Ian
priscilla 1Life In North Korea
October 19th 2009 01:20
Life in poverty-stricken North Korea
As reported on the BBC, Italian journalist Piergiorgio Pescali has been a regular visitor to North Korea since 1995. His most recent visits, in June and August this year, took him to the capital Pyongyang as well as to rarely visited places in the countryside. Here is a selection of his photos. More can be seen at the BBC here.
Roads in North Korea are poorly maintained except for the highways connecting the big cities. The heavy rains of the summer months have triggered landslides causing further damage to the road infrastructure.
After the 2002 reforms, the incomes of workers became proportional to their productivity. But frequent power cuts mean that high production levels cannot be guaranteed, often leaving workers with salaries that are not big enough to survive on.
The government is relaxing its control on religion. There's one Catholic and two Protestant churches in Pyongyang. North Korea is keen on having a better relationship with the Vatican to bring it closer to the EU.
While shops in the countryside are empty, you can find anything in this department store in Pyongyang - from Japanese LCD TVs to American Coca Cola. This kind of store accepts only US dollars and Japanese yen, so very few people can shop here.
| 48 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
