Gallery: North Korea in Videos: Inside the World's Most Secretive State
01Metro
In late November, I had the opportunity to visit North Korea for a rare peek inside the most secretive country on Earth. All foreigner-oriented tours display a carefully managed, intentionally curated side of the country; with no opportunity for cross-examination, such visits don’t facilitate a journalistic treatment of life in North Korea. But the trip was fascinating nonetheless, full of revelations both sobering (kindergardens adorned with graphically anti-American murals) and mundane (people smile when smiled at). In this gallery, brief iPhone videos from Pyongyang offer windows into North Korea. No attempt is made to read the tea leaves or separate truth from stagecraft; the interpretation is up to you. ### Pyongyang Metro A walk through the Yonggwang Metro platform, the jewel of Pyongyang's underground train system. The underground stations are ornate but dimly lit: patrons squint to read posted newspapers while patriotic music echoes faintly across the stone floor. Mosaics and metallic reliefs extolling the virtues of North Korean workers and landscapes line the walls, while inside the cars, smiling portraits of past leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il look down on passengers. For more, check out my [gallery of photos of the Metro](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/inside-north-koreas-underground-metro-system/). *Video: Jeffrey Marlow*
02Dancing Soldiers
### Dancing North Korean Soldiers The TV in our tourist-accessible hotel received 10 channels, one of which was an official North Korean channel transmitting a nearly continuous stream of patriotic music videos. The subject matter of these dated, grainy, over-acted videos invariably involved soldiers, monuments, or crashing waves. This video compiles three short clips. The first is a live performance of dancers in soldier attire; the second demonstrates the requisite patriotic fervor and leads into a newscast; the third goes for the heartstrings, showing a wounded soldier, supported by his regiment. *Video: Jeffrey Marlow*
03Study House
### Grand People's Study House The scene inside the Music Appreciation Room of the imposing Grand People's Study House, where rows of stereos are ready for action. On the left side of the room, TVs are available, and a handful of patrons are viewing foreign musical performances. (Such access to the outside world of artistic expression is no doubt highly regulated.) A piano at the front of the room allows for live demonstrations. *Video: Jeffrey Marlow*
04Roller Skating
### Roller Skating in Kim Il Sung Square Pyongyang’s vast Kim Il Sung square is most often associated with military gatherings: this is where North Korea’s [nationalistic bravado is particularly palpable](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-03/04/c_131445410.htm), where missiles are paraded through the streets whenever a demonstration of state power is necessary. But on a recent late autumn afternoon, it was occupied instead by roller skating kids, laughing and chasing each other. As with anything in North Korea, it’s unclear what posturing or image management may or may not lie beneath the surface, but for a few minutes at least, it seemed like these teenagers were having a relatively normal afternoon outing in a most incongruous setting. *Video: Jeffrey Marlow*
05Bridge
### Morning on the Yanggak Bridge Bus-side glimpses of the frigid morning commutes on the Yanggak Bridge over the Taedong River in central Pyongyang on November 27th and 28th during the heart of the morning “rush hour”. The vast majority of commuters are on foot or bicycle, despite the capital’s wide boulevards. Other things to look for: the international hotel (right side of the screen), marching soldiers, and the city’s new green and yellow taxi fleet. (Music from the June 9th Middle School band.) *Video: Jeffrey Marlow*
