These Stunning Photos Taken By A Tourist In North Korea Will Shock You By How Happy The Country Is

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When a man from Singapore had his wish to visit North Korea granted, he braced himself for the scenes of ‘barren lands’ and ‘really, really sad people’ that he had seen via a BBC Panorama documentary.

But what he found blew his mind – for all the right reasons.

Inside the communist enclave in 2013, photographer Aram Pan witnessed bustling markets, men and women enjoying themselves at a Western looking water park and miles and miles of crops ready for harvest, shattering all of his illusions about what a holiday to North Korea would entail.

The Munsu Water Park in Pyongyang, North Korea, features colourful water slides, swimming pools and glass pyramids roofs. The complex opened in 2013 and appears popular with locals.



Women in brightly coloured bathing suits throw sand on the beach, as others stand with their bicycles in the background.



In June 2013 it was reported that, as part of his plans to turn North Korea into a ‘world class’ tourist destination, leader Kim Jong-un ordered the transformation of the industrial port of Wonsan into a beach resort town.



A stunning view from Mount Kumgang, a 1,638-metre-high mountain in Kangwon-do, North Korea.



A woman in a pink gown gets her hair dyed at an old fashioned hairdressers. Mr Pan said: ‘People seem to go about their daily lives and everything looks so incredibly normal.’



Consumer goods, such as electrical rice cookers and other kitchen appliances, have begun to flood North Korea via China.



Fireworks explode during the climax of the Arirang Mass games 2013. The Stadium is undergoing renovation so there will be no Arirang Mass Games for 2014.



Young girls hold up red flowers at the Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang, a gymnastics and artistic festival held in the Rungnado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.



A horse statue stands at the tomb of King Tongmyong. The sacred site was built when King Jangsu transferred his capital from Hwando Mountain Fortress to Pyongyang in 427 AD. The Royal Tomb of King Tongmyong is one of 63 tombs that exists in five zones of North Korea.