10 ms·

A man overrides his camera's firmware to bring rare pictures of North Korea back

449 points by jorge-d 11y ago

x1798DE 11y ago
What a weird title for this. He doesn't even say that that actually happened, just that you can override your firmware to make the delete button not work.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- MBCook 11y ago
  It's mentioned in the footnotes of one of the pictures.
  - Laforet 11y ago
    Which one was it?
- userbinator 11y ago
  The title reminds me of this article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6980058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6980058 Why not create a SD card that doesn't actually delete data (until it gets completely full and there's no other way, of course) but instead encrypts it in such a way that only those who know can retrieve it; sort of like an NSA backdoor, but one you control...
  - 0xffff2 11y ago
    >sort of like an NSA backdoor, but one you control... So... just a backdoor, then?
    - schoen 11y ago
      Or maybe just public-key cryptography!
  - peterburkimsher 11y ago
    I want to get two PQI Air Cards with WiFi and make a custom firmware to auto-sync the contents. Then there would be a continuous backup to a safe location (e.g. iPod + iFlash) with no additional software needed.
  - ajuc 11y ago
    Or take additional card and hide it?
- acqq 11y ago
  It's not the article title (the real title is "Road to North Korea Photography") but the clickbait, and it's even not true. The author never claims he changed his firmware. Dear mods e.g. dang, can you pretty please correct this? Thanks.
ZoeZoeBee 11y ago
It is amazing what a generation of brain washing and isolation can do to the perspective of a nation. Amazing to hear a quarter of the population is mentally deficient due to malnutrition, no wonder they believe the world is in awe of their accomplishments. I chuckled when I read they believe payments form other nations (International Aid) are their spoils from war. Topographically what a beautiful country, I hope some day the North Koreans are afforded an opportunity at freedom.
- viraptor 11y ago
  While this is what they're told, it's not necessarily what they believe. In the socialist eastern europe people have been regularly told lies on the radio / TV. Most people knew. And others knew they knew. That doesn't mean the propaganda stopped. Lots of old movies, songs, comedy shows, etc. referenced that fact subtly, and often they managed to get it through the censorship.
  - T2_t2 11y ago
    Propaganda exists not to convince. Propaganda exists to define what the rules are, so they can spot people who deviate. If "dogs" was an illegal word, then anyone that says "dogs" becomes an way to spot people prone to illegal activity. Dictatorships really don't care what you think, they care what you DO, and more importantly, they care what you can openly discuss and with whom. Making it easy to spot those likely to rebel is the goal of propaganda, who gives a hoot what anyone thinks.
    - etangent 11y ago
      > Propaganda exists not to convince. Propaganda exists to define what the rules are, so they can spot people who deviate Exactly that. Surprising how many people misunderstand this; but then most of us live in a free country (so far).
      - mdpopescu 11y ago
        If by that you mean "we can say anything", you might need to reconsider. [1] For example, saying "the Holocaust is a hoax" in Canada or Germany can get you in jail. [2] Saying something that even hints that women are different than men in the UK will probably result in you losing your job. [3] I'm pretty sure the same is true in the US, at least on the East Coast. [1] http://paulgraham.com/say.html http://paulgraham.com/say.html [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Z%C3%BCndel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Z%C3%BCndel [3] http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/15/i-was-hung-out-to-dry-claims-top-scientist-fired-for-sexist-speech-5245921/ http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/15/i-was-hung-out-to-dry-claims-t...
sveiss 11y ago
The photographer shared this set on Reddit around a month ago and included some additional commentary in the thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/46ahkv/illegal_photo_offlimits_shop_in_north_korea_i_had/ https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/46ahkv/illegal_photo_... It was, and is, a fascinating series of photos.
lingben 11y ago
NK is really a surreal place, no matter how much you learn about it, something new will still shock you for example, I watched a documentary about a Western eye doctor who went there pro bono to do cataract surgeries the thing was, when he gave people their sight back they didn't thank him, they went up to a picture of 'Dear Leader' and wept and prostrated themselves in a cathartic show of gratitude
- will_brown 11y ago
  There are 2 ways to look at that... 1. They are legitimately brainwashed into believing he is God; or 2. They simply know anytime the cameras are on or the Party is present, as would be the case for such an event, they are required to approach Dear Leader's picture and begin the tears...or off to the camps for them and their whole family.
  - fratlas 11y ago
    Unfortunately from the interviews I've read it is absolutely number 1.
    - gtr32x 11y ago
      I'd rather say fortunately for them it is number 1.
    - ekianjo 11y ago
      If that is indeed the case there is very little hope things could change.
      - pmarreck 11y ago
        Religiosity is on the decline, so who knows
    - mdpopescu 11y ago
      My mother cried at Stalin's death, so I have no problem believing it was #1. On the other hand, this appears to be a common trait with beloved leaders. In [1] we can read that "rare was the person who did not cry that long weekend". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_assassination...
nether 11y ago
When my cousin visited the DPRK, she said that all the paper there was like tissue, and that anything made there of plastic would shatter when dropped. Really limited manufacturing abilities.
- derefr 11y ago
  > anything made of plastic would shatter when dropped So, they can make plastic, but not plasticizers. I always thought those had the same feedstock.
Laforet 11y ago
The pictures are not bad, but the captions are incredibly cringe and condescending. Of course he would not bother to tell us how to disable the delete in the firmware. Seriously, I mean, thousands of people have gone on these state-sponsored package tours in North Korea and we see the same set of trains, roads, hotels and attractions that they have really got boring. One photography project I do found interesting is the set below commissioned by Getty Images. The photographers they hired found a loophole in their visa conditions, managed enter NK from Russia and reached Pyongyang on trains rarely used by tourists. They were able to interact more with the locals since the border guards as well as people en route have not been "coached" to speak to foreginers and the whole thing came out feeling much more genuine than these tourist flicks. Selected pictures featured in Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3210256/Fascinating-glimpse-everyday-life-North-Korea-country-steps-brink-war-South.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3210256/Fascinating-... Photographer's Portfolio: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/events/573232783?excludenudity=true&family=editorial&page=1&sort=best&phrase= http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/events/573232783?exclude... Photographer's written account of their travel (in Chinese), plus a few candid shots that Getty refused to buy: https://www.zhihu.com/question/19972643/answer/81163727 https://www.zhihu.com/question/19972643/answer/81163727
- colinplamondon 11y ago
  Condescending? This is an enslaved country with concentration many times larger than anything the Nazis cooked up. It's hard to condescend to one of the great evils in history.
  - chimeracoder 11y ago
    > Condescending? This is an enslaved country with concentration many times larger than anything the Nazis cooked up. It's hard to condescend to one of the great evils in history. Well, for starters, comparing the people who live in North Korea to animals is one way. > It's quite incredible to witness Chinese or South Korean tourists interacting with North Korean fishermen - it reminded me of safaris is [sic] East Africa. You keep wondering, what are the North Koreans really thinking? And that's only on the fourth slide.
smhaziq 11y ago
Second gallery: http://www.m1key.me/photography/ostensibly_ordinary_pyongyang/ http://www.m1key.me/photography/ostensibly_ordinary_pyongyan...
yequalsx 11y ago
Visiting a country with concentration camps is morally reprehensible. His visit helps to finance and prop up the deplorable North Korean regime.
- colinplamondon 11y ago
  A shocking number of people don't realize just how bad it is there. And that there are, in fact, concentration camps of historically unimaginable sizes operating as we speak. It's a mixed bag. That morally reprehensible money raises awareness of exactly what's going on, and just how abused their citizens are. One wonders if, ever there were a just war, it wouldn't be to free the North Koreans.
  - nyolfen 11y ago
    >And that there are, in fact, concentration camps of historically unimaginable sizes operating as we speak. the entire population of north korea is ~24m. while i have no doubts that the nork prison camps are hideously inhumane, there's no way they approach the extermination camps in eastern europe of ww2
    - drivingmenuts 11y ago
      There's not a fair comparison between the two, aside from both types being evil. European camps lasted, what, maybe 6 years total? They were used to commit attempted genocide. They were hell on earth but those camps are done. North Korean camps have been around 40 years? They're used to "re-educate wrongdoers". They are a continuing hell on earth that the world allows to continue (unfortunately, due to realpolitik). Each is hell, but each is it's own kind of hell.
- kbutler 11y ago
  So it's better to not publicize the conditions and to not contact any of the people inside the country with concentration camps? The more contact the people can have with outsiders, the better, even if it provides some tiny amount of financial support for the regime.
Blackthorn 11y ago
In case anyone was wondering some of the ways rural Chinese were dealing with the aborted-their-baby-girls problem... > If you're caught escaping by the Chinese, they send you back if you're a man. But the captured women are referred to as "pigs", and sold to Chinese men
- rgbrenner 11y ago
  According to these links: https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Lives_for_Sale.pdf https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Lives_for_Sale.pdf https://www.nknews.org/2015/02/when-north-korean-women-become-brides-in-china/ https://www.nknews.org/2015/02/when-north-korean-women-becom... http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/february/north-korean-bride-slaves-sold-into-misery/?mobile=false http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/february/north-korean-... Women and men caught by China are sent back to NK. Traffickers in China however will sell NK women.. and will make trips into NK to recruit women. In fact, once they are in China, it's the threat of being sent back to NK, that prevents them from going to authorities for help. Wikipedia has some info on human trafficking in NK also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_North_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_North_Kor...
necessity 11y ago
Beautiful colors. If you didn't mention "firmware" I'd have guessed some professional grade film was used.
- taneq 11y ago
  That'd be one way to do it, just graft the circuit board from a digital camera onto the back of a film SLR. Why yes, sir, I've deleted all of my photos!
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
jonah 11y ago
A couple rail fans booked a train from Vienna to Pyongyang in 2008. Their travelogue is fascinating although it can take some effort to wade through the train-schedule minutia and whatnot if you're not into that but well worth it for the uncensored images. "The forbidden railway: Vienna - Pyongyang 윈 - 모스크바 - 두만강 - 평양 36 hours in North Korea without a guide..." http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/ http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/ EDIT: Direct link to skip the European and Russian part of the trip and go directly to crossing the border: http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/2008/09/irkutsk-skovorodino.html http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/2008/09/irkutsk-skovoro...
- Laforet 11y ago
  Very interesting read, thanks for posting this.
a_c 11y ago
Next time north korea with be confiscating the camera instead..
tamtamxuan 11y ago
information next correc
tamtamxuan 11y ago
Information next correc
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
topspin 11y ago
True paradise. No commercial billboards. Few cars. Obesity cured. Low energy use. Cooperative domestic politics. Free healthcare. And all it takes is a couple gulags. Brilliant.
- nikolay 11y ago
  People think that a more complicated life is better. I like the simplicity of the North Korean life. As I'm Bulgarian, it reminds me about Bulgaria during communism. Choices were simple, life was good, but it wasn't sustainable without the support of the USSR. So, in that regard, I admire NK for managing to cope till now given Cuba pretty much gave in. Don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting the regimes, but I love the simple life that's becoming extinct due to corporations taking over our lives!
  - sakopov 11y ago
    Life in USSR has never been as tough as it is in NK. Maybe in the 30s, 40s and early 50s. Maybe... My grandmother who was born in 1924 in the Soviet Union used to tell me that the Soviets would laugh at the brainwashing that was happening in NK even back in the time when she was a young woman. But I do agree with you. As someone who grew up and lived in USSR for a good portion of my life I often think about the simplistic life of those times. People didn't have everything under the sun as most in Western societies, but it was enough and it was cherished.
    - contingencies 11y ago
      Countryside Romania still has a bit of that simplistic charm. I've been further east along the China/NK border, speak Chinese, and the Chinese I met there generally said NK now is like China in the 50s. That was 10 years ago, though.
lfam 11y ago
People are carrying heavy things around the city. They don't even have carts or wagons with wheels.
rdl 11y ago
I wonder if the North Koreans who get killed for letting a device slip by them which then is used to mock their security will be told exactly why they're being tortured/murdered, or if it will just happen. :(
jaseemabid 11y ago
1984?
sakopov 11y ago
North Korea looks like the Soviet Union of the 1950s. It's just amazing how stuck in time this place is.
obrero 11y ago
I have pictures too... 1950 US memo talking about the orders to machine gun Korean civilians https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/No_Gun_Ri_04_-_USAF_25_July_-_Memo_tells_of_policy_to_strafe_refugees.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/No_Gun_R... and some of the dead bodies http://i1.wp.com/boombastis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/No-Gun-Ri-Massacre.jpg http://i1.wp.com/boombastis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/N... US supported massacre of 1980 democracy protests against dictatorship in Gwangju, South Korea http://timshorrock.com/wp-content/uploads/bodies-engnews_4439-1.jpg http://timshorrock.com/wp-content/uploads/bodies-engnews_443... Here's some pictures of Koreans protesting against two soldiers from the US occupation force in South Korea who raped several teenage girls http://img2-azcdn.newser.com/image/849139-0-20111101082358.jpeg http://img2-azcdn.newser.com/image/849139-0-20111101082358.j... I just love how to the manor born, bloodthirsty white Americans love trying to feel high and mighty about how superior, morally and otherwise, they think they are compared to the rest of the world. If you're a to the manor born, bloodthirsty white American - downvote this post! Show your moral indignation with me too! Help hide the truth of the crimes of US imperialism in Korea I laid out! See how fast you can get this flagged and to the bottom of the article comments! Move your morally righteous white professional finger to that downvote or flag button! You've got the karma, you've got the moral righteousness on your side, get to it! Listen to Trump - don't be a weakling before the enemies of the United States!
- obrero 11y ago
  I'm too impatient for negative replies...let me write my own. Let me try to get into the mind of some Phillips Exeter heir who now lives in the Mission and is working for Zynga or something... Uh...this is "whataboutism". Let me helpfully link that for you - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism . See what the article says? We're talking about what we're always talking about, the crimes of North Korea, the crimes of Russia etc. If you point out things the US did, that's "whataboutism". We can ignore that.
  - jessaustin 11y ago
    You're not wrong, but you're trying too hard.
easong 11y ago
I went to North Korea in January as an American (incidentally on the same tour as the kid who is currently being detained there and in the same group). As mentioned in the article, Americans can't go on the train, so I can't speak to his experiences specifically, but I have a few reactions to this. 1. He probably didn't need to modify his camera firmware - I took pictures of basically whatever I wanted and they didn't look or care. The only exception to this was the (singular) grocery store, which I thought was hilarious because it was actually pretty nice. (With surprisingly good food, too! I'm still snacking on some of the candies I bought there.) I went on a helicopter ride and took a bunch of pictures of anti-aircraft guns and the like hoping that they would make me delete them and I would have a story to tell, but no such luck. 2. There's a big difference between the different tour companies. Some of them really sold the dystopian totalitarian state experience, with extremely strict guides who yelled at people on the tour and checked everybody's cameras and so on. The people on those tours seemed to have signed up for that experience and were, I think, happy to receive it. My group was drunk off our collective asses literally 24/7, our guides were making dick jokes, a guy wandered off on his own on New Years Eve and didn't get back to the hotel until ~3am after getting in a fistfight with a cab driver, and it was generally a party. It seems to me like the author of this article went in looking for a dystopia to photograph, and the tour company gave him one. 3. North Korea is poor as hell, obviously has a horrible government, etc. If you've been to other extremely poor parts of the globe it's obvious that it's a poor country trying to pretend to be a rich one. The successful example of neighboring South Korea makes their failure to provide for their citizens even sadder. But I would guess total quality of life is comparable or better in the DPRK than many other places I've been. (Somalia, nasty bits of Bangladesh, etc) 4. The citizens and possibly government are (not totally unreasonably) terrified that the US is going to invade and crush them like ants at any given moment. I think this drives a lot of their government's malinvestments.
- blackguardx 11y ago
  How do you square the drunken nature of your tour group with the American student that was detained after presumably doing something he regretted while drunk? Are you sure they are not related?
sedeki 11y ago
I am still amazed that NK actually tells people to look like busy travellers at the train station.
swang 11y ago
Wait, NK women are sold off to the Chinese if they're caught in China? Is this well known?
hohohmm 11y ago
Pictures are okay if not just generic NK photos, definitely not rare, and the captions, wtf? "At night, the elderly Chinese dance in the streets in unison avoiding any displays of individuality." What is this? To avoid any display of individuality??? I just marvel at this wishful thinking. They do that in unison because it's fun to do activities with other people sharing the same interest. If i'm playing Starcraft with a bunch of friends, am I avoiding display of individuality? Why can't the biased eyes just state the obvious that the elderly are just enjoying themselves. Honestly I've seen way better NK photos and way better wishful NK journalism. Why is this even on Hacker News?
- jecjec 11y ago
  Be less hateful. OP has done a wonderful public service.
sriram_iyengar 11y ago
all i see is - less population - no traffic - clear air and very less pollution - farm and live easy - walk and cycle and stay fit - great childhood of enjoying countryside Overall, they are 117th in life expectancy with 65years+. My greatest and largest democracy as well offers just the same. Don't get any of this living in the greatest democracy's top Urban city !
- skissane 11y ago
  Are their life expectancy statistics accurate? How do we know? I suspect most statistics about North Korea are either invented by the North Korean government, or else they are mere educated guesses by outsiders. (I'd imagine various intelligence agencies likely have more accurate educated guesses than those that are commonly available, but those guesses will be kept secret in order to protect the confidential sources used to inform them.)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- saiya-jin 11y ago
  farm and easy life - in reality often famine and extremely oppressive regimes. wtf are you writing about?
  - sriram_iyengar 11y ago
    I'm definitely not writing about wtf
jecjec 11y ago
I can't do it right now but I plead to those of you with the resources and skill to spin up mirrors of this website to do so. I expect imminent problems.
- chipperyman573 11y ago
  Just archive it on archive.org boom instant mirror
hnfmr 11y ago
This looks very much like late 1970s, early 1980s in rural areas of China. For me they are reminiscent of my childhood, when rural areas were still not affected by air/land/water pollution.
- rasz_pl 11y ago
  or any Warsaw pact country under Russian occupation at that time.
tiatia 11y ago
If you plan to visit: http://www.youngpioneertours.com/ http://www.youngpioneertours.com/
jecjec 11y ago
OP produces possibly the greatest work of North Korean photography; Comments: "This isn't that big of a deal. I've seen better."
- EliRivers 11y ago
  I've seen better photos. Some of the people on my trip took better photos (I took some pretty clumsy photos; these are better than mine in terms of framing and light and all that sort of thing). These are fine, but to call them the greatest work of North Korean photography is simply incorrect.
l33tbro 11y ago
Admittedly an aside, but why the author's little jibe about Sigma lenses being amateur? My 18-35mm outperforms Zeiss and Canon glass that is 3 times its price.
- jonah 11y ago
  I think he was saying they look amateur. An excellent lens from a "cheaper" brand would be exactly what you'd want to bring to get excellent images without flaunting your wealth/professionalism with the fancier brands.
ReedJessen 11y ago
This is the craziest thing I have the read in this recent memory: "Anyone who composes a work that has not been assigned to the writer through this chain of command is by definition guilty of treason. All written works in North Korea must be initiated in response to a specific request from the Workers’ Party."
eulji 11y ago
WOW. What an ignorance. 1) NK's ICBMs program is much more advanced than SK's 2) Young generation is openly doubting the regime 3) There's a lot of smuggling of SK's soap operas and music 4) Their nuclear research is top-notch considering the circumstances 5) All other parties involved (US,China,Japan,South Korea, Russia) are all to be blamed for suffering of 25 millions of people living in an artificial skansen of communism. 6) Praising the great leader is one way how to protect yourself and your family when the "democratic, cool westerners" are not going to help you. And the guy is openly preaching China for being much more advanced ? NK's regime is scary but the one in China is even scarier. They are pragmatic criminals that embraced the art of trade. US and SK should have invaded and liberated the NK long time ago. They are as much part of the problem as the NK's leadership is.
- justabystander 11y ago
  > All other parties involved (US,China,Japan,South Korea, Russia) are all to be blamed for suffering of 25 millions of people living in an artificial skansen of communism. > US and SK should have invaded and liberated the NK long time ago. They are as much part of the problem as the NK's leadership is. I'm glad you're so high on your own morality that you're willing to condemn thousands of people that aren't you to death in starting a war. There's the possibility that economics and the changing international climate will bleed over and convince the populace to change. That's what people have been hoping for - a chance for change with a minimum of bloodshed. A chance to convince rather than force. Yes, there's debate over whether a long-term peaceful approach or a short-term decisive strike would cause the least "suffering". I get that. But it's not as simple as the US going over to free the shit out of them. China has previously committed to at least partial protection of NK in an armed conflict. And while NK's military power is relatively anemic compared to most of the world, throwing down with China isn't exactly an attractive opportunity. Plus, there's already a lot of negative perception about US intervention in other countries. It doesn't always go well, and it's certainly rarely perceived well. And then there's all the naive kids that would be dying because you think it's their fault for not doing something about every single thing that goes wrong on the planet. Exactly why should those kids get embroiled in a war as opposed to living their own lives? Even the ones who survive likely won't be able to integrate and function well in society afterwards. Not to mention the harsh effect on the NK and SK populace. Yeah, you can think of it as being like quickly pulling off a band-aid until you realize all the dead people and ruined lives it costs to take the shortcut. Maybe you should try not condemning other people for ignorance when you're asking thousands to die for your naive internet opinion of global politics. If war's the solution you want, go do it yourself instead of trying to get the rest of us to do it for you.
hellofunk 11y ago
Most interesting comments by the photographer: >"Anyone who composes a work that has not been assigned to the writer through this chain of command is by definition guilty of treason. All written works in North Korea must be initiated in response to a specific request from the Workers’ Party." >"After the Korean War, North Korea was economically a more attractive destination than South Korea, and many people, including 100,000 ethnic Koreans from Japan, were welcomed into North Korea." >"in North Korea you only travel big distances by bus or train, when you get permission." >"This was one of the most strange moments - when we finally arrived in Pyongyang. Through the courtains of the compartment window, we looked at a surreal scene that appeared like something out of a theatre in its perfection and artifice. Elegant men, beautiful women, walking in a simulated hurry, travellers without a reason (ours was the only train that day), all to impress us and so that the station doesn't look empty."
ksrm 11y ago
Also check out this person's many photos from all over North Korea: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kernbeisser/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kernbeisser/
forgetsusername 11y ago
I was mostly struck by a "civilized" backdrop (used loosely) with nary a billboard or piece of litter in view. If I didn't know better, I'd say it looked quiet nice there. But I know better.
jorge-d 11y ago
A lot of people expressed concern about the title. I just would like to say that it does come from a misunderstanding about the original article I read the story from [1], as I expressed in another comment [2]. I've discovered plenty of North Kore related stories in HN that people already cover in the comments section [3] or other submissions [4] [5]. I thought that given these two points this story would be quite interesting here in HN. As of the title, knowing now that it's not exactly true I let the mods choose a more appropriate one if needed. [1] https://twitter.com/Dimitri_Jorge/status/709705048150949888 https://twitter.com/Dimitri_Jorge/status/709705048150949888 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11288584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11288584 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287297 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287297 [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5091962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5091962 [5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2541189 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2541189
dominotw 11y ago
I am on my way to get my US Citzenship in couple of years. I've been dreaming about visiting NorthKorea almost everyday for past 3 yrs. Would visiting NK cause me any trouble getting my US citizenship?
ivanb 11y ago
Nice. Here is what I see if I just consider the pictures: very clean cities and countryside, disciplined and healthy people living their simple lives. People work and serve their country. Everyone is poor but equally so. No apparent inequality. People get education and perform arts. Of all poor places on Earth it doesn't look like it is the worst. So this is how it looks to me if I put aside the usual "North Korea is evil" media context.
b123400 11y ago
I went to NK few months ago, while they do check cameras on train, they didn't check anything at all when I leave the country via airport. They call this "internationalization", I felt a little bit stupid for encrypting all the photos I took.

449 points by jorge-d 11y ago

What a weird title for this. He doesn't even say that that actually happened, just that you can override your firmware to make the delete button not work.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
MBCook 11y ago
It's mentioned in the footnotes of one of the pictures.
- Laforet 11y ago
  Which one was it?
userbinator 11y ago
The title reminds me of this article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6980058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6980058 Why not create a SD card that doesn't actually delete data (until it gets completely full and there's no other way, of course) but instead encrypts it in such a way that only those who know can retrieve it; sort of like an NSA backdoor, but one you control...
- 0xffff2 11y ago
  >sort of like an NSA backdoor, but one you control... So... just a backdoor, then?
  - schoen 11y ago
    Or maybe just public-key cryptography!
- peterburkimsher 11y ago
  I want to get two PQI Air Cards with WiFi and make a custom firmware to auto-sync the contents. Then there would be a continuous backup to a safe location (e.g. iPod + iFlash) with no additional software needed.
- ajuc 11y ago
  Or take additional card and hide it?
acqq 11y ago
It's not the article title (the real title is "Road to North Korea Photography") but the clickbait, and it's even not true. The author never claims he changed his firmware. Dear mods e.g. dang, can you pretty please correct this? Thanks.

ZoeZoeBee 11y ago

It is amazing what a generation of brain washing and isolation can do to the perspective of a nation. Amazing to hear a quarter of the population is mentally deficient due to malnutrition, no wonder they believe the world is in awe of their accomplishments. I chuckled when I read they believe payments form other nations (International Aid) are their spoils from war. Topographically what a beautiful country, I hope some day the North Koreans are afforded an opportunity at freedom.

viraptor 11y ago
While this is what they're told, it's not necessarily what they believe. In the socialist eastern europe people have been regularly told lies on the radio / TV. Most people knew. And others knew they knew. That doesn't mean the propaganda stopped. Lots of old movies, songs, comedy shows, etc. referenced that fact subtly, and often they managed to get it through the censorship.
- T2_t2 11y ago
  Propaganda exists not to convince. Propaganda exists to define what the rules are, so they can spot people who deviate. If "dogs" was an illegal word, then anyone that says "dogs" becomes an way to spot people prone to illegal activity. Dictatorships really don't care what you think, they care what you DO, and more importantly, they care what you can openly discuss and with whom. Making it easy to spot those likely to rebel is the goal of propaganda, who gives a hoot what anyone thinks.
  - etangent 11y ago
    > Propaganda exists not to convince. Propaganda exists to define what the rules are, so they can spot people who deviate Exactly that. Surprising how many people misunderstand this; but then most of us live in a free country (so far).
    - mdpopescu 11y ago
      If by that you mean "we can say anything", you might need to reconsider. [1] For example, saying "the Holocaust is a hoax" in Canada or Germany can get you in jail. [2] Saying something that even hints that women are different than men in the UK will probably result in you losing your job. [3] I'm pretty sure the same is true in the US, at least on the East Coast. [1] http://paulgraham.com/say.html http://paulgraham.com/say.html [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Z%C3%BCndel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Z%C3%BCndel [3] http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/15/i-was-hung-out-to-dry-claims-top-scientist-fired-for-sexist-speech-5245921/ http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/15/i-was-hung-out-to-dry-claims-t...

sveiss 11y ago

The photographer shared this set on Reddit around a month ago and included some additional commentary in the thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/46ahkv/illegal_photo_offlimits_shop_in_north_korea_i_had/ https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/46ahkv/illegal_photo_... It was, and is, a fascinating series of photos.

lingben 11y ago

NK is really a surreal place, no matter how much you learn about it, something new will still shock you for example, I watched a documentary about a Western eye doctor who went there pro bono to do cataract surgeries the thing was, when he gave people their sight back they didn't thank him, they went up to a picture of 'Dear Leader' and wept and prostrated themselves in a cathartic show of gratitude

will_brown 11y ago
There are 2 ways to look at that... 1. They are legitimately brainwashed into believing he is God; or 2. They simply know anytime the cameras are on or the Party is present, as would be the case for such an event, they are required to approach Dear Leader's picture and begin the tears...or off to the camps for them and their whole family.
- fratlas 11y ago
  Unfortunately from the interviews I've read it is absolutely number 1.
  - gtr32x 11y ago
    I'd rather say fortunately for them it is number 1.
  - ekianjo 11y ago
    If that is indeed the case there is very little hope things could change.
    - pmarreck 11y ago
      Religiosity is on the decline, so who knows
  - mdpopescu 11y ago
    My mother cried at Stalin's death, so I have no problem believing it was #1. On the other hand, this appears to be a common trait with beloved leaders. In [1] we can read that "rare was the person who did not cry that long weekend". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_assassination...

nether 11y ago

When my cousin visited the DPRK, she said that all the paper there was like tissue, and that anything made there of plastic would shatter when dropped. Really limited manufacturing abilities.

derefr 11y ago
> anything made of plastic would shatter when dropped So, they can make plastic, but not plasticizers. I always thought those had the same feedstock.

Laforet 11y ago

The pictures are not bad, but the captions are incredibly cringe and condescending. Of course he would not bother to tell us how to disable the delete in the firmware. Seriously, I mean, thousands of people have gone on these state-sponsored package tours in North Korea and we see the same set of trains, roads, hotels and attractions that they have really got boring. One photography project I do found interesting is the set below commissioned by Getty Images. The photographers they hired found a loophole in their visa conditions, managed enter NK from Russia and reached Pyongyang on trains rarely used by tourists. They were able to interact more with the locals since the border guards as well as people en route have not been "coached" to speak to foreginers and the whole thing came out feeling much more genuine than these tourist flicks. Selected pictures featured in Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3210256/Fascinating-glimpse-everyday-life-North-Korea-country-steps-brink-war-South.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3210256/Fascinating-... Photographer's Portfolio: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/events/573232783?excludenudity=true&family=editorial&page=1&sort=best&phrase= http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/events/573232783?exclude... Photographer's written account of their travel (in Chinese), plus a few candid shots that Getty refused to buy: https://www.zhihu.com/question/19972643/answer/81163727 https://www.zhihu.com/question/19972643/answer/81163727

colinplamondon 11y ago
Condescending? This is an enslaved country with concentration many times larger than anything the Nazis cooked up. It's hard to condescend to one of the great evils in history.
- chimeracoder 11y ago
  > Condescending? This is an enslaved country with concentration many times larger than anything the Nazis cooked up. It's hard to condescend to one of the great evils in history. Well, for starters, comparing the people who live in North Korea to animals is one way. > It's quite incredible to witness Chinese or South Korean tourists interacting with North Korean fishermen - it reminded me of safaris is [sic] East Africa. You keep wondering, what are the North Koreans really thinking? And that's only on the fourth slide.

smhaziq 11y ago

Second gallery: http://www.m1key.me/photography/ostensibly_ordinary_pyongyang/ http://www.m1key.me/photography/ostensibly_ordinary_pyongyan...

yequalsx 11y ago

Visiting a country with concentration camps is morally reprehensible. His visit helps to finance and prop up the deplorable North Korean regime.

colinplamondon 11y ago
A shocking number of people don't realize just how bad it is there. And that there are, in fact, concentration camps of historically unimaginable sizes operating as we speak. It's a mixed bag. That morally reprehensible money raises awareness of exactly what's going on, and just how abused their citizens are. One wonders if, ever there were a just war, it wouldn't be to free the North Koreans.
- nyolfen 11y ago
  >And that there are, in fact, concentration camps of historically unimaginable sizes operating as we speak. the entire population of north korea is ~24m. while i have no doubts that the nork prison camps are hideously inhumane, there's no way they approach the extermination camps in eastern europe of ww2
  - drivingmenuts 11y ago
    There's not a fair comparison between the two, aside from both types being evil. European camps lasted, what, maybe 6 years total? They were used to commit attempted genocide. They were hell on earth but those camps are done. North Korean camps have been around 40 years? They're used to "re-educate wrongdoers". They are a continuing hell on earth that the world allows to continue (unfortunately, due to realpolitik). Each is hell, but each is it's own kind of hell.
kbutler 11y ago
So it's better to not publicize the conditions and to not contact any of the people inside the country with concentration camps? The more contact the people can have with outsiders, the better, even if it provides some tiny amount of financial support for the regime.

Blackthorn 11y ago

In case anyone was wondering some of the ways rural Chinese were dealing with the aborted-their-baby-girls problem... > If you're caught escaping by the Chinese, they send you back if you're a man. But the captured women are referred to as "pigs", and sold to Chinese men

rgbrenner 11y ago
According to these links: https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Lives_for_Sale.pdf https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Lives_for_Sale.pdf https://www.nknews.org/2015/02/when-north-korean-women-become-brides-in-china/ https://www.nknews.org/2015/02/when-north-korean-women-becom... http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/february/north-korean-bride-slaves-sold-into-misery/?mobile=false http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/february/north-korean-... Women and men caught by China are sent back to NK. Traffickers in China however will sell NK women.. and will make trips into NK to recruit women. In fact, once they are in China, it's the threat of being sent back to NK, that prevents them from going to authorities for help. Wikipedia has some info on human trafficking in NK also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_North_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_North_Kor...

necessity 11y ago

Beautiful colors. If you didn't mention "firmware" I'd have guessed some professional grade film was used.

taneq 11y ago
That'd be one way to do it, just graft the circuit board from a digital camera onto the back of a film SLR. Why yes, sir, I've deleted all of my photos!

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

jonah 11y ago

A couple rail fans booked a train from Vienna to Pyongyang in 2008. Their travelogue is fascinating although it can take some effort to wade through the train-schedule minutia and whatnot if you're not into that but well worth it for the uncensored images. "The forbidden railway: Vienna - Pyongyang 윈 - 모스크바 - 두만강 - 평양 36 hours in North Korea without a guide..." http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/ http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/ EDIT: Direct link to skip the European and Russian part of the trip and go directly to crossing the border: http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/2008/09/irkutsk-skovorodino.html http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/2008/09/irkutsk-skovoro...

Laforet 11y ago
Very interesting read, thanks for posting this.

a_c 11y ago

Next time north korea with be confiscating the camera instead..

tamtamxuan 11y ago

information next correc

tamtamxuan 11y ago

Information next correc

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

topspin 11y ago

True paradise. No commercial billboards. Few cars. Obesity cured. Low energy use. Cooperative domestic politics. Free healthcare. And all it takes is a couple gulags. Brilliant.

nikolay 11y ago
People think that a more complicated life is better. I like the simplicity of the North Korean life. As I'm Bulgarian, it reminds me about Bulgaria during communism. Choices were simple, life was good, but it wasn't sustainable without the support of the USSR. So, in that regard, I admire NK for managing to cope till now given Cuba pretty much gave in. Don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting the regimes, but I love the simple life that's becoming extinct due to corporations taking over our lives!
- sakopov 11y ago
  Life in USSR has never been as tough as it is in NK. Maybe in the 30s, 40s and early 50s. Maybe... My grandmother who was born in 1924 in the Soviet Union used to tell me that the Soviets would laugh at the brainwashing that was happening in NK even back in the time when she was a young woman. But I do agree with you. As someone who grew up and lived in USSR for a good portion of my life I often think about the simplistic life of those times. People didn't have everything under the sun as most in Western societies, but it was enough and it was cherished.
  - contingencies 11y ago
    Countryside Romania still has a bit of that simplistic charm. I've been further east along the China/NK border, speak Chinese, and the Chinese I met there generally said NK now is like China in the 50s. That was 10 years ago, though.

lfam 11y ago

People are carrying heavy things around the city. They don't even have carts or wagons with wheels.

rdl 11y ago

I wonder if the North Koreans who get killed for letting a device slip by them which then is used to mock their security will be told exactly why they're being tortured/murdered, or if it will just happen. :(

jaseemabid 11y ago

1984?

sakopov 11y ago

North Korea looks like the Soviet Union of the 1950s. It's just amazing how stuck in time this place is.

obrero 11y ago

I have pictures too... 1950 US memo talking about the orders to machine gun Korean civilians https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/No_Gun_Ri_04_-_USAF_25_July_-_Memo_tells_of_policy_to_strafe_refugees.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/No_Gun_R... and some of the dead bodies http://i1.wp.com/boombastis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/No-Gun-Ri-Massacre.jpg http://i1.wp.com/boombastis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/N... US supported massacre of 1980 democracy protests against dictatorship in Gwangju, South Korea http://timshorrock.com/wp-content/uploads/bodies-engnews_4439-1.jpg http://timshorrock.com/wp-content/uploads/bodies-engnews_443... Here's some pictures of Koreans protesting against two soldiers from the US occupation force in South Korea who raped several teenage girls http://img2-azcdn.newser.com/image/849139-0-20111101082358.jpeg http://img2-azcdn.newser.com/image/849139-0-20111101082358.j... I just love how to the manor born, bloodthirsty white Americans love trying to feel high and mighty about how superior, morally and otherwise, they think they are compared to the rest of the world. If you're a to the manor born, bloodthirsty white American - downvote this post! Show your moral indignation with me too! Help hide the truth of the crimes of US imperialism in Korea I laid out! See how fast you can get this flagged and to the bottom of the article comments! Move your morally righteous white professional finger to that downvote or flag button! You've got the karma, you've got the moral righteousness on your side, get to it! Listen to Trump - don't be a weakling before the enemies of the United States!

obrero 11y ago
I'm too impatient for negative replies...let me write my own. Let me try to get into the mind of some Phillips Exeter heir who now lives in the Mission and is working for Zynga or something... Uh...this is "whataboutism". Let me helpfully link that for you - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism . See what the article says? We're talking about what we're always talking about, the crimes of North Korea, the crimes of Russia etc. If you point out things the US did, that's "whataboutism". We can ignore that.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  You're not wrong, but you're trying too hard.

easong 11y ago

I went to North Korea in January as an American (incidentally on the same tour as the kid who is currently being detained there and in the same group). As mentioned in the article, Americans can't go on the train, so I can't speak to his experiences specifically, but I have a few reactions to this. 1. He probably didn't need to modify his camera firmware - I took pictures of basically whatever I wanted and they didn't look or care. The only exception to this was the (singular) grocery store, which I thought was hilarious because it was actually pretty nice. (With surprisingly good food, too! I'm still snacking on some of the candies I bought there.) I went on a helicopter ride and took a bunch of pictures of anti-aircraft guns and the like hoping that they would make me delete them and I would have a story to tell, but no such luck. 2. There's a big difference between the different tour companies. Some of them really sold the dystopian totalitarian state experience, with extremely strict guides who yelled at people on the tour and checked everybody's cameras and so on. The people on those tours seemed to have signed up for that experience and were, I think, happy to receive it. My group was drunk off our collective asses literally 24/7, our guides were making dick jokes, a guy wandered off on his own on New Years Eve and didn't get back to the hotel until ~3am after getting in a fistfight with a cab driver, and it was generally a party. It seems to me like the author of this article went in looking for a dystopia to photograph, and the tour company gave him one. 3. North Korea is poor as hell, obviously has a horrible government, etc. If you've been to other extremely poor parts of the globe it's obvious that it's a poor country trying to pretend to be a rich one. The successful example of neighboring South Korea makes their failure to provide for their citizens even sadder. But I would guess total quality of life is comparable or better in the DPRK than many other places I've been. (Somalia, nasty bits of Bangladesh, etc) 4. The citizens and possibly government are (not totally unreasonably) terrified that the US is going to invade and crush them like ants at any given moment. I think this drives a lot of their government's malinvestments.

blackguardx 11y ago
How do you square the drunken nature of your tour group with the American student that was detained after presumably doing something he regretted while drunk? Are you sure they are not related?

sedeki 11y ago

I am still amazed that NK actually tells people to look like busy travellers at the train station.

swang 11y ago

Wait, NK women are sold off to the Chinese if they're caught in China? Is this well known?

hohohmm 11y ago

Pictures are okay if not just generic NK photos, definitely not rare, and the captions, wtf? "At night, the elderly Chinese dance in the streets in unison avoiding any displays of individuality." What is this? To avoid any display of individuality??? I just marvel at this wishful thinking. They do that in unison because it's fun to do activities with other people sharing the same interest. If i'm playing Starcraft with a bunch of friends, am I avoiding display of individuality? Why can't the biased eyes just state the obvious that the elderly are just enjoying themselves. Honestly I've seen way better NK photos and way better wishful NK journalism. Why is this even on Hacker News?

jecjec 11y ago
Be less hateful. OP has done a wonderful public service.

sriram_iyengar 11y ago

all i see is - less population - no traffic - clear air and very less pollution - farm and live easy - walk and cycle and stay fit - great childhood of enjoying countryside Overall, they are 117th in life expectancy with 65years+. My greatest and largest democracy as well offers just the same. Don't get any of this living in the greatest democracy's top Urban city !

skissane 11y ago
Are their life expectancy statistics accurate? How do we know? I suspect most statistics about North Korea are either invented by the North Korean government, or else they are mere educated guesses by outsiders. (I'd imagine various intelligence agencies likely have more accurate educated guesses than those that are commonly available, but those guesses will be kept secret in order to protect the confidential sources used to inform them.)
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
saiya-jin 11y ago
farm and easy life - in reality often famine and extremely oppressive regimes. wtf are you writing about?
- sriram_iyengar 11y ago
  I'm definitely not writing about wtf

jecjec 11y ago

I can't do it right now but I plead to those of you with the resources and skill to spin up mirrors of this website to do so. I expect imminent problems.

chipperyman573 11y ago
Just archive it on archive.org boom instant mirror

hnfmr 11y ago

This looks very much like late 1970s, early 1980s in rural areas of China. For me they are reminiscent of my childhood, when rural areas were still not affected by air/land/water pollution.

rasz_pl 11y ago
or any Warsaw pact country under Russian occupation at that time.

tiatia 11y ago

If you plan to visit: http://www.youngpioneertours.com/ http://www.youngpioneertours.com/

jecjec 11y ago

OP produces possibly the greatest work of North Korean photography; Comments: "This isn't that big of a deal. I've seen better."

EliRivers 11y ago
I've seen better photos. Some of the people on my trip took better photos (I took some pretty clumsy photos; these are better than mine in terms of framing and light and all that sort of thing). These are fine, but to call them the greatest work of North Korean photography is simply incorrect.

l33tbro 11y ago

Admittedly an aside, but why the author's little jibe about Sigma lenses being amateur? My 18-35mm outperforms Zeiss and Canon glass that is 3 times its price.

jonah 11y ago
I think he was saying they look amateur. An excellent lens from a "cheaper" brand would be exactly what you'd want to bring to get excellent images without flaunting your wealth/professionalism with the fancier brands.

ReedJessen 11y ago

This is the craziest thing I have the read in this recent memory: "Anyone who composes a work that has not been assigned to the writer through this chain of command is by definition guilty of treason. All written works in North Korea must be initiated in response to a specific request from the Workers’ Party."

eulji 11y ago

WOW. What an ignorance. 1) NK's ICBMs program is much more advanced than SK's 2) Young generation is openly doubting the regime 3) There's a lot of smuggling of SK's soap operas and music 4) Their nuclear research is top-notch considering the circumstances 5) All other parties involved (US,China,Japan,South Korea, Russia) are all to be blamed for suffering of 25 millions of people living in an artificial skansen of communism. 6) Praising the great leader is one way how to protect yourself and your family when the "democratic, cool westerners" are not going to help you. And the guy is openly preaching China for being much more advanced ? NK's regime is scary but the one in China is even scarier. They are pragmatic criminals that embraced the art of trade. US and SK should have invaded and liberated the NK long time ago. They are as much part of the problem as the NK's leadership is.

justabystander 11y ago
> All other parties involved (US,China,Japan,South Korea, Russia) are all to be blamed for suffering of 25 millions of people living in an artificial skansen of communism. > US and SK should have invaded and liberated the NK long time ago. They are as much part of the problem as the NK's leadership is. I'm glad you're so high on your own morality that you're willing to condemn thousands of people that aren't you to death in starting a war. There's the possibility that economics and the changing international climate will bleed over and convince the populace to change. That's what people have been hoping for - a chance for change with a minimum of bloodshed. A chance to convince rather than force. Yes, there's debate over whether a long-term peaceful approach or a short-term decisive strike would cause the least "suffering". I get that. But it's not as simple as the US going over to free the shit out of them. China has previously committed to at least partial protection of NK in an armed conflict. And while NK's military power is relatively anemic compared to most of the world, throwing down with China isn't exactly an attractive opportunity. Plus, there's already a lot of negative perception about US intervention in other countries. It doesn't always go well, and it's certainly rarely perceived well. And then there's all the naive kids that would be dying because you think it's their fault for not doing something about every single thing that goes wrong on the planet. Exactly why should those kids get embroiled in a war as opposed to living their own lives? Even the ones who survive likely won't be able to integrate and function well in society afterwards. Not to mention the harsh effect on the NK and SK populace. Yeah, you can think of it as being like quickly pulling off a band-aid until you realize all the dead people and ruined lives it costs to take the shortcut. Maybe you should try not condemning other people for ignorance when you're asking thousands to die for your naive internet opinion of global politics. If war's the solution you want, go do it yourself instead of trying to get the rest of us to do it for you.

hellofunk 11y ago

Most interesting comments by the photographer: >"Anyone who composes a work that has not been assigned to the writer through this chain of command is by definition guilty of treason. All written works in North Korea must be initiated in response to a specific request from the Workers’ Party." >"After the Korean War, North Korea was economically a more attractive destination than South Korea, and many people, including 100,000 ethnic Koreans from Japan, were welcomed into North Korea." >"in North Korea you only travel big distances by bus or train, when you get permission." >"This was one of the most strange moments - when we finally arrived in Pyongyang. Through the courtains of the compartment window, we looked at a surreal scene that appeared like something out of a theatre in its perfection and artifice. Elegant men, beautiful women, walking in a simulated hurry, travellers without a reason (ours was the only train that day), all to impress us and so that the station doesn't look empty."

ksrm 11y ago

Also check out this person's many photos from all over North Korea: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kernbeisser/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kernbeisser/

forgetsusername 11y ago

I was mostly struck by a "civilized" backdrop (used loosely) with nary a billboard or piece of litter in view. If I didn't know better, I'd say it looked quiet nice there. But I know better.

jorge-d 11y ago

A lot of people expressed concern about the title. I just would like to say that it does come from a misunderstanding about the original article I read the story from [1], as I expressed in another comment [2]. I've discovered plenty of North Kore related stories in HN that people already cover in the comments section [3] or other submissions [4] [5]. I thought that given these two points this story would be quite interesting here in HN. As of the title, knowing now that it's not exactly true I let the mods choose a more appropriate one if needed. [1] https://twitter.com/Dimitri_Jorge/status/709705048150949888 https://twitter.com/Dimitri_Jorge/status/709705048150949888 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11288584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11288584 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287297 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11287297 [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5091962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5091962 [5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2541189 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2541189

dominotw 11y ago

I am on my way to get my US Citzenship in couple of years. I've been dreaming about visiting NorthKorea almost everyday for past 3 yrs. Would visiting NK cause me any trouble getting my US citizenship?

ivanb 11y ago

Nice. Here is what I see if I just consider the pictures: very clean cities and countryside, disciplined and healthy people living their simple lives. People work and serve their country. Everyone is poor but equally so. No apparent inequality. People get education and perform arts. Of all poor places on Earth it doesn't look like it is the worst. So this is how it looks to me if I put aside the usual "North Korea is evil" media context.

b123400 11y ago

I went to NK few months ago, while they do check cameras on train, they didn't check anything at all when I leave the country via airport. They call this "internationalization", I felt a little bit stupid for encrypting all the photos I took.