Not the depressed North Korea: playing on the beach girls, trendy shops and restaurants

When Singaporean photographer Aram pan was going on a trip to North Korea, I expected to see a very sad, depressing urban landscapes with a very sad beleaguered people he was regularly seen in documentaries BBC.

"I always wanted to see North Korea with my own eyes — says pan. — While we have more pictures from space than from this country. In 2012 I began to send e-mails with requests to allow me to visit North Korea. All these letters are open and anyone can read them online. In the end I responded and sent an invitation. So I arrived in this country. Getting here was much easier than I thought." Seen firsthand was not similar to what drew the photographer his imagination.

Inside the Communist enclave in 2013, Peng found bustling markets, men and women, tourists in the parks (which, incidentally, seems to be quite Western) and many kilometers of fields with the ripening harvest.

Pan said that the whole route accompanied him, but the movement was not limited, therefore, it is certain that he saw a country is more or less what it is. "If what I saw would have been falsified and embellished by decoration, it would be the perfect organization of local life, much higher than the I know developed countries".

1. It looks like the Munsu water Park in Pyongyang: colourful water slides, swimming pools and artificial waterfalls. The complex opened in 2013 and, apparently, enjoys great popularity among the local population.

2. Korean men in suits basking in the sun and eat ice cream. Not very similar to the starving, what the North Koreans describes the Western press.

3. Girls in bikinis running around on the beach, in the background a group of people with bicycles. In June 2013, the North Korean leadership decided to transform the industrial port of Wonsan into a Spa town "world-class".

4. Aram pan on the backdrop of the famous bronze monument. The photographer has already made two visits to North Korea and is planning a third for next autumn.

5. The view from the mountains kymgansan (at a height of 1638 metres).

6. In the Barber shop.

7. The flow of consumer goods, such as steamers and other electric appliances for the kitchen, just rushed to the market of North Korea from China.

8. The life of the local people seems not so bad what it seems in the West: healthy, well-fed and quite cheerful in view of people playing beach volleyball.

9. Fireworks — the culmination of the festival "Arirang", which is a massive musical and gymnastic performances, which are held annually at one of the largest stadiums in Korea.

10. Young gymnasts hold over the head of bright red flowers during the Arirang festival at the stadium. The first of may.

11. Girl under a black umbrella.

12. A statue of a horse, installed on the grave of king Kongmin in memory of the transfer of the capital from Hwando mountain fortress to Pyongyang in 427 ad

13. View of Pyongyang from the Yanggakdo hotel where Mr pan.

14. A Sunny day in the industrial city of Kaesong, near the border with South Korea.

15. The monument embodying the Juche idea in Pyongyang, built in 1982.

16. The center of Kumgang — "the place where you can meet families from the North and South side."

17. Restaurant Meari Shooting Range where you can prepare the chicken that you just personally shot.

18. A typical country house.

19. Sunset photographed while on a trip in remote provinces of North Korea.

20. The harvest seems to have matured.

21. One of the most unusual local dishes that pan had a chance to try in North Korea, is clams cooked in gasoline.

22. Early in the morning.

23. Working day at the enterprises ends in six hours. In contrast to what is usually said by the Western media, in the past decade there has been significant economic growth.

24. Subway of Pyongyang: on the platform the students are waiting for the train to go to school.

25. Passengers in the subway.

26. On the streets of Pyongyang go cars and buses, as in any other major city, however, there is much less transport.

27. In this picture, even more than usual.