways: the capitalist South Korea became a rich and developed country while the communist North Korea became poor and is said to be the worst country to live in. You can see in this picture of Eastern Asia at night how North Korea is completely dark except Pyongyang and some other places while South Korea is shining. There's no internet connection in North Korea while South Korea has the fastest connection in the world.
 * = Two Koreas, two completely different countries. =

Most people in North Korea think South Korea is a poor country where children get killed by evil US soldiers everyday because they have no connection with the rest of the world. But as you can see, that's not true: S outh Kore a No rth Kor ea South Korean flag North Korea flag South Korean people North Korean people Seoul Tower in Seoul --- Juche Tower in Pyongyang Namdaemun gate in Seoul --- Communist parade in Pyongyang Samsung Complex in Gangnam District (Seoul). Tribute to the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang.

It is true that there are lots of issues concerning North Korea and South Korea's relationship. But Koreans in both sides hope to reunify one day. Korea is a small nation between two of the most powerful countries in history: China and Japan, and they have been invaded by Chinese, Japanese, Mongolians and Russians in their history. But they have managed to stay as a country with one different culture and language. So most Koreans are proud of their heritage.
 * = Two countries, one nation. =

Korean Unification flag. Korean reunification propaganda in North Korea. Korean reunification monument in Pyongyang. South Korean flag is commonly associated with Taekwondo, but it was actually a person from Pyongyang who devoloped this martial art. Taekwondo is part of Korean culture though it was developed under the Japanese imperialism. (Hyundai's founder was also born in North Korea).

> = Google Map s. = So this is Pyongyang on Google Maps:
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