• North Korea Guide

  • Introduction to North Korea
  • Weather
  • Getting Around
  • Money
  • Entry Requirements
  • Things Not to Miss

• Explore North Korea

  • Pyongyang
  • Outside Pyongyang

• Cities

  • Kaesong
    
  • Pyongyang
    

North Korea Guide

Pyongyang

• Accommodation
• Eating

The North Korean capital of PYONGYANG could credibly claim to be the most distinctly unique city on the face of the Earth. This city of empty streets, lined with huge grey monuments and buildings, and studded with bronze statues and murals in honour of its idolized leaders, is a strange concrete and marble experiment in socialist realism. It stands as a showcase of North Korean might, with its skyscrapers and wide boulevards giving a feint echo of Le Corbusier's visions of brutalist urban utopia: every street, rooftop, doorway and windowsill has been designed in keeping with a single grand vision. On closer inspection, however, you'll notice that the buildings are dirty and crumbling, and the people under very apparent control.

Every single one of Pyongyang's near three million inhabitants has been vetted and approved by the government, and regards living in the capital as an immense privilege. Life here is far better than in the countryside, though you'll still see signs of poverty: power cuts are commonplace, and each evening the city tumbles into a quiet darkness hard to fathom in a capital city. There's also next to no visible commerce – the city is entirely devoid of the billboards and flashy lights commonplace in a metropolis of this size; instead socialist-realist murals form the only advertising, and vie for attention with the communist slogans screamed in red from the tallest buildings. You'll be taken by bus around a selection of officially sanctioned sights. These include Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where the body of Kim Il-sung lies in state, and Mansudae, his colossal statue; the distinctive granite Juche Tower overlooking the river Taedong River; and the Pyongyang metro, one of the world's most intriguingly secretive subway systems. Pyongyang is also the venue for the amazing Mass Games, which take place at the May Day Stadium. However, regardless of whether you're eating at a restaurant or relaxing in your hotel, you'll be experiencing the city's unmistakably unique feel – Pyongyang is simply fascinating.