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Dressed-Up Pyongyang Hid Grim Reality

N. Korean capital masked poverty for NY Philharmonic's visit

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 10, 2008 3:05 PM CDT
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(Newser) – North Korea's capital was prettied up last month to show off the country's nonexistent prosperity to the New York Philharmonic and the accompanying press corps, the LA Times reports. The visitors to Pyongyang ate luxurious meals in newly painted hotels, but after they finished, the lights went out. "As soon as you guys left, it was pitch dark again," said the local director of the UN's World Food Program.

Reporters wishing to see a store where ordinary North Koreans shop were taken to an establishment that sold $140 gloves and $290 champagne—in a country whose average daily wage is estimated at $1. The illusion is in keeping with a city purpose-built, says a Russian scholar of the country, as "an exemplary communist city for pure propaganda reasons."

The audience stands for the National Anthem of the United States at the start of a concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
The audience stands for the National Anthem of the United States at the start of a concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)   (Associated Press)
A statue of Korean soldiers is seen in central Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
A statue of Korean soldiers is seen in central Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)   (Associated Press)
North Koreans walk and ride bicycles on the snowy streets of Pyongyang in this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 photo. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
North Koreans walk and ride bicycles on the snowy streets of Pyongyang in this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 photo. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)   (Associated Press)
A North Korean man removes his hat as a group stop to bow their heads in front of a giant statue of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, North Korea in this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 photo. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
A North Korean man removes his hat as a group stop to bow their heads in front of a giant statue of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, North Korea in this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 photo....   (Associated Press)
Residents of Pyongyang, North Korea on a city street in this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 photo. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Residents of Pyongyang, North Korea on a city street in this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 photo. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)   (Associated Press)
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More observations from North Korea
CBS News

The beer in North Korea is apparently genuinely good, though
Reuters

 
North Korea • propaganda • Pyongyang • Communism • Kim Jong Il • Kim Il Sung • New York Philharmonic • humanitarian aid

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