North Korea – The Land of No Smiles

23 April 2009 74 views View Comments

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SHOP GIRL: This is shopping in North Korea. The clerk sits in the dark, unheated special store, waiting to turn on the lights for foreigners, the only permitted customers. “She’s wearing a ski jacket or parka; the rest of this time they’re sitting there with the lights off, freezing,” van Houtryve says. The goods—toys, televisions, and the like—are imported from China. The store only accepts euros.

Renowned documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve entered North Korea by posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory. As well as the usual wide empty streets found across North Korea, he also observed that people tend not to smile. View the photos here.

Photo: Tomas van Houtryve

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Fashion Shop said:

I thought they do that on purpose.I mean as seen from the picture.Why do they only permit foreigners to go in.Their shop looks eerie, who would dare to step in.

# 7 May 2009 at 8:49 am