Pyongyang, North Korea

Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a country in East Asia commonly known as North Korea. North Korea, a Communist state, is frequently at odds with both the United Nations (UN) and the Western world; as a result Pyongyang, and the country as a whole, are isolated from the rest of the world. Administered as a directly governed city—it has provincial-level status and is directly controlled by the North Korean government—several factors have historically contributed to the stunted growth and development of the capital's industry and culture, most notably the city's lack of sufficient electricity and natural resources and North Korea's self-imposed political isolation.

Landscape

Pyongyang is located in the southwest portion of North Korea, about 48 kilometers (roughly 30 miles) east of Korea Bay. It is situated on the banks of the Taedong River. Pyongyang is divided into nineteen wards, and is considered relatively quiet and free of pollution for a city of its size, owing in part to the lack of available energy and automobiles.

Pyongyang has a continental climate, with moderate rainfall and cooler weather in the summer months, and colder weather typically characterized by snowfall in the winter months. The average yearly temperature of the capital is 9.4 degrees Celsius (49 degrees Fahrenheit). Although much of North Korea is mountainous, Pyongyang is dominated by large plains. Nevertheless, less than one-quarter of the land is arable, and only about 2 percent is devoted to permanent crops. Occasionally, the city is subjected to droughts in the spring and typhoons and flooding in the fall.

North Korea is vulnerable to climate change. The temperature has risen, hampering agriculture. The county has food insecurity and in the past has had famines. Because of climate change, North Korea has seen the longest drought and longest rainy season in more than a century.

People

The urban area of Pyongyang had a population of approximately 3.133 million people in 2022, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency, although official numbers are rarely released. The population of the city, and of North Korea as a whole, is ethnically homogeneous, or of the same or similar ethnicity—and in this case, predominantly North Korean—with only small populations of Chinese, Vietnamese, South Korean, and Japanese expatriates. Korean is the official language.

Though the Korean government advocates freedom of religion (there are even state-sanctioned Christian churches), this is commonly viewed as an illusion by outside governments and human-rights organizations, and the majority of the population is most likely atheist or nonpracticing. In addition, Cheondoism, Buddhism, and Korean shamanism are commonly listed in official government statistics.

In addition, North Korea is typically characterized by its official state ideology, the Juche Idea. This concept, adopted and adapted by Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea until his death in 1994, relates to self-reliance and independence, but also calls for unquestioning respect for and loyalty to the leader. This ideology is evident in the respect and deference Korean citizens have for their leaders, the homage paid before the various statues of Kim Il-sung and his son, Kim Jong-il, and the consistent reference to them as "Dear Leader" and "Beloved Leader" on the state-run radio station. This political isolation and strict adherence to the principles of Juche have resulted in scarce food and resources, yet little or no pollution and low noise levels in Pyongyang.

Economy

North Korea's Communist-inspired government oversees all aspects of the country's industry, including the protocols for individual factories. Pyongyang's major natural resource is coal, which the city uses to power its factories. These factories primarily produce textiles and food products, as well as rubber, ceramics, and railroad machinery.

Pyongyang is also known for its silk, being a natural habitat for silk worms. However, the raw materials for the other textiles and fabrics produced by Pyongyang must be imported from outside the country.

The Korean Feature Film Studio, based a few miles outside of Pyongyang, is the country's only film studio. The company is state-run and produces about forty films per year, all of which are essentially considered propaganda. However, in the 2000s, the North Korean government has open the door slowly for some foreign cinematic collaboration. Pyongyang is also home to an underground theater, which is located beneath the Moran Hill recreation center. Tourism is relatively nonexistent, with neighboring Asian populations constituting the bulk of annual foreign visitors.

Like all of North Korea, Pyongyang often experiences electrical shortages. As such, the streets are typically unlit at night. Automobiles are rare in Pyongyang, and traffic is nearly nonexistent. Furthermore, the scarcity of electricity means the city has largely employed people to direct traffic, instead of using traffic lights; however, traffic lights have been increasingly introduced in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Public transportation, including a metro system, buses, and street cars, is common, though walking and cycling are popular modes of transportation.

Overall, the economy of Pyongyang is weak, and it appears to be getting worse each year. Much of the city's resources are devoted to North Korea's military—the government has a "military first" policy—and there has been a shortage of food each year since the late twentieth century. Because the North Korean government retains such strict control over industry, it has been difficult for private companies to establish businesses in the city. Additionally, the country's nuclear program and international hopes for denuclearization have led to sanctions, including economic sanctions, from bodies like the UN and countries such as the United States.

Landmarks

Perhaps the most striking landmark in Pyongyang is the bronze statue of Chollima, a character from Korean myth. The winged horse represents the supposed soaring economic progress that the country has enjoyed since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Like almost every other publicly displayed monument in Pyongyang, the striking statue is considered only one element in a larger and pervasive propaganda effort.

Many relics of the former Koguryo (Goguryeo) Kingdom (37 BCE to 668 CE), of which Pyongyang was also the capital, still remain in the city. Included in these structures are the remains of the city's defensive walls, and the Hyunmoo Gate. There are also several temples, some of which have been rebuilt in the architectural style of the Koguryo period.

Changsuwon Palace, built in 1974, contains forty rooms, including a Buddhist temple and a gymnasium. The palace was built at the request of then-president Kim Il-sung, as a residence for the deposed and banished prince of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, who was one of Kim's closest friends. Other landmarks include the Arch of Reunification, the Juche Tower, and the Ryugyong Hotel, an unfinished skyscraper that is 105 stories high.

History

Pyongyang was officially founded in 1122 BCE, although local legends claim that the capital of the ancient Tangun dynasty was located on the land now occupied by Pyongyang as early as 2333 BCE. Little is known about the ancient history of the city until 102 BCE, when a Chinese colony was established nearby.

Because it was fortified so early, Pyongyang remained resolute and strong for several centuries from the time of its founding. It became the capital of the Koguryo Kingdom in the fifth century CE, before being captured by the Chinese in 668. The city survived the first Japanese invasion in 1592, but was destroyed when the Manchus attacked in the early seventeenth century.

Pyongyang began to welcome outsiders again in the 1880s, the foremost among those visitors being Christian missionaries. These Protestant missionaries in Pyongyang eventually built upwards of one hundred churches, more than in any other Asian city at the time. However, the end of the nineteenth century again saw destruction for the city. After suffering considerably in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) between China and Japan over control of the city, Pyongyang became afflicted with a terrible plague.

Following Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, Japanese forces remained in Pyongyang. Prior to 1905, when Japan officially annexed the Korean peninsula, Korea was a unified state. Although Japan did much to damage the Korean sense of identity, Pyongyang saw a major economic and technological revolution during Japanese rule.

With the end of World War II, the defeat of the Japanese by Allied forces and the beginning of the Cold War, Pyongyang (and North Korea) fell under Communist rule. Backed by the Soviet Union, it came in direct opposition to South Korea, which was backed by the United States. The new government was headed by president Kim Il-sung, who was also the founder of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim adapted Stalinist principles to create a nation based on complete independence and self-reliance.

When Kim Il-sung died in 1994, his son took over as leader of the country. In June 2000, Pyongyang was the site of an unprecedented summit between Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, in which the two leaders discussed the possibility of relations, and even reunification, between their two states.

Although the progress from that meeting was negligible, there were subsequent signs that Pyongyang was prepared to reach out to its neighbors and associate in a more open way with the rest of the world. In 2008, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed in Pyongyang, marking the greatest number of American citizens to visit the country since the Korean War. The orchestra played a number of traditional Korean songs, including Arirang. The chairman of the Pyongyang People's Committee—the city's equivalent of a mayor—attended the concert, along with several other North Korean officials.

While, after Kim Jong-il's death in 2011, his son and successor Kim Jong-un took an increasingly antagonistic approach to the West, dimming hopes for either changes in national policy or reunification with South Korea, by 2018, his approach seemed to change. In that year, he became the first North Korean leader to cross the military demarcation line into South Korea before meeting with leader Moon Jae-in for a summit to discuss, in part, making peace and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. After meeting with Moon Jae-in again in May, he attended a summit with US president Donald Trump in June in Singapore before holding another summit with Moon Jae-in in September, this time in Pyongyang.

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