Thu Oct 8, 2015 | 10:59 AM EDT
By James Pearson
PYONGYANG (Reuters) -
Smartphones, traffic jams and modern, energy-saving lights casting a dim glow on the streets - North Korea's capital shows signs of change even as it prepares for a pageant of military muscle and propaganda of the kind the country is known for.
One of the world's most inaccessible places,
North Korea has invited foreign journalists to
Pyongyang this week for celebrations marking
the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers'
Party, and rising wealth is evident despite a
creaking state economy.
Only recently a niche item, cellphones are now
common in the capital, with nationwide
subscriber numbers topping three million, an
employee with Koryolink, the cellular carrier
controlled by Egypt's Orascom Telecom, told
Reuters on Thursday.
The number has tripled since 2012. Still, the country of 24 million remains subject to heavy U.N. sanctions for its missile and nuclear
programs and is as isolated as ever.
On Wednesday, a high-level U.S. military official said Washington believes North Korea has the capability to launch a nuclear weapon against the U.S. mainland and stands ready to defend against any such attacks.
However, a planned satellite launch, which had
been expected by officials in Seoul to be a
centerpiece of the celebrations in Pyongyang
and is suspected by the United States and
South Korea to be a test of a long-range
missile, seems less likely to take place soon.
Analysts and South Korean officials say there
have been no visible signs of preparations.
Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean
Studies in Seoul said North Korea may have
held back on its launch plans under pressure
from ally China, which is sending high-level
Communist Party official Liu Yunshan to
Pyongyang for the events.
North Korea remains technically at war with the South and views the United States as a key enemy.
China is its major ally.
TRAFFIC JAMS, RESTAURANTS
Evening traffic was clogged this week in
Pyongyang, until recently a city of wide empty
streets.
The jams were due both to rising numbers of cars and also because roads were closed to prepare for anniversary events expected to be capped by a military parade on Saturday.
North Korea's state-directed economy is
stagnant, but thriving grey-market
entrepreneurship is driving increased spending on consumer goods and services like restaurants and taxis, which have proliferated in Pyongyang.
A growing number of Pyongyang residents
could be seen tapping screens of smartphones, which are not connected to the Internet and can only be used to access a domestic intranet.
Much of North Korea remains impoverished,
experts and aid officials say, despite rising
market activity.
Residents and regular visitors said tanks
belching black smoke were seen barreling down thoroughfares on recent evenings in apparent preparation for anniversary events.
Even the landmark Kwangbok department store was shut for what a government guide called "mass mobilization for political events."
Pyongyang has tried to turn on the charm
ahead of the anniversary. Earlier this week it released a South Korean student who holds a U.S. green card and had been held since illegally entering the country in April.
It has also agreed with its bitter rival South Korea to hold reunions later this month of
families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean war.
On Thursday, visitors were taken to a football
match, with North Korea playing the Philippines to a tense, scoreless draw before an enthusiastic crowd.
The movements of journalists were tightly
controlled, minimizing interaction with ordinary
citizens, and the welcome was not always
universal. As foreign journalists photographed three soldiers rowing through the early morning mist on the Taedong river, one of them shouted: "son of a dog!"
(This version of the story was refiled to fix typo
in first paragraph)
(Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
By James Pearson
PYONGYANG (Reuters) -
Smartphones, traffic jams and modern, energy-saving lights casting a dim glow on the streets - North Korea's capital shows signs of change even as it prepares for a pageant of military muscle and propaganda of the kind the country is known for.
One of the world's most inaccessible places,
North Korea has invited foreign journalists to
Pyongyang this week for celebrations marking
the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers'
Party, and rising wealth is evident despite a
creaking state economy.
Only recently a niche item, cellphones are now
common in the capital, with nationwide
subscriber numbers topping three million, an
employee with Koryolink, the cellular carrier
controlled by Egypt's Orascom Telecom, told
Reuters on Thursday.
The number has tripled since 2012. Still, the country of 24 million remains subject to heavy U.N. sanctions for its missile and nuclear
programs and is as isolated as ever.
On Wednesday, a high-level U.S. military official said Washington believes North Korea has the capability to launch a nuclear weapon against the U.S. mainland and stands ready to defend against any such attacks.
However, a planned satellite launch, which had
been expected by officials in Seoul to be a
centerpiece of the celebrations in Pyongyang
and is suspected by the United States and
South Korea to be a test of a long-range
missile, seems less likely to take place soon.
Analysts and South Korean officials say there
have been no visible signs of preparations.
Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean
Studies in Seoul said North Korea may have
held back on its launch plans under pressure
from ally China, which is sending high-level
Communist Party official Liu Yunshan to
Pyongyang for the events.
North Korea remains technically at war with the South and views the United States as a key enemy.
China is its major ally.
TRAFFIC JAMS, RESTAURANTS
Evening traffic was clogged this week in
Pyongyang, until recently a city of wide empty
streets.
The jams were due both to rising numbers of cars and also because roads were closed to prepare for anniversary events expected to be capped by a military parade on Saturday.
North Korea's state-directed economy is
stagnant, but thriving grey-market
entrepreneurship is driving increased spending on consumer goods and services like restaurants and taxis, which have proliferated in Pyongyang.
A growing number of Pyongyang residents
could be seen tapping screens of smartphones, which are not connected to the Internet and can only be used to access a domestic intranet.
Much of North Korea remains impoverished,
experts and aid officials say, despite rising
market activity.
Residents and regular visitors said tanks
belching black smoke were seen barreling down thoroughfares on recent evenings in apparent preparation for anniversary events.
Even the landmark Kwangbok department store was shut for what a government guide called "mass mobilization for political events."
Pyongyang has tried to turn on the charm
ahead of the anniversary. Earlier this week it released a South Korean student who holds a U.S. green card and had been held since illegally entering the country in April.
It has also agreed with its bitter rival South Korea to hold reunions later this month of
families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean war.
On Thursday, visitors were taken to a football
match, with North Korea playing the Philippines to a tense, scoreless draw before an enthusiastic crowd.
The movements of journalists were tightly
controlled, minimizing interaction with ordinary
citizens, and the welcome was not always
universal. As foreign journalists photographed three soldiers rowing through the early morning mist on the Taedong river, one of them shouted: "son of a dog!"
(This version of the story was refiled to fix typo
in first paragraph)
(Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
Semper Fidelis
![[Image: SyAa0qj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SyAa0qj.png)
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