Child is king of the country
By Yanis Chan We arrived at the June 9th Middle School at 2.40pm, just after extra-curricular activities had started. Students in North Korea have a fixed timetable all year through—classes from 8am to 12pm and afterschool activities from 2pm onwards, our guide said. Students are free to choose the activities that suit their talents, from learning musical instruments to studying math. This middle school, named after the date on which...
Foreign currency creates private markets
By Wei Yiyang Philip In the lobby of the Tower of the Juche Idea in Pyongyang, tourist Emily Liu buys a ticket to go to top of the 150-meter-high structure. It costs 300 North Korea won, however, since foreign tourists are not allowed to use North Korean currency, she pays the equivalent official value of 20 Chinese yuan. But Emily’s 20 yuan is actually worth far more than 300 won. Compared with the official rate of 15 won to one...
School children prepare for war
By Chow Wing Man Mari In the school on the model Chongsan-ri Cooperative Farm outside of Pyongyang, colourful paintings cover the walls. If you look a little closer, you’ll notice that many of them are cartoon children killings soldiers with cartoon guns. Children in North Korea are by law supposed to receive 12 years of free education in a structure similar to many developed countries. The school on this model farm, where Kim...
Pyongyang’s elite
By Karthus Lee Just being able to live in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang is a privilege and they keep it that way. A North Korean cannot just move, or even visit, Pyongyang without permission. And leaving Pyongyang requires a travel certificate. If someone from Pyongyang marries outside the city, the city resident has to leave, according to a Chinese media report. As tourists, we were allowed no interaction with locals outside of the...
North Korea’s retro-modern transportation
By Joyce Wong and Thomas Chan Transportation in North Korea is both retro and modern. Most flights into North Korea are on state-owned carrier Air Koryo, with Air China also flying into Pyongyang a few times a week. Air Koryo scored one star out of five on Skytrax, an airline ranking website that looks at a number of criteria including cabin staff service, cabin seating, and onboard catering. The planes are Russian-made Tupolev...
The reason for the dark
By Joey Hung Sunrise to sunset: Natural light dictates the schedule of life in North Korea. Astronauts recently took a photo of the area from 200 miles up. North Korea, sandwiched between China and South Korea, looks like a black hole or a dark ocean between the two brightly lit countries North Korea has an energy shortage. Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson...
