Some other interesting photos from the same article. A VR headset attraction. The last photo seems to be some arcade game. One player has a steering wheel controller and the other player has what seems to be a turret gun controller.
Look at these North Koreans being forced to play video games and enjoy them.
That water park seems like a lot of fun.
You see, these people having fun are actually being forced to have fun after a double shift at the train pushing factory.
Those are just actors. The video games and water park are non functional, except when some western tourist is there. Then they get hundreds of actors to pretend they’re having fun with the games and the water park.
wish we could see the game better but that photo looks more real than some console ads i’ve seen
Lmao was just gonna post how they’re all forced to stand in the ocean some even enjoying TUBING
I hope the people of dprk can enjoy these things for free
I saw a video somewhere about DPRK workers getting mandatory time off and vouchers from their job to go to various tourist places basically
I’ve been wondering about that. I think the answer is probably that it has admission but citizens can use it, since that’s how other tourist attractions often function. That said, especially if it has admission, this probably is functionally a designated tourist playground, though it’s worth noting that the DPRK does build other things, including other water parks and a zoo, that I think usually cost the equivalent of 5 - 10 Euros for admission. There are even old-style arcades in a few places.
Apparently there is a push to increase domestic tourism involving making some attractions free or subsidized. Here’s a very hostile article on it: https://www.38north.org/2025/08/authoritarian-leisure-north-koreas-wonsan-kalma-tourism-project-in-comparative-perspective/
I don’t like the way that the DPRK seemingly over-focuses on building fancy shit in Pyongyang, but if you’re taking it for granted that that’s what they’re going to do, I think subsidizing domestic tourism is a good thing to do.
Edit: I apologize for writing this like I was concussed, I didn’t want to rewrite the whole message when I made edits
You weren’t kidding about hostile. And I’m not sure about “consumption based economy.” People need rest and recreation. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with collective enjoying the fruits of their collective labor and sacrifice, as long as most of the wealth is reinvested into ensuring continued collective prosperity and security for generations to come.
Well, press about the DPRK is very polarized. While I think it’s worth seeing what the DPRK itself says, I think it’s usually a bit polemical and undetailed (not devoid of details, just often missing things one might want to know) even before getting into motivations, so then you go look at what almost anyone else says, and aside from a small number of fan clubs that may as well also be DPRK publicity outlets, it’s all just people who want to see Pyongyang in flames. It can be very difficult to get good answers on anything because that latter group will eat up almost any lie that comes out of South Korea, at least for a short time before silently moving on to the next lie.
Anyway, my personal feeling on it is that the DPRK would be more like you describe if it wasn’t building these huge ridiculous resort structures and focused more on developing the rest of the country (also not counting the SEZ). I don’t think you should need to travel across the country to see something in the realm of an arcade cabinet (like, not any specific thing, but to just have something). It’s totally possible that there are other cities that are more developed than the press lets on (this is almost certainly the case) so there are probably lots of counterpoints that I’m unaware of.
Maybe dprk considers this an investment to generate money to develop the rest of the country more quickly, and keep revenue incoming, but I really don’t know. I do think after all the literal physical and economic violence done to dprk, let Western aligned states’ people contribute to the betterment of their economy and people.
A lot of their tourism is from China, though of course they get western tour groups too. I feel like I personally haven’t seen it remarked on much, but I guess it’s a trait of absurdly sanctioned countries that they might over-rely on tourism, since Cuba also does that, because it’s difficult to sanction that away.
My hope is that with the undermining of those sanctions, the DPRK finds more useful ways to support their economy, though it could be more difficult than it would be for other nations given that the most central dogma of the state is autarky (Juche), which in this scenario would mean constraining the degree to which they can invest in what’s profitable for them because they have committed much of their workforce to making sure that they are prepared if their borders slam completely shut or their partners are toppled.
I don’t really know much about econ though.
My hope is that with the undermining of those sanctions, the DPRK finds more useful ways to support their economy…
I definitely agree with that. A service/hospitality economy is subject to too many external variables, and I’d like to see academic investments, and farming.
though it could be more difficult than it would be for other nations given that the most central dogma of the state is autarky (Juche), which in this scenario would mean constraining the degree to which they can invest in what’s profitable for them because they have committed much of their workforce to making sure that they are prepared if their borders slam completely shut or their partners are toppled.
Which seems wise, all things considered.
I don’t really know much about econ though.
I don’t either, but apparently it’s time for Western economists to rethink themselves. I never read Pickett’s book, but I imagine he’s getting some vindication, although maybe not satisfaction.
I’ve really enjoyed this exchange and regret my battery is dead, so I can’t give more thoughtful replies. Thanks for engaging.
oof that 38North article has all the trappings of machine generated writing with those bolded bullet style paragraphs, horseshoe theory but in article form.
Construction in the DPRK has ramped up in the recent years, the most apparent effort is the building of 40,000 apartment flats in Pyongyang. I think it’s done out of logistical necessity and also as a way to migrate rural citizenry into the city similar to how China’s rapid urban development worked to migrate its rural population to cities (without forgetting to also raise the living standard of those rural areas).
China spent much of it’s time developing the eastern portion of the country while relatively neglecting the western region until BRI and the strike hard campaign in Xinjiang.
I really like how the DPRK still has a fun arcade culture, but with more modern machines and equipment. I miss when arcades were about the games and not just barely legal child targeted gambling. (Granted, they were always kind of like that, but this looks more like how arcades should be, not how they were)
This could have been us. Instead, we get barbarism where billions of dollars are funneled into the hands of the rich while they send their thugs (AKA the police) after everyone else.
I fuckin’ love these photos. It fills me with joy to see North Korean people having fun and just doing their thing. After all the propaganda I’ve been fed about the country, it’s just refreshing to see it so ‘normal’. It just makes me happy.
they did it in the style of the pokemon logo
Tourism can be used as a form of wealth redistribution
are they planning on opening up more international tourism?
That is the most difficult Hangul font I’ve ever tried to read.
