National
Tourists lay flowers at the foot of a huge statue to Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007. North Koreans are taught to revere Kim Il Sung as a god-like father figure. He died in 1994 and his son now rules the country.
Tim Johnson / MCT
A policewoman directs traffic at a downtown intersection in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007. Behind her is a mural showing North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.
Tim Johnson / MCT
A guide shows visitors around the International Friendship Exhibition, a compound in North Korea where hundreds of thousands of gifts presented by foreign heads of state to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are on display, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007.
Tim Johnson / MCT
Tower to the Juche Idea, a monument to the North Korean philosophy of self-reliance, dominates a view of Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007.
Tim Johnson / MCT
A naval seaman smiles from the bridge of the USS Pueblo, a tourist attraction in Pyongyang, North Korea, Aug. 31, 2007. The ship was seized by North Korea in 1968 and its 82 crew members held hostage for 11 months.
Tim Johnson / MCT
A tour guide prepares to take visitors aboard the spy ship USS Pueblo, which was seized by North Korea in 1968 and remains a trophy for the country.
Tim Johnson / MCT
Every year, North Korea holds what it calls Mass Games, huge gymnastic drill exercises in the May Day Stadium. As many as 40,000 civilians take part in precise moving formations. On the opposing stands, young North Koreans hold up placards that create changing diorama images, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007.
Tim Johnson / MCT
A view of the Pyongyang subway system, which is deep underground, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. The stations also can serve as bomb shelters.
Tim Johnson / MCT
The heroic struggle to bring communism to North Korea is displayed at the Kim Il Sung monument on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007.
Tim Johnson / MCT
Chinese tourists fish in the Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007.
Tim Johnson / MCT
Like the Maytag repairmen of North Korea, these information agents at Pyongyang airport have little to do on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007. On good days, only two flights arrive and depart from the city. Some days there are no flights.
Tim Johnson / MCT
A North Korean army officer shows visitors the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom, running along the 38th parallel that divides the Korean Peninsula into north and south, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007.
Tim Johnson / MCT
of 12
i
