The Beautiful Faces Of North Korea

Mangyongdae Theatre, North Korea

The amazing folks over at the North Korea news and analysis website NK News are back with the second edition of their (hopefully annual*) NK News Calendar, with pictures by award-winning photographer Eric Lafforgue. You can buy the calendar here – and get $5 off by entering beijingcream as the coupon code.

There’s more to North Korea than “propaganda, nuclear weapons, and military parades,” as stated on the calendar’s website, and if you doubt that, just check out some of the photos below, which NK News has graciously shared with us. It’s the portrait of a peoples, depicting frailty, joy, hope and ambition, discipline, yearning, and love.

A more cynical person might call it infirmity, brainwashing, zeal and conviction, Juche, hungering, and idolization, but doing so would be to ignore the very real striving that happens anywhere and everywhere for that universal yet so singularly human value of self-actualization. And besides, we’re talking about flip sides of life here, spinning one to the next, and who can say how this coin — for you, in this life or the next — might land?

*Lafforgue cannot return to North Korea. As he told Business Insider last year: “They know that when I come, I take pictures. They prefer the tourism money, until it causes a problem for one of the people in charge.”

Note: while images of political leaders appear in the sample photos below, the calendar itself is “100% propaganda free.” As NK News explains: “We know you don’t want portraits of North Korean leaders on your wall, so rest assured in knowing that the North Korea Wall calendar is 100% propaganda free. And know that not a single cent from your purchase goes towards the North Korean government.” So go check it out.

Dancing In The Park, North Korea
Young Boy Playing Guitar, Chongjin, North Korea
Traffic Officer In Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean Students Doing Ballroom Dance On September 9, Pyongyang, North Korea
Little Girl With Flowers Paying Respect To The Two Statues Of The Dear Leaders In Grand Monument Of Mansu Hill, Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean Students Doing Ballroom Dance On September 9, Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean Girl Dancing On National Day, Pyongyang, North Korea

Girl With Flowers In Jung Pyong Ri Village, North Korea

Young Pioneers In Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean People's Army Soldiers Passing In Front Of Kim Il Sung And Kim Jong Il Giant Portraits On Kim Il Sung Square, Pyongyang, North Korea
Dancers At Mangyongdae School Children In Pyongyang, North Korea
Pyongyang, Coree Du Nord
Mass Dancing On April 15 In Pyongyang, North Korea
Traffic Officer In Front Of A Propaganda Poster In Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korea Armee
Mansudae Grand Monument,pyongyang North Korea
Group Of Students With Red Flag In Front Of Lake At Mount Baekdu, North Korea
People Sitting And Looking At Seaside Island, Hamhung, North Korea
Inlove In North Korea

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