Couple of random examples:
* Walking around Pyongyang in the winter. [1]
* Going to a computer store in Pyongyang. [2]
[0] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvCf_q10UZkUJE0lOav0ag
They used to sell imported goods like TVs, bicycles, cameras, typewriters etc etc, but only in exchange for American Dollars.
You couldn't legally buy American Dollars in Poland - the only way to legally obtain them was to have them sent over from abroad by a relative(you could buy them from the national bank for business, but it was a massive pain to get the necessary permissions).
I just think it's interesting, as the experience looks similar, except that the korean store takes korean won. On the other hand, I imagine only members of the korean elite are allowed in that store, while anyone could at least enter a PEWEX and marvel at the imported goods.
In the winter video, a few things jump out at me:
- The environment seems depressingly spartan and utilitarian. Everything is drab. And yet this it he capital city.
- Virtually no one is walking with anyone else. There are a few exceptions, but it looks as if conversation is essentially absent when out and about.
- In a manner, it's boggling to consider where all of these people are coming from and going to. With no commerce, every building looks like it might as well be an apartment building. The feeling I get is like watching the rote movement you would see in a computer simulation of a city. A lot of movement, but with what purpose?
- Even though there is only very minimal traffic, it seems like crosswalks are not common, so the Youtuber keeps using pedestrian underpasses.
They're walking for transportation. Consider that in the US most cars on the road have only one occupant.
Big roads with lots of space between high rise building blocks. Not a lot of shops or other activities on the side or roads designed to move people, not keep them "idling."
Any idea what's up with that? Am I interpreting the price wrong?
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/05/north-korean-e...
https://www.nknews.org/2015/04/north-korea-the-most-expensiv...
We had something similar here (former Czechoslovakia, Tuzex shops) and probably in most of the other socialist countries (eg. Poland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pewex).
The only way to pay in these stores was to use special cheques. These were obtainable only in exchange for "western money", typically US Dollars, British Pounds, or German Marks.
And of course, there was a black market for them, with prices going as much as five times their nominal value (80s in Czechoslovakia, don't know about Poland and others, but I imagine it was quite similar).
[1]- http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=100000&F...
[2]- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6-discontinued-...
[1] https://youtu.be/uLvJgOgW4hk?t=245 [2] https://youtu.be/uLvJgOgW4hk?t=505
Personality cult propaganda doesn't count as "advertising"?
"#NOTE: I am not a diplomat and didn’t work for embassy.#"
I have no doubt that a small number of foreigners live and work in North Korea, move around freely without minders, and are allowed to have cameras and make videos, but how do they get the footage out? Even if they work at some university and have access to the internet, I very much doubt it's unrestricted like that.
I am willing to believe some of them might smuggle it out, but this guy walks around and behaves like it's nobody's business.