Sep 05 2009
It appears the Ryugyong Hotel is making some progress, at least on the outside. When construction resumed sometime last year, I almost fell out of my chair. I could not believe such a project would ever resume with the many serious problems this thing obviously has. So I open Google News this morning, and see [...]
Jul 26 2009
It appears North Korea has opened its first fast food joint in Pyongyang with the help of an ROK firm.
The restaurant — which serves such fast food as burgers made of minced beef, fish or vegetables — however does not call them “hamburgers,” Choson Sinbo said.
It the menu lists “minced beef and bread” or “minced [...]
May 31 2009
Taesongsan Pleasure Ground
More photos at Flickr
Looking on Google Earth, this Pleasure Ground is not too far away from Pyongyang Zoo, Revolutionary Martyr’s Cemetery, and Lake Michon. Some extra info can be found on this entry.
ON IMPROVING PARTY GUIDANCE RELATING TO THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL SITES AND RELICS
A KCNA Entry on the grounds:
Pyongyang, April [...]
May 30 2009
Munsu Fun Fair
In the video above, I cannot tell what date the report was made, but it appears the pools are filled, and the rides are working. However, looking at Google Earth (Of course, I used NKEconWatch’s resource for this), it seems there is no activity. Just to be sure, I looked to Disneyland and [...]
Mar 26 2009
It has been a while since I posted a North Korean oddity, and today, felt like doing one. Since the news has been kind of slow, perhaps some look into the daily life or architecture of North Korea may be in order these days.
As usual, I went to NKEconWatch’s Google Earth resource for inspiration and [...]
Feb 24 2009
It appears the Ryugyong Hotel is well under way. From the Link via NKEconWatch:
Recently, the North Koreans have started installing glass panels on the concrete shell of this 105-storey hotel which had been abandoned for 16 years after construction stopped in 1992. An Egyptian firm, the Orascom group, has ventured to restore the hotel. Pyongyang [...]
Feb 14 2009
This is a repost.
One of the more interesting oddities I have read about are the tunnels under the DMZ.
According to north Korean defectors, Kim Il-Sung — president of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — issued a sweeping order in the early 1970s that required every Korean People’s Army division along the Demilitarized Zone to [...]
Feb 12 2009
This is a repost.
No tour of the DPRK is complete without stopping by the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang. I did a little research on it, and while there is not a huge amount of information on it, I will post what I can regarding it. For those that have visited this oddity, [...]
Dec 28 2008
This is one of my favorite posts, and this should be added again today.
Original Post: As North Korea watchers know, the Kumsusan Memorial Palace is probably the most sacred place in the DPRK next to the Juche Tower and Kim Il Sung’s massive statue. I have seen many pictures of the outside of the palace, [...]
Dec 26 2008
The Juche Tower in the heart of Pyongyang is an interesting, well-known oddity. I did not know much about the history of the monstrosity, but as with everything North Korea, everything has to be bigger. After all, image is everything. Kind of funny considering so few outsiders are able to marvel at them.
After some research [...]