Students at Mt. Paektu, an active volcano on the border between North Korea and China. Legend has it that Kim Il-sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, organized his resistance against Japanese forces during WWII in the area. Kim Jong-il was also supposedly born in the surrounding forests. Thousands of students visit the mountain every year to hear these tales.
North Korean People's Army Soldiers passing in front of giant Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il portraits in Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang.
A little girl with flowers at the Grand Monument on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang.
The Arirang Festival at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang.
A young boy playing guitar in Chongjin, a city on the northeast coast of North Korea.
A guide at Mt Paektu.
There are no traffic lights in Pyongyang. The intersections are guarded by traffic officers, mostly young and pretty women who do robotic movements, even when there are no cars around. Private cars are almost unheard of in North Korea. For a large part of the population, the only option is walking.
A woman in the middle of a group of soldiers in Pyongyang.
Kids in a school in Hamhung, a coastal city about 300 kilometers northeast of Pyongyang.
A kid visiting Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, a memorial to North Korean soldiers who fought the Japanese during WWII.
A North Korean man with a cap in Wonsan, a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province, on the westernmost shore of the Sea of Japan.
Two young children standing in the road near a farm in Hamhung.
Soldiers at Rungna Dolphinarium, part of an amusement park in Pyongyang.
North Korean students doing ballroom dance on September 9, 2012, in Pyongyang.
A man fishing in the Chilbo Sea, near Hamhung.
A street vendor and her children in the North Korean countryside. While buying and selling goods is still technically illegal, people now can open little shops and sell basic food or cigarettes.
A kid washing clothes at Songdowon International Children's Camp, a summer camp in Wonsan.
Men chatting in Wonsan on September 10, 2012.
A worker at Hungnam Fertilizer Complex in Hamhung. While officially used to produce fertilizer, the facility has also been used to manufacture chemical weapons.
Soldiers having fun at Kaeson Youth Park in Pyongyang.
People paying respects at Mansudae Grand Monument in Pyongyang.