Inside a North Korea changing rapidly, but at its own pace: NPR

NPR journalists Mary Louise Kelly and Becky Sullivan and freelance photographer David Guttenfelder were among some 150 foreign journalists who traveled to North Korea at the invitation of the government to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the foundation. of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Since 2000, Guttenfelder has made nearly 40 report visits to this isolated country.

After only seven years under Kim Jong Un, North Korea is changing. More visibly to the outside world, Kim – the third generation of North Korea's founding family to rule the country – has achieved in 2018 a year of unprecedented diplomatic engagement with South Korea and the United States.

Signs of change are also visible within the country. Once considered a Stalinist relic preserved in amber, with empty streets, cool gray buildings and an old-fashioned airport, Pyongyang seems more and more modern, as are a handful of other cities targeted for development . Conditions are worse in disadvantaged areas – there are still shortages of food and electricity – but the country's economy is improving despite the sanctions and, overall, the quality of life has been much evolved since the famine of the 90s.

It is difficult to know what this wave of modernization and diplomacy means for North Korea in the long run. The sanctions remain in place. The vast majority of North Koreans still can not travel freely, access the global Internet, or express any feelings about leadership other than praise and gratitude. There is no guarantee that the dynastic authoritarian regime will survive the upheavals of the country's economy and North Koreans' growing awareness of the quality of life beyond their borders.

But it is at this moment of meeting with the outside world that North Korea has chosen to invite us.

During our six-day stay in this city, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's founding, we witnessed a classic set of North Korean shows. The most important of them were the massive parades – one during the day to present the county's military power; the other, the night in the light of the torches, a representation of the population in real situation. We participated in highly orchestrated visits to factories, a school and a farm. The country and its message are still tightly controlled by the grandson of the founder of North Korea.

We have sought both to document these events and to look beyond them for insights into the normal life of North Koreans. In these moments, and between them, we have seen a North Korea in full change, impressive, surreal, beautiful, melancholy and human.

Some things, of course, stay the same. Foreign journalists visiting North Korea are still unable to present themselves freely. The government guides accompanied us at all times. After the itinerary of official events ended, our government guardians took us only to tourist destinations and restaurants.

In our experience, any visit beyond the hotel's doors had to be approved in advance and we had not received this permission to visit the most banal public spaces – the subway, a market. (On other occasions, however, US journalists have visited Pyongyang Subway and North Korea's markets.)

Government guides tend to start from a place of mistrust. They sometimes scold photographers by pointing at people who do things everyday: a man washing a car, a woman walking on an old bridge, a farmer with his ox cart. They often say that these images will embarrass rather than humanize.

It is possible to overcome this feeling over time. Foreign journalists who have visited the country several times have been able to trust their government guides. For us, six days were not enough.

Talking to North Koreans is also complicated. Journalists can not just interview who we want. The government controls who we talk to, even those we see.

Above all, dissent in North Korea is dangerous. Citizens risk political imprisonment for expressing critical views of Kim's regime, even in the confidence of family and friends.

For years, the country has banned foreigners from bringing mobile phones and images of North Korea were rare. While the rest of the world fell into selfies, Instagram and Snapchat, the flow of photographs from North Korea remained tightly controlled by the government, which produced most of the images seen in the West.

Then, in early 2013, the country added a 3G mobile Internet network to foreigners and allowed them to introduce mobile phones for the first time. The most closed society in the world has opened a ribbon.

Today, virtually all visitors to North Korea – journalists and tourists – take and share photos with their phones, capturing their own moments of spontaneity and humanity. Those of us outside of North Korea are seeing more of the country than ever before.

For North Koreans, access to the global Internet remains limited to a very small group of well connected elites and government employees. For the vast majority of citizens, the North Korean government maintains a closed intranet with limited content.

The capital, Pyongyang, is at the heart of a spectacular facelift. During the Korean War, most of the city was razed by a sustained bombardment campaign from the United States. Reconstruction began after the end of hostilities in 1953. No private development meant any variety in architecture. Soviet-style raw concrete buildings, gray and threatening, dominated. Broad paved boulevards, several lanes in each direction, were reputed to be empty of traffic.

In the last ten years, dozens of new skyscrapers – in a retro-futuristic style, with curves and glass – have been built throughout the city. The oldest buildings have been repainted with bright shades of coral red candy, sea green and sky blue.

There are now taxis and new cable cars have replaced old carts. A growing class of Pyongyang elite rich enough to own their own cars means that there is sometimes an honest traffic with God. People on the sidewalk also seem more modern, their hair a little less conservative and their clothes a little more colorful.

At Pyongyang Airport, a new international terminal opened in 2015. It is the same model of a modern airport: high ceilings, glass walls, walkways, cafes, restaurants and cafes. duty free shops inside. Yet, it is North Korea. These services serve approximately two flights a day. The only destinations are China and Russia.

Another unchanged characteristic of this evolution is Pyongyang's most distinctive civic feature: the similarities of the two previous leaders of the country, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, are everywhere. The father and son smile kindly in their official portraits, hanging over public squares and building classy entrances and paintings. A pair of statues on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang is over 60 feet tall.

Our visit to North Korea in early September has been scheduled for an important moment for the country, celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding. But it was only an important moment in one year among others, with others to come.

A week after we left Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived, greeted by a crowd of 150,000 North Koreans. Before the end of the year, Kim should meet a third time with Moon and a second time with President Trump.

Yet, this is not the first time that North Korea seems to embrace diplomacy. Warm, fresh and warm relations again. Meanwhile, the lives of North Koreans are changing at their own pace.

For all the new colorful painting, there are still military parades. For all VR headphones in a classroom, there are still government assistants who monitor every step. For all new cars, supermarkets, Italian restaurants, casual smartphones, there is still the old Japanese boombox on the bar, four vases of flowers placed carefully around it.