A Russian in North Korea

I stumbled across a really nice site by a Russian guy called Peter Sobolev. He took a trip to North Korea with his camera and came back with plenty of pics to show fellow Russian's what he'd seen. Thankfully he also created a page in English, and it makes interesting reading.

We get so bombarded by our media with negative imagery of North Korea that its easy to forget that there are normal people living normal lives in that country. It often makes me wonder about our media - in a country where there are so many impressive images like the ones below, is the BBC being completely honest in only showing pictures like the one on the right? Do we really think that this is representative of the country as a whole, or is most of the country filled with kind folk who just want to live out their lives in peace (and for the most part, can)?

I have a close affiliation with China and many times get frustrated with news reports about China for the same reasons - its all so negative. We don't have to agree with the politics (and for the most part with China and North Korea, I don't) but its easy to go to war with countries like these because we don't get a real picture of what the country is about. This was really hammered home to me when viewing satellite imagery of Bahgdad on Google Maps - on here you can see schools, parks and sports fields - when did we see those images on our television screens in the run up to the Iraq war? Or did we only see deserts and people suffering under the evil rule of Saddam Hussein?

Anyway - enough of my ranting - to the pictures:


A North Korean wedding - by Peter Sobolev


The May 1 Stadium - by Peter Sobolev


Children playing football - by Peter Sobolev


Pyongyang traffic police - by Peter Sobolev


Hotel with revolving restaurant - by Peter Sobolev

Check out the full site for more - its well worth a look.

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