11. A view that the officials of North Korea try to hide from the rest of the world.
Although the citizens are well dressed and have to behave around most tourist destinations, there is another side that officials keep in the dark; just like the one above.
12. A minute or two after leaving the train, the visitors all squeezed into a minivan that would be their second home for the entire stay.
Upon arriving at Pyongyang, visitors are not allowed to wander from the station. They are immediately forced into a minivan, which is where they spend most of their time. Visitors are allowed to carry their smartphones with them but there will be no available reception or WiFi.
Apart from that, when the tour is over, each individual has to hand over their phone to an official who will thoroughly check them and make sure there are no pictures that portray the country in a bad way.
13. Pyongyang is meant to be a utopian showcase for foreign visitors.
The drivers of minivans are trained to slow down whenever the surroundings were impressive and speed up whenever they were less pleasant. This was done in order to eliminate the chance of any visitor getting a good shot of the real face of North Korea.
14. The fifth floor of the hotel is entirely dedicated to the surveillance of the guests.
Visitors who arrive at the hotel notice that the elevator does not have a button for the 5th floor. According to several sources, the 5th floor of the Yanggakdo Hotel is solely dedicated to monitor the guests and their activities. Now that’s not creepy at all.
15. The difference between North Korea and China becomes even more apparent at night.
The night clearly shows the difference between North Korea and China. When the Sun goes down, North Korea plunges into total darkness and Dandong, China, becomes a brilliant metropolis. The bridge shown in the picture is the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which connects Dandong with the city of Sinuiju, North Korea.
16. Children doing their laundry in the river.
17. People waiting for their turn to get into a bus.
Since the citizens are forbidden from owning cars, they rely mostly on buses as a form of transportation. The image above shows the daily routine for North Koreans and their struggle to get to work.
18. Heartbreaking scene: A man plucking grass to suppress his hunger.
Most North Korean citizens suffer from starvation and malnutrition because of the scarcity in food. The forbidden image above was captured by Eric Lafforgue, shows a man plucking grass to feast on. Tourist guides try to keep visitors away from such scenes and ban them from taking pictures but photographer Lafforgue managed to capture this heartbreaking moment.
19. A desperate mother selling cigarettes and sweets on the side of the road to provide for her children.
20. Workers lack even the basic safety equipment required.
Although Pyongyang has two power stations, the electricity supply is in a perpetual state of emergency. Neither stations are capable of producing enough electricity to power more than one district at a time. Apart from that, the workers lack even the most basic equipment to keep them safe.
The photographs shown in the article were taken by Michal Huniewicz and Eric Lafforgue. Lafforgue was banned from ever visiting North Korea again, after the pictures were released to the public.
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