North Korean leader Kim Jong-un assumed his
position just over a year ago, following his father's death in late 2011. Under
his direction, North Korea has taken some aggressive steps, including launching
a rocket despite international condemnation and cracking down even harder on
those attempting to flee the country. At the same time, Kim has given a few
public indications that the country's "military-first" economy needs to change.
And just yesterday, during a New Year's address, he said that "removing
confrontation" between North and South Korea was an important step toward
reunification. The two nations are still officially at war, having never signed
a peace treaty following the end of the Korean War 60 years ago. As South
Korea's new president-elect prepares to take office, Kim continues to send mixed
messages to the world, declaring 2013 a year of "radical turnabout." The photos
of North Korea gathered here were taken recently either by official
photographers, or by western photographers under government supervision, their
subjects and movement restricted. [38
photos]
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This
picture taken on December 15, 2012 shows North Korean girls dancing during a
performance at a nursery school in the North Korean border town of Siniuju,
across from China's northeastern city of Dandong. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images)
A portrait of late
North Korean leader Kim Il Sung glows under a spotlight as dusk descends upon
Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #
North Koreans take
pictures with their mobile phones as they watch fireworks to bring in the new
year in Pyongyang, on January 1, 2013. (Reuters/Kyodo) #
North Koreans play
with a balloon as they wait outside Pyongyang stadium for the countdown to the
new year on Monday, December 31, 2012. North Koreans celebrated the arrival of
the new year, marked as "Juche 102" on North Korean calendars. "Juche" means
"self reliance," the North Korean ideology of independence promoted by North
Korean founder Kim Il Sung, and modern-day North Korean calendars start with the
year of his birth in 1912. (AP
Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) #
A North Korean
teacher walks down a flight of stairs at a nursery school in the northeastern
North Korean border town of Sinuiju, on December 15, 2012. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images) #
North Korean
soldiers stand guard in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket at Sohae Satellite
Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, on April 8, 2012. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #
North Korean leader
Kim Jong-Un smokes a cigarette at the General Satellite Control and Command
Center after the launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket carrying the second
version of Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite at West Sea Satellite Launch Site in
Cholsan county, on December 12, 2012, in this picture released by the North's
KCNA news agency in Pyongyang December 13, 2012. (Reuters/KCNA) #
North Korean
scientists work as a screen shows the Unha-3 rocket being launched from a launch
pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, in this picture released by the
North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang December 12, 2012. (Reuters/KCNA) #
This picture taken
by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 12, 2012
shows North Korean rocket Unha-3, carrying the satellite Kwangmyongsong-3,
lifting off from the launching pad in Cholsan county. North Korea's leader has
ordered more satellite launches, state media said on December 14, 2012, two days
after Pyongyang's long-range rocket launch triggered global outrage and UN
condemnation. (KNS/AFP/Getty
Images) #
North Korean farmer
O Yong Ae sits at her home during an interview at the Migok Cooperative farm in
Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, on September 23, 2012. Farmers
would be able to keep a bigger share of their crops under proposed changes
aiming to boost production by North Korea's collective farms, which have
chronically struggled to provide enough food for the country's 24 million
people. Current rules require them to turn everything over to the state beyond
what farmers can keep to feed their families. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) #
North Koreans flip
colored cards to form giant portraits during an Arirang mass games performance
in Pyongyang, on September 9, 2012. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #
North Koreans
performers flip colored cards to form a giant picture of a handgun during an
Arirang mass games performance in Pyongyang, on August 8, 2012. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #
North Korean
waitresses prepare to serve beer at the Mansugyo Soft Drink restaurant in
Pyongyang, on December 20, 2012. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the
reconstruction of the restaurant that stood for decades along the Taedong river.
The restaurant specializes in seven flavors of beer, cocktails, coffee and snack
food. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #
North Korean
military members chat as they line up at a stadium in Pyongyang during a mass
meeting called by the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling party, on April
14, 2012. (AP Photo/David
Guttenfelder) #
South Korean Army
soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in
Cheorwon, north of Seoul, South Korea, on December 20, 2012. North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un has called for the development of more powerful rockets after last
week's successful launch of a satellite into space. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Lee Hae-Yong) #
The 105-story
Ryugyong Hotel, which remains under construction, stands over residential
buildings in Pyongyang, on November 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #
North Korean leader
Kim Jong-Un and his wife Ri Sol-Ju attend the opening ceremony of the Rungna
People's Pleasure Ground on Rungna Islet along the Taedong River in Pyongyang in
this July 25, 2012 photograph. The Rungna People's Pleasure Ground has
attractions such as a dolphinarium, a wading pool, a fun fair and a mini golf
course, according to KCNA. (Reuters/KCNA) #
North Korean
workers arrange model tanks with the North Korean People's Army flags in a
parade formation in front of a replica of the Grand People's Study House at the
Pyongyang Folk Park, on November 18, 2012. The park, which spans Korean history
from prehistoric to modern times, opened in September, 2012 after three years of
construction by the North Korean soldiers. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #
North Korean leader
Kim Jong-Un prepares to take a ride with other high-level officials during the
opening ceremony of the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground along the Taedong River
in Pyongyang, on July 25, 2012. (Reuters/KCNA) #
A North Korean
amusement park vendor waits for customers in the northeastern North Korean
border town of Sinuiju, on December 15, 2012. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images) #
A North Korean
fisherman pilots a boat with cormorants perched onboard, in the Yalu River near
the North Korean town of Sinuiju, facing the Chinese border city of Dandong, on
October 23, 2012. (Reuters/Aly
Song) #
A North Korean
traffic coordinator stands on a roadside near portraits of the late leaders Kim
Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il during a foggy morning on in Pyongyang, on
December 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng
Han Guan) #
North Korean
students study in front of portraits of the country's late leaders Kim Il Sung,
left, and his son Kim Jong Il at the Kim Chaek University of Technology in
Pyongyang, on September 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) #
Kim Jong-un visits
the Thrice Three-Revolution Red Flag Kamnamu (persimmon tree) Company under the
Korean People's Army Unit 4302 in this undated picture released by the North's
official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang, on August 24, 2012. (Reuters/KCNA) #
North Korean
defectors bow to respect for their ancestors in North Korea to celebrate the
Chuseok, the Korean version of Thanksgiving Day, in front of the barbed wire
fence at the Imjingak Pavilion, near the demilitarized zone of Panmunjom, in
Paju, South Korea, on September 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) #
North Korean war
veterans arrive to attend celebrations of "War Victory Day," which falls on July
27, of the 1950-53 Korean War in Pyongyang, on July 26, 2012. (Reuters/KCNA) #
North Koreans stand
near murals depicting heroic soldiers on the road from Pyongyang to Sariwon town
in North Hwanghae province, on November 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #
Slogans honoring
the leadership are displayed during a mass rally organized to celebrate the
success of a rocket launch that sent a satellite into space on Kim Il Sung
Square in Pyongyang, on December 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #
Workers repair a
ship on Yalu River in the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese
border city of Dandong, on December 16, 2012. (Reuters/Jacky Chen) #
North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un delivers a New Year address in Pyongyang in this picture released by
the North's official KCNA news agency, on January 1, 2013. (Reuters/KCNA) #
