# PYONGYANG/PHENIAN - CAPITAL OF NORTH KOREA



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

Google Earth is an endless suply of great photos!
Visit http://belitesti.myminicity.com or http://belitesti.myminicity.com/ind and help me develop my mini city!

Phenian or Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea. It may look ok, perhaps more than ok, but remember how the people of North Korea live and what harsh regime they have to endure. But we are here to talk about cities, so let's!





































That is the world's largest stadium, with a capacity of 150.000 seats!










That tower is a hotel, I forgot it's name, I'll come back with that info!










Remember http://belitesti.myminicity.com, thank you!


----------



## robo_boss (Jun 10, 2007)

Are they ever going to finish that damn hotel? It's been 20 years already . I like Phenian anyway:cheers:


----------



## Boogie (Jun 17, 2006)

Ryugyong Hotel is the highest building of Phenian. It has 330 m. Bogdan Alexandru, I found interesting photos of Phenian. May I post them here?


----------



## alitezar (Mar 10, 2006)

Very nice shots. Thank you. I love that hotel very cool looking


----------



## Mussoda (Mar 10, 2007)

Bogdan Alexandru said:


> Google Earth is an endless suply of great photos!
> Visit http://belitesti.myminicity.com or http://belitesti.myminicity.com/ind and help me develop my mini city!
> 
> Phenian or Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea. It may look ok, perhaps more than ok, but remember how the people of North Korea live and what harsh regime they have to endure. But we are here to talk about cities, so let's!
> ...


man, where are you from?
why/how you call it 'Phenian' rather than 'Pyongyang' ??


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

Boogie said:


> Ryugyong Hotel is the highest building of Phenian. It has 330 m. Bogdan Alexandru, I found interesting photos of Phenian. May I post them here?


Yes of course, go ahead, but only with one condition! Visit http://belitesti.myminicity.com!


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

Mussoda said:


> man, where are you from?
> why/how you call it 'Phenian' rather than 'Pyongyang' ??


Well I don't know how korean people name their places but where I come from it's pretty much common knowledge (Romania by the way). I don't know if you know or in the 2 Koreas they know, but in Europe we have two names for many presidents and cities in Asia! For North Korea we know for instance Kim Ir Sen or Kim Il Sung for the father and Pyongyang or Phenian for the capital city. Maybe it's like Keops and Hufu, one name from the greeks one from the egyptians, you know what I mean?

Like Beijing and Pekin, Saigon and Ho Chi Minh, Stalingrad and Sankt Peteresburg. Maybe it's no longer called Phenian but Pyongyang! I know both names!

Please visit http://belitesti.myminicity.com/ind. One click on the link and that's it!

10x!


----------



## Mussoda (Mar 10, 2007)

Bogdan Alexandru said:


> Well I don't know how korean people name their places but where I come from it's pretty much common knowledge (Romania by the way). I don't know if you know or in the 2 Koreas they know, but in Europe we have two names for many presidents and cities in Asia! For North Korea we know for instance Kim Ir Sen or Kim Il Sung for the father and Pyongyang or Phenian for the capital city. Maybe it's like Keops and Hufu, one name from the greeks one from the egyptians, you know what I mean?
> 
> Like Beijing and Pekin, Saigon and Ho Chi Minh, Stalingrad and Sankt Peteresburg. Maybe it's no longer called Phenian but Pyongyang! I know both names!
> 
> ...


oh, yah,.. i see.
I don't care its name doubled somewhere, but I just curious where r u from, I mean, where people call it Phenian. and yeah,, Romania,.. cool..

10x, too.


----------



## uA_TAGA (May 23, 2007)

Amazing work u've done


----------



## Boogie (Jun 17, 2006)

Older photo thread of Pyongyang on SkyscraperCity (Phenian, North Korea): http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=243010


----------



## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

You don't get to see many pictures of this shithole, so thanks for the thread.

The North Koreans must be coughing all day long, just look at those massive smog clouds...
It's a creepy city, especially the Ryugyong has some sorta apocalypse attitude to it.


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

erbsenzaehler said:


> You don't get to see many pictures of this shithole, so thanks for the thread.
> 
> The North Koreans must be coughing all day long, just look at those massive smog clouds...
> It's a creepy city, especially the Ryugyong has some sorta apocalypse attitude to it.


I don't know about coughing but I can tell you they go blind from malnutrition! There are more blind or blinding people in NK than anywhere else on Earth! That's a sad reality! Also NK has some of the poorest environmental laws in the World, so smog clowds are obvious to occur!

In the meantime, please visit http://belitesti.myminicity.com and help me develop my online minicity! Just one click on the link and your job is done!


----------



## Boogie (Jun 17, 2006)

Satellite view of Pyongyang from Wikipedia.


----------



## Boogie (Jun 17, 2006)

Render of Ryugyong Hotel. 









And photos.


















Juche Tower.


















Trams in Pyongyang.



























And station.









All photos from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.


----------



## ovem (Mar 25, 2007)

beautiful!! i really like this city


----------



## seth-underneath (Dec 22, 2007)

^ That wasn't funny at all :sly:


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

10x 4 the add-ons guys! I'm trying to bring to SSC less known cities and your contribution really helps a lot!

http://belitesti.myminicity.com or http://belitesti.myminicity.com/ind or http://belitesti.myminicity.com/tra

Just click the link of your choice once and you don't need to do anything else!

10x again!


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Bogdan Alexandru said:


>


The only good for Pyongyang its that ^^ skyline. Only :lol:


----------



## Boogie (Jun 17, 2006)

Maybe we should send it to Jan for a banner?


----------



## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Oh please, we don't want Korean riots here.


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

I agree.
Ovem could you able to live under those conditions ^^^^ ?


----------



## ovem (Mar 25, 2007)

yeah ok... got it... i never said that i 'd like to live there... i just show some basics that we (the "civilised" world) never had... and its quite simple... i have to solve people's needs before we have more than we need... otherwise the wealth will be unequally dealed... thats a fact today... you might have something that a north korean doesnt have but you are cutting it out of another one. see africa... you might have more food for yourself but an african boy is ding of hunger because you, and me, and everybody has more than he needs... you should can have more only when the economy allows you to have. when nobody is hungry


----------



## DanteXavier (Jan 6, 2007)

ovem said:


> yeah ok... got it... i never said that i 'd like to live there... i just show some basics that we (the "civilised" world) never had... and its quite simple... i have to solve people's needs before we have more than we need... otherwise the wealth will be unequally dealed... thats a fact today... you might have something that a north korean doesnt have but you are cutting it out of another one. see africa... you might have more food for yourself but an african boy is ding of hunger because you, and me, and everybody has more than he needs... you should can have more only when the economy allows you to have. when nobody is hungry


That all sounds nice and all, but it isn't realistic. At some point in time you have to take into account other intangible factors relative to the different populations being discussed. 
What you seem to be suggesting is a sort of "robin hood" type of plan by which those who have more than they truly need(more than the basics) should simply hand the rest over to those who have less.
That sounds great on paper, but as I said, it is not realistic. Simply handing the wealth over does nothing-you have to foster a spark within the poorer population so that, at some point in time, they will be able to create more wealth for themselves.

You assume that having more than the basics means that you are in essence cutting wealth away from Africa-that, again, sounds nice on paper, but is not grounded in reality. Africa's lack of wealth(on the whole-there are exceptions) has its roots in many different factors. These are the factors that have created the disparity. It isn't realistic to assume that if Americans gave up the basics, that the problem of poverty would disappear, because at the end of the day those factors causing the problems won't disappear because of a redistribution of cash.

Like I said, the logic you're putting out there sounds nice, but it isn't based in solid reality. Communism does not work-history has more than proven that.


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

DanteXavier said:


> That all sounds nice and all, but it isn't realistic. At some point in time you have to take into account other intangible factors relative to the different populations being discussed.
> What you seem to be suggesting is a sort of "robin hood" type of plan by which those who have more than they truly need(more than the basics) should simply hand the rest over to those who have less.
> That sounds great on paper, but as I said, it is not realistic. Simply handing the wealth over does nothing-you have to foster a spark within the poorer population so that, at some point in time, they will be able to create more wealth for themselves.
> 
> ...


! Well, first what ovem said would be naturally impossible to do! You might find a few people who would actually give away their surplus, like Gates and Buffett, but most won't! Having done that, the third world country people would get used to living on welfare, sounds familiar? Instead of helping them, we would deepen the discrepancies between our worlds! I'm talking like Romania is some kind of permanent security council member of the UN!

Of course, I understand what he means, I think we all in a way owe it to ourselves to think like that! But the people who have the power to approve that, won't! And it's simple, third world countries should be able to buy, not receive for free!

And I'm not sure how Africa got in the picture!

ovem, somehow you've managed to light a conversation fire here! I respect your judgement, but in our world, it's just not an option!


----------



## DanteXavier (Jan 6, 2007)

Bogdan Alexandru said:


> ! Well, first what ovem said would be naturally impossible to do! You might find a few people who would actually give away their surplus, like Gates and Buffett, but most won't! Having done that, the third world country people would get used to living on welfare, sounds familiar? Instead of helping them, we would deepen the discrepancies between our worlds! I'm talking like Romania is some kind of permanent security council member of the UN!
> 
> Of course, I understand what he means, I think we all in a way owe it to ourselves to think like that! But the people who have the power to approve that, won't! And it's simple, third world countries should be able to buy, not receive for free!
> 
> ...


You're dead on with what you said.

I think he brought Africa up to illustrate the discrepancy. When he said welathy people take away something from somewhere else, he used Africa as an example, saying African boys die of hunger because people like us eat more than the basics.

Again, it sounds nice, but it doesn't work.


----------



## wit_m (Nov 25, 2007)

great photos!
damn it, there is no cars.. 
like in song..
where the streets have no...cars?


----------



## ovem (Mar 25, 2007)

^^ hahah  thst's funny


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)




----------



## Klausenburg (Jul 25, 2007)

ovem said:


> not worse than a ghetto in ny. i could say its much better... at least there are no homeless in nk... no people dying of hunger and no unempolyments, no AIDS no crime and no coca cola! on the contrary in north korea you can find free train tickets, free school, free university, free healthcare facilities, and yp
> ou have to pay a minimal amount for housing!!! and all these for anybody  sounds cool to me. i like it


Are you dreaming??? You guys never hear about *The Great Hunger* in the 90's??? ~3 milion people died of hunger then in North Koreahno:hno:
I can't belive nobody from here never heard about this...


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ Tip: i knew that


----------



## FM 2258 (Jan 24, 2004)

I would love to visit this city. I wish I could see some "real" pictures of Pyongyang though. It's amazing how they can keep an atmosphere of abundance when the rest of the country is supposedly falling to pieces. I wish I could live as a North Korean for a week just to see all the shit they go through.


----------



## karim aboussir (Dec 4, 2006)

I would love to go to as well to me north korea is a very different nation I just want to see it for myself I have dual citizen ship moroccan and american I wonder if north korea would give me a visa to travel there


----------



## channel (Apr 24, 2008)

those pictures of NK is very interesting, i know a lot of people say its shit hole/ commy etc, however the place look okay in the pictures, however i would form my opinion if i ever visit the place my self. a lot of people/media potray places things in one way and when i been to the place itself i found the potrayal to be a lie. Regarding smog and pollution, please go to hollywood california, there you will see real smog


----------



## 1000city (Sep 8, 2007)

Mussoda said:


> oh, yah,.. i see.
> I don't care its name doubled somewhere, but I just curious where r u from, I mean, where people call it Phenian. and yeah,, Romania,.. cool..
> 
> 10x, too.


I guess it's typical for Europe to call it Phenian - we do the same in Poland. It's convenient, because Pyongyang, like other asian words, is more like a tongue-breaker for us :lol: 

About the city - it's fascinating, like all North Korean surrealism (brutalist architecture and unfinished Ryungyong Hotel are just symbols of it). Im' very sad for people over there (their communism is much worse than our was, and that really sucks). I'd like to visit this place, but I won't till it means money for the regime. Anyway - watching Phenian shots is always exciting for me.


----------



## 1000city (Sep 8, 2007)

ovem said:


> not worse than a ghetto in ny. i could say its much better... at least there are no homeless in nk... no people dying of hunger and no unempolyments, no AIDS no crime and no coca cola! on the contrary in north korea you can find free train tickets, free school, free university, free healthcare facilities, and yp
> ou have to pay a minimal amount for housing!!! and all these for anybody  sounds cool to me. i like it


I don't belive someome could really write this :bash: I've seen a documental film once, one of very few shot in NK by foreigners (by some Russians AFAIR). Even in Pyongyang electricity cut offs are typical, people live in poor but decent conditions (flat, food and few hours of electricity to watch propaganda tn TV) only if authorities consider them as devoted communists. If they don't people dissapear or at least have to leave the capitol, which means serious troubles. Out of Pyongyang it's quite offen that young girls or kids have to have sex with local civil servants (masters of life&death) for a bag of rice for whole family. Poeple die in slave work camps, or are beeing sold for "spare parts". NK people are afraid one of each other (anyone can delate anyone) and - whats very scary too - they belive that it's all fault of other nations, and that level of life in NK, especially in Pyongyang is high (much better than in South Korea, USA etc.). I don't think free tram ride can reward this hno:

BTW: There's no free tram ride - tickets costs 2 wons (no matter tram, train or subway). Out of Pyongyang public transport is very poor.


----------



## Galandar (Dec 2, 2004)

The city looks pretty nice


----------



## chinatown (Nov 8, 2005)

only one half of all of those buildings in Pyongyang are occupied. Majority of the people in Pyongyang and the whole N.Korea are living in slum quarters. Outsiders can easily get a false impression about the prosperity of Pyongyang, and besides Pyongyang, N.Korea got no more real 'cities' like this (or towns that can meet the standards of a city)


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ The other one half of those buildings are empty :? I didn't knew that


----------



## karim aboussir (Dec 4, 2006)

north korea regime is like one strange huge cult


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ and it is unique...


----------



## Bogdan Alexandru (Mar 27, 2008)

When he built the Unirii Boulevard in Bucharest (the large boulevard overviewing the House Of The Parliament), Ceausescu also intented to keep some of the buildings on it's sides empty, so to be used by the Securitate (they were the guys who inforced communism, if you were suspicious of having non-communism ideals you were a target for the Securitate) for stakeouts and as "observation decks"! Or, at least, so I've heard!


----------



## amsincero1 (Sep 14, 2005)

Wow.....Nice Pyongyang!!!


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ :nuts:


----------



## BringMeTheHorizon (May 1, 2008)

:nuts: indeed.....


----------



## hellospank25 (Feb 5, 2008)

Awesome city

from FLICKR


----------



## princeofseoul (Jun 8, 2004)

FM 2258 said:


> I would love to visit this city. I wish I could see some "real" pictures of Pyongyang though. It's amazing how they can keep an atmosphere of abundance when the rest of the country is supposedly falling to pieces.


I wouldn't say this looks like an atmosphere of abundance.. These pics look like the poorer districts in south korean cities.



FM 2258 said:


> I wish I could live as a North Korean for a week just to see all the shit they go through.


I recommend visiting China as an appropriate appetizer  -- similar type of regime, but a bit better off financially.


----------



## hellospank25 (Feb 5, 2008)

Awesome building


----------



## Mussoda (Mar 10, 2007)

NK is always a hot potato. lol.

those buildings scene just a shame.. 
these days, newly released news article says some north korean people started to die of hunger again.. I just tongue-tied


----------



## Mercutio (Oct 15, 2004)

princeofseoul said:


> I recommend visiting China as an appropriate appetizer  -- similar type of regime, but *a bit better *off financially.



But only really a _little_ bit! :lol:


Some people really need to come out of their closet more often...


----------



## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Much better  but you need to change *few thinks* to be more much better...


----------



## Gag Halfrunt (Jun 25, 2006)

Believe it or not, there are reports that the Ryungyong Hotel, the 105-floor concrete hulk you can see in the photos above, will now be completed by an Egyptian company that is also building a mobile phone network in North Korea.


> North Korea resumed the construction of a highrise hotel building in Pyongyang last month, which was suspended for nearly 20 years due to funding problems, informed sources here said Monday.
> 
> “North Korean authorities restarted the construction of Ryugyong Hotel in April,” the sources said, quoting those who recently returned from trips to Pyongyang.
> 
> ...


----------



## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

princeofseoul said:


> I recommend visiting China as an appropriate appetizer  -- similar type of regime, but a bit better off financially.


Are you kidding me? How is China's "regime" similar in any way to North Korea? Perhaps you're referring to the name of the ruling party, but that's just nominal. 
China hasn't been communist in 30 years, and its "regime" is definitely more similar to that of Canada (I take it that you are Canadian) than that of North Korea.


----------



## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

Very interesting city! And that hotel, with a very exquisite architecture, is fascinating!


----------



## 7freedom7 (Jun 28, 2007)

staff said:


> Are you kidding me? How is China's "regime" similar in any way to North Korea? Perhaps you're referring to the name of the ruling party, but that's just nominal.
> China hasn't been communist in 30 years, and its "regime" is definitely more similar to that of Canada (I take it that you are Canadian) than that of North Korea.


Just ignore the anti-China troll.


----------



## 1000city (Sep 8, 2007)

staff said:


> Are you kidding me? How is China's "regime" similar in any way to North Korea? Perhaps you're referring to the name of the ruling party, but that's just nominal.
> China hasn't been communist in 30 years, and its "regime" is definitely more similar to that of Canada (I take it that you are Canadian) than that of North Korea.


Comparing China to NK is of course misunderstanding. China isn't like that for years now. But it's not a free, democratic country too - people get prisoned or killed for anti-communist actions, chinese people got limited acces free media, internet (it's censored) etc. Recent cases of Tibet and earthquake show how little individual's life and freedom is worth over there. It's still a regime, uncomparable to western democracies.


----------



## rhotidhs7 (Mar 20, 2008)

wow it's very rare pictures.I'm South Korean and normal South Korean can't go Pyonyang so it's very impressive me. Thank you


----------



## channel (Apr 24, 2008)

my next holiday destination will be North Korea and i cant wait to go to such a paradise place

:rofl: :nuts:


----------



## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

1000city said:


> Comparing China to NK is of course misunderstanding. China isn't like that for years now. But it's not a free, democratic country too - people get prisoned or killed for anti-communist actions, chinese people got limited acces free media, internet (it's censored) etc. Recent cases of Tibet and earthquake show how little individual's life and freedom is worth over there. It's still a regime, uncomparable to western democracies.


Please inform yourself before making assumptions about countries you know little of.

Keep it via PM (or start an own thread) if you want to continue such discussions. This thread is about Pyongyang.


----------



## 1000city (Sep 8, 2007)

1st: It wasn't me to start comparing China, NK and... Canada :lol:
2st: I was sure some Chinese will come to explain Us, western ignorants, that China is a democratic country with widespread freedom and respect for individual rights, just like e.g. mentioned Canada. Let's say I belive it, just like I belived polish communists saying People's Republic of Poland was a land of freedom and wealth :lol: You're right - it's a Pyongyang thread, so let's stick to that - EOT.


----------



## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

You're a bit stupid, aren't you? Little bit?


----------



## sylodon (Sep 5, 2004)

I see that there are some people who think these images of Pyongyang aren't really "real" and assumes there are people starving here and there that these pictures refuse to show. I'd disagree however. I'd be rather surprised if Pyongyang HAS any starving people. Pyongyang is the model showcase of the North Korean government, the proof that North Korea is a superior state especially in comparison to Seoul. Pyongyang is like the little paradise where North Korea's ruling elites reside along with their dear leader, Kim Jongil. Whenever there is a food shortage, the primary targets for food distribution are the military and the people of Pyongyang, as their loyalty is critical to Kim Jongil's grip on power. All others are secondary. If you want to see "real" North Korea, I'd say you should get out of this little paradise altogether and look at other cities and rural villages.

Pyongyang is historically Korea's oldest city with a history of at least 2000 years. It's truly a shame that this city is now the seat of power of one of the most shameful Korean "kingdoms" in history.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Remember to credit all your photos, HelloSpank. Please edit your entry and tell us where
you got the pictures. Thank you.


----------

