[KS] Outstanding recent Russian photos of everyday scenes in north-east North Korea

[Afostercarter at aol.com]

Dear friends and colleagues,

Tom Coyner, in Seoul, has kindly alerted those on his email list
to a truly excellent series of new photographs of North Korea,
apparently taken by a young Russian tourist couple very recently.
See  http://www.fishmonger.ru/06-07-27/index.htm

Alas, the captions are all (not unreasonably) po-Russkii.
Might some kind person on this list translate them? If they 
are half as good as the photos, they'd be well worth reading.

But the pictures - large, crisp; about 70 in all - speak for themselves. 
Most seem to be in or near Rajin-Sonbong;  including the imposing 
but apparently deserted pile of the Emperor Hotel & Casino, with statuary.
(Shades of Ozymandias, already?)

The greater part are scenes of everyday life, which Coyner compares
to South Korea in the 1970s. They include: 
- Views inside a home, including ondol.
- Women carrying water, on their heads and on shoulder-poles
(In general, many persons carrying, pulling or pushing various loads)
- That age-old Korean icon, the bony bullock patiently pulling a cart
- A tourbus stuck on a muddy rutted road, pulled out by a bulldozer
- Assorted boats
- Miscellaneous electrical equipment
- and much much more.


Separately, may I also take this opportunity to commiserate with all
those who were looking forward to visiting North Korea in the coming
months, but whose tours have been abruptly cancelled; and nor least to
Leonid Petrov, who put much effort into organizing these. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR200607300099
3.html

Much as one symapthizes with the DPRK over the latest flood damage,
give the current political climate (post-Taepodong) it seems fair to
wonder what is the real balance of reason vs excuse here. I fear
it tends to confirm my sour view that the true meaning of juche
is not giving a damn about anybody else. 

Best wishes
Aidan

AIDAN FOSTER-CARTER
Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds University 

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