View allAll Photos Tagged Pyongyang
I think this one was this year's miss June on the PYTG.com site. Still, I love that whistle.
If you look at this one: www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/3994562128/
I think you see the same girl for the third year in a row. Not that I mind at all. She did come over to us after her shift and smiled at us. I could not ask for a photo after we had shot so many.
View of Pyongyang from the Juche Tower. In the distance is the May Day Stadium, where the Mass Games are held.
North Korea - Pyongyang - USS Pueblo.
On January 23, 1968, the USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel, is engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast when it is intercepted by North Korean patrol boats. According to U.S. reports, the Pueblo was in international waters almost 16 miles from shore, but the North Koreans turned their guns on the lightly armed vessel and demanded its surrender. The Americans attempted to escape, and the North Koreans opened fire, wounding the commander and two others. With capture inevitable, the Americans stalled for time, destroying the classified information aboard while taking further fire. Several more crew members were wounded.
Finally, the Pueblo was boarded and taken to Wonson. There, the 83-man crew was bound and blindfolded and transported to Pyongyang, where they were charged with spying within North Korea's 12-mile territorial limit and imprisoned. It was the biggest crisis in two years of increased tension and minor skirmishes between the United States and North Korea.
The United States maintained that the Pueblo had been in international waters and demanded the release of the captive sailors. With the Tet Offensive raging 2,000 miles to the south in Vietnam, President Lyndon Johnson ordered no direct retaliation, but the United States began a military buildup in the area. North Korean authorities, meanwhile, coerced a confession and apology out of Pueblo commander Bucher, in which he stated, "I will never again be a party to any disgraceful act of aggression of this type." The rest of the crew also signed a confession under threat of torture.
The prisoners were then taken to a second compound in the countryside near Pyongyang, where they were forced to study propaganda materials and beaten for straying from the compound's strict rules. In August, the North Koreans staged a phony news conference in which the prisoners were to praise their humane treatment, but the Americans thwarted the Koreans by inserting innuendoes and sarcastic language into their statements. Some prisoners also rebelled in photo shoots by casually sticking out their middle finger; a gesture that their captors didn't understand. Later, the North Koreans caught on and beat the Americans for a week.
On December 23, 1968, exactly 11 months after the Pueblo's capture, U.S. and North Korean negotiators reached a settlement to resolve the crisis. Under the settlement's terms, the United States admitted the ship's intrusion into North Korean territory, apologized for the action, and pledged to cease any future such action. That day, the surviving 82 crewmen walked one by one across the "Bridge of No Return" at Panmunjon to freedom in South Korea. They were hailed as heroes and returned home to the United States in time for Christmas. Incidents between North Korea and the United States continued in 1969, and in April 1969 a North Korean MiG fighter shot down a U.S. Navy intelligence aircraft, killing all 31 men aboard. In 1970, quiet returned to the demilitarized zone.
The "old" fun fair in Pyongyang not far from Mangyongdae ist still active for visitors at some days.
DPRK, Sept 2011 (scanned slide)
See Pyongyang Metro for similar shot.
Construction of the metro network started in 1968, and was opened in September 1973 by former President Kim Il-sung. In 1971, there was a major accident during the construction of a tunnel under the Taedong River for the Ponghwa station. Some sources say at least 100 workers died in the accident. This particular piece of tunnel was never completed; the metro network is now completely located on the western side of the river.
Pyongyang Metro is the deepest metro in the world—the track is approximately 110 meters (about 360 feet) deep underground. ~Wiki
The view of Pyongyang from the Juche Tower. A wider-angle photo including the buildings featured in the previous two images.
This is the best job cos every day thousands of people come in Mansudae hill to pay respect to the giant statue of Kim Il Sung, all along the year. For how long?
© Eric Lafforgue
There is a big construction program in Pyongyang, with new buildings in the center of the town and a new area not far from the airport. Everything must be finished for 2012, the year of the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung.
© Eric Lafforgue
Thousands of students train for a torch march and parade near Kim Il Sung square in the centre of Pyongyang.
DPRK, Pyongyang, April 2007, (scanned slide)
We took Air Koryo flight JS-6301 to Samjiyon. With six departures, this was an exceptionally busy day for Pyongyang International Airport. Normally, it handles only one or two flights a day.
Reviewing my NK pics now as I am going to SK two weeks later. (can't wait!!! not in working mood at all!)
any recommendations? any "must-see" places?^^
shot was taken on 3rd.Sep.2008, Pyongyang.
Musical performance at the Children's Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea.
The Mangyongdae Children's Palace (or Mangyongdae School Children's Palace) in Pyongyang is a public facility in North Korea where children are engaged in extra-curricular activities, such as learning music, foreign languages, computing skills and doing sports. It was established on May 2, 1989 and it is situated in Kwangbok (Liberation) Street, in the north of Mangyongdae-guyok. It is the largest of the many palaces in North Korea dedicated to children's after school activities. In front of the Children's Palace there are a grand sculpture group and two enormous fountains, rising 90 and 100 meters.
The Mangyongdae Children's Palace has 120 rooms, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, and a 2000 seat theater. The Mangyongdae Children's Palace is not to be confused with the Pyongyang Children's Palace situated in the north of the Kim Il Sung Square and founded in 1963.
On my first day in Pyongyang, we were taken up to the top of Juche Tower for sunset. What a commanding view of the city! I think people are generally surprised to see what Pyongyang really looks like, and just how big (and small) it is. I hope that someday, I can visit the top of Juche Tower again.
On the far left is the Yanggakdo Hotel where I stayed (literally on an island in the Taedong River). In the center is the Kim Il-sung square, which you've undoubtedly seen if you've ever seen a North Korean military parade on TV. A bit further to the right, piercing the skyline at 105 stories is the famed Ryugyong Hotel, which was undergoing a bit of a facelift at the time as it was being covered in shiny new glass. Finally, to the far right is the Rungnado May Day Stadium, one of the largest stadiums in the world where I saw the Mass games.
Vista del río Taedong y Pyongyang desde la Torre Juche. El edificio que se ve en la isla en medio del río Taedong, es el hotel Yanggakdo.
View of the Taedong River and Pyongyang from Juche Tower. The building you see on the island in the Taedong River, is the Yanggakdo hotel.
April 2012 trip to DPRK, North Korea for the 100th year birthday celebrations for Kim Il Sung - check out my North Korea blog at americaninnorthkorea.com/