Word: pyongyang
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...rare opportunity in 2002 to take a road trip through North Korea. I had been invited into the country by Pyongyang along with several other foreign correspondents, and even though we rode in a modern bus, the journey itself was like going back in time. From the capital, we drove down narrow country roads for nearly six hours, through small farming hamlets of white homes in neat rows. Men in army-green clothing worked the fields by hand; there were few tractors or animals in sight. Trucks with sacks of U.S. food aid passed...
That was seven years ago, but conditions have probably not improved even though Pyongyang continues to funnel scarce resources into weapons programs. Food shortages returned last year, while aid and investment from neighbors such as South Korea and Japan have dwindled. How bad the situation may be is hard to assess since North Korea doesn't reveal significant economic data. Estimates from South Korea's central bank, released on Monday, suggest that North Korea's gross domestic product recovered in 2008 after two years of contraction, with 3.7% growth. The bank attributed the increase to "one-off factors," such...
After severe famines killed perhaps 1 million people in the mid-1990s, the government tolerated a limited amount of market reform, including the proliferation of farmers' markets and the tilling of private plots. But in 2005, Pyongyang reversed course and began re-establishing the state's dominance over food distribution. Officials have even slapped new restrictions on the operation of marketplaces in recent years. (See pictures of Kim Jong...
...Pyongyang TAKING THE GLOVES OFF In a meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, President Obama pledged to "break the pattern" of rewarding North Korea with aid only to have the country later renege on its promises to halt nuclear proliferation. On June 15, thousands of North Koreans gathered in Pyongyang for a demonstration against U.S.-led sanctions, which include the inspection of North Korean ships in an effort to block the transport of nuclear materials. The inspections are still voluntary, and most experts believe that North Korean vessels most likely would not agree to them. Pyongyang has threatened...
...Almost all of the 2,550 seats have been sold for the day's matinee. The ensuing spectacle of song and dance looks like it was put together by Las Vegas choreographers and drill instructors from Pyongyang. It's a mix of high kitsch, discipline and idealism, driving home a singular message: love endures. The three-hour show has about 120 actors, begins with a musical play (Raindrops Fall on Roses) and ends with a song-and-dance revue (Amour, It's Something Like ...). The costumes are adorned with enough glitter to make Liberace's eyes water. (See pictures...