Inside Pyongyang: How North Korea is changing
Updated 0225 GMT (1025 HKT) February 27, 2017
Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN)I've just returned from my tenth reporting trip to North Korea.
While the country remains closed to most of the outside world, during this trip we gained an unprecedented level of access to the lives of ordinary people.
These men and women were chosen by us -- although our government guides often had to work hard to convince people to speak to a US network.
We asked them about their views on North Korea's isolation and economic hardship, and their views on the new US President Donald Trump.
And while they often said similar things -- tightly controlled state media is their only source of information -- we are slowly cracking open the door into their lives.
This would hardly be worthy of comment in most countries, but in North Korea it is remarkable. Never before have we had this much latitude while reporting inside North Korea, which is one of the most restrictive nations in the world when it comes to the press.
North Koreans on Trump's policy 02:43
Milestones
This latest trip was full of milestones. We did CNN's first Facebook live from the streets of the capital Pyongyang, which lasted for more than 20 minutes.
How reporting in North Korea works
We were accompanied at all times by government officials.
They don't like being called minders as they often act more like tour guides -- although they are ultimately held responsible for what we report and how we behave while inside the country.
They don't look at our video or scripts ahead of time, but they are with us at all times while we shoot and they often must take extensive steps to secure filming permission at locations we visit.
We spent a considerable amount of time in some of Pyongyang's busiest neighborhoods -- places where filming has always been prohibited in the past. We could select random people on the street to interview.
For the first time, I was able to answer questions from CNN's social media followers live while inside the country. We were allowed to shoot many locations with our Virtual Reality camera, including Kim Il Sung Square, the Kimjongilia flower show, a secondary school for orphans, and a new eye hospital.
These VR pieces will be released in the coming weeks and will allow CNN viewers to experience what it's like to be in these places.
I also had total freedom to post photos and videos on social media, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. This was truly extraordinary -- by North Korean standards.
Perhaps the most enlightening interview of the trip was my conversation with North Korean economist, Professor Ri Gi Song.
We spoke about North Korea's trade relationship with China, the underground marketplace that supplements what the state distribution system can't provide, and even the highest paying jobs in North Korea -- coal miners and other manual laborers.
Ri says physically demanding jobs tend to pay twice as much as office jobs, though he couldn't disclose actual salaries. Nobody earns much by western standards, given that the nation's GDP per capita is barely over $1,000 annually -- placing North Korea among the poorest in the world.
China cuts coal imports from North Korea 01:45
Gucci in Pyongyang
It was surreal when we visited a North Korean department store selling clothing and accessories from designers like Hermes, Versace, Gucci and others. We went to a coffee shop that had $8 café mochas.
Atop another multi-level department store stocked with high-end electronics and appliances, there was an even a food court on the top floor selling everything from Korean food (very popular with the locals) to Western-style burgers and fries (not popular at all).
I was surprised to see hundreds of people with food piled high on their plates -- not the image of a "starving" North Korea so engrained in many peoples' minds given the reports of famine just two years ago.
Of course, you cannot extrapolate from life in Pyongyang what conditions are like in the rest of the country. The capital is clearly a showcase city and gets the lion's share of resources.
Only the most trusted are allowed live and work in the capital. We are usually not allowed to see for ourselves how people live outside of North Korea's most prosperous city, where the United Nations, aid workers and defectors paint a grim picture of daily life, although we request that kind of access each time we visit.
Facebook Live with Will Ripley out of N. Korea 23:21
School for orphans
As in previous trips, we are still taken on government-arranged "sightseeing trips" to places North Korea wants to show off to the world, an attempt to prove what they believe is the superiority of their socialist system.
We don't ask to go to these places but, nonetheless, we are expected to cover them during our time in North Korea. We often try to weave these experiences into a larger narrative about the country, always putting in context that these shiny new projects do not represent the full reality of life there.
On one trip we visited a brand new Pyongyang secondary school for orphans, many of whom had lost their parents working in coalmines, factories, and other state-owned enterprises.
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North Korean high school students play on a beach at Wonsan, on September 11, 2017.
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Bartender at the Rainbow floating restaurant in Pyongyang on September 10.
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Sunday afternoon row boats on the Taedong River, Pyongyang, beside Juche Tower. Taken on September 10.
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Participation in mass celebrations is mandatory for those privileged citizens allowed to live in the capital, Pyongyang. Taken on September 9.
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Pyongyang residents walk past a poster marking the 69th DPRK Foundation Day on September 9. It reads "Let the entire world look up to the great Kim Il Sung nation and Kim Jong Il Korea."
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This statue in Samjiyon depicts North Korea's founding President Kim Il Sung when he was a guerrilla fighter against the Japanese. Taken on September 6.
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The lobby of the CNN team's hotel in Samjiyon on September 5.
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A bus driver who drives a Japanese vehicle over some of the bumpiest roads in North Korea. Taken on September 5.
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Propaganda banners line the streets of Samjiyon on September 4.
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Public transportation in rural North Korea, near the Chinese border, taken on September 4.
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A young North Korean musician in the border town of Kaesong, taken on September 4. Music is a huge part of life in North Korea.
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North Korean tour guide at Mt Paektu outside the alleged birth place of Kim Jong Il, on September 3. Kim is widely considered to have been born in Russia.
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Housing units deep in rural North Korea, near the border with China, taken on September 3.
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A boy living in the mountainous northeastern border region on September 3, not far from North Korea's sixth nuclear test.
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The view from the top of Mt Paektu on September 3, a sacred site to North Koreans close to the border with China. First time CNN has ever been allowed here.
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The Mausoleum of Tangun is said to hold the remains of the ancient King Tangun -- widely considered a mythical figure.
North Korea built the pyramid in 1994 and has not allowed outside experts to verify the remains inside.
North Korea built the pyramid in 1994 and has not allowed outside experts to verify the remains inside.
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Sunset from inside Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on August 31.
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The crowd applauds as North Korean TV airs footage of their latest missile launch outside Pyongyang Station on August 30, 2017.
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The parents in North Korea of an inadvertent defector react to a video message, shared by CNN's Will Ripley, from their daughter, who lives in South Korea and cannot return home. The family hasn't been together in years.
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May Day celebrations are held on May 1 in Pyongyang.
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A North Korean boy sits in his family's living room on April 30 in Pyongyang.
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North Koreans in Pyongyang celebrate the country's 85th annual Army Day on April 25. The holiday celebrates the founding of its army.
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A North Korea veteran stands against the backdrop of the USS Pueblo, a US Navy ship that North Korea captured in 1968. CNN's Will Ripley asked this veteran about his thoughts on the USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier conducting joint drills with two Japanese destroyers in the western Pacific Ocean. The veteran told Ripley, "We can sink that aircraft carrier."
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Ripley noted that in Pyongyang, children are often seen dressed in bright, colorful clothing, contrasting with the more conservative and darker outfits worn by many adults.
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North Korean soldiers march on April 15, as the nation marks the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung, who is also the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.
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North Koreans celebrate the birthday of Kim Il Sung. He would have been 105.
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Tanks roll through Kim Il Sung Square on April 15.
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North Korean air force jets fly over the Pyongyang celebration.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears at a ceremony to formally open a housing development in Pyongyang on April 13. The project was rushed to completion in under a year, North Korean officials say.
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North Koreans gather to witness the opening of the Ryomyong Street housing development.
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Foreign journalists are filmed by North Korean media during the Ryomyong Street event.
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Soldiers leave the opening ceremony of the Ryomyong Street development.
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North Koreans observe a statue of their founder, Kim Il Sung, at the Museum of the Korean Revolution on April 10. CNN's Will Ripley said it was the first time CNN cameras had been allowed into the Pyongyang museum.
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North Koreans pose on April 9, for a photo at Mangyongdae, the birthplace of Kim Il Sung.
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Boys in Pyongyang pose for a photo at a secondary school for orphans on February 19.
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A tiger is seen at a zoo in Pyongyang on February 19. CNN's Will Ripley, Tim Schwarz and Justin Robertson were the only Western broadcasters reporting from North Korea after it conducted a ballistic missile test on February 12. See their dispatches.
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CNN's Will Ripley posted this photo of the Pyongyang skyline on February 17. "Note the 105-story pyramid skyscraper, the Ryugyong Hotel. Work began in 1987. Still unfinished," Ripley said in his Instagram post.
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North Korean soldiers ride on February 17, in a black Mercedes-Benz on the streets of Pyongyang.
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A 70-story apartment building undergoes construction on February 17.
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The floating Rainbow Restaurant is seen in Pyongyang on February 17.
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North Korean soldiers watch fireworks on February 16, in Pyongyang.
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People use smartphones on on February 16, to take photos of an ice sculpture in Pyongyang.
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A soldier stands guard in North Korea on February 16. While military service for women has long been voluntary, it reportedly was made mandatory recently in a bid to bolster the armed forces.
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A boy visits the Kimjongilia flower show on February 16. The red flowers are named after the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
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University students dance in front of the Pyongyang indoor stadium on February 16.
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Book titles are listed in English at a bookshop for tourists in the Yanggakdo Hotel in Pyongyang.
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Ice flows down the Taedong River in Pyongyang on February 16.
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Soldiers pay respects to former North Korean leaders on February 15. The site is considered one of the most sacred in Pyongyang.
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Vendors sell flowers February 15 to mourners paying their respects to deceased leaders of North Korea.
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The view over the frozen Taedong River shows residential areas of Pyongyang on February 15.
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The symbol of North Korea's sole political party, the Korean Workers' Party, can be seen atop a government building in Pyongyang.
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Taxis are becoming more prevalent on the streets of Pyongyang. Most commuters still ride buses.
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Tour guides told CNN's crew that "in 1948, Kim Il Sung, his wife and his then 7-year-old son, Kim Jong Il, test fired North Korea's first domestically manufactured submachine gun," Tim Schwartz said on Instagram. The guides said that all three shot bullseyes at 50 meters.
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The Man Gyong Dae School Children's Palace, shown in May 2016, is an after-school activity complex in Pyongyang.
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Young singers practice their performance at a "children's palace" in Pyongyang.
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Children play volleyball at an after-school center in Pyongyang.
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An Olympic-sized swimming pool is a focal point of a "children's palace" after-school center in Pyongyang.
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Pyongyang prepares in 2016 for the Workers' Party of Korea congress, the first such meeting since 1980. The event aimed to consolidate Kim Jong Un's power in the regime.
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A train can be seen from the window of the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang.
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CNN visits the North Korean Science and Technology Center in Pyongyang in January 2016.
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Visitors to North Korea's Science and Technology Center use the tightly regulated North Korean intranet.
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A guide shows visitors a display in the North Korean Science and Technology Center.
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Exhibits at the North Korean Science and Technology Center include this fighter jet.
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During a carefully choreographed show of strength to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Korean Workers' Party in October 2015, a soldier marches across Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square.
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Young members of North Korea's military ride artillery through Pyongyang.
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North Korean soldiers march below statues of North Korea's founding president Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il.
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Weapons are paraded through Pyongyang as a clear signal to the rest of the world that North Korea has military might.
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A large mural of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung stands outside the Jang Chon cooperative farm, a 30-minute drive outside the capital Pyongyang. CNN visited the farm in September 2015.
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Farm manager Kim Myong Jon is something of a celebrity in North Korea. During the past 40 years, she's met with all three North Korean leaders.
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The farm where Kim Myong Jon works is home to one of North Korea's first greenhouses. It was first visited by Kim Il Sung more than three decades ago, and more recently by his grandson, current leader Kim Jong Un.
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Chili peppers lie in the sun at the Jang Chon farm. Peppers are used for making kimchi, the fermented cabbage dish that is a staple of the North Korean diet.
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CNN's Will Ripley speaks with scientists from North Korea's space agency, the National Aeronautical Development Association (NADA). In September 2015, CNN was given exclusive access to the newly opened satellite control center.
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The futuristic space center is in a residential area not far from the center of Pyongyang.
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Two officials walk in the grounds of the space facility. NADA officials told CNN that they had prepared multiple satellites and were in the "final stages of perfecting all operations."
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Hula hoop diplomacy at a North Korean dolphinarium. CNN video journalist Brad Olson was called on stage to show how it's done."I managed to get three going, much to the delight of the crowd," he said.
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In May 2015, CNN was given rare access to a faculty apartment in an upscale area of Pyongyang, near Kim Il Sung University. The lounge was neat, if a little dated.
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This is the master bedroom of the three-bedroom apartment. A university professor lives in the home with his adult children. It's 200 square meters (about 2,150 square feet). That's large for an apartment in Pyongyang.
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A flat-screen television sits prominently in the lounge.
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Books are neatly lined up above a desk in the study. There's a lamp for reading and a large padded chair.
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Every home in North Korea displays portraits of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Housing is assigned by the government and is free. Those who want to move have to sign up to exchange places with other citizens.
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The kitchen features a double sink and brushed metal counter tops.
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The kitchen is fitted with a Haier two-burner gas hob. Haier, based in Qingdao, China, is one of the world's biggest home appliance companies.
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First-graders in a Pyongyang classroom are orderly yet energetic, often standing and giving spirited answers to their teacher's questions.
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North Korean students watch riding lessons at a new equestrian center designed by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. The facility was formerly used for military training.
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Outdoor exercise accompanied by upbeat music is a daily routine for these North Korean middle school students. Classes are critiqued on their coordination.
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Young children in a newly constructed Pyongyang orphanage practice a musical performance.
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The orphanage features a pool area for the children, who live and study in the complex.
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Young boys practice a drum routine that they will perform during International Children's Day.
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Toy rocket launchers sit ready for children to play with.
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Junior Lt. Col. Nam Dong Ho speaks to CNN correspondent Will Ripley. In May 2015, Ripley and his team were granted rare access to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in North Korea. An estimated three-quarters of North Korea's standing army of more than a million is based near the heavily fortified border.
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Soldiers stand guard on the North Korean side of the DMZ.
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North Korea displays the armistice agreement that brought the brutal fighting of the Korean War to an end in 1953.
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Junior Lt. Col. Nam Dong Ho is part of North Korea's standing army of more than a million.
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Pyongyang women wear their Sunday best -- and carry ornate umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun.
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Twin statues honor the late leaders of North Korea, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Visitors to Pyongyang are routinely taken to pay their respects and lay flowers at the monument.
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Kim Jong Un personally inspected the plans for this new water park and had his top officials test the water slides for safety.
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Visitors to a Pyongyang water park play table tennis.
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The Pyongyang Gold Lane, a bowling alley in the North Korean capital, is popular among young people.
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Pyongyang Airport is the first stop on tours of North Korea. Air Koryo is the national airline. It operates direct flights from Beijing and Shenyang in China, and Vladivostok in Russia. Air Koryo has an aging fleet, although it has purchased some newer aircraft in recent years.
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The inflight magazine features multiple pages on Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
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The inflight meal consists of a burger and a glass of North Korean beer.
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About 70 students put on a music performance for us, during which I felt a wave of sadness knowing they had all lost their parents. Some were shy and quiet but others flashed big smiles and seemed genuinely interested in the strange foreigners visiting their school. Students are required to learn English and some were even brave enough to speak a few words.
It was clear the students' living conditions were far better than most North Koreans. The nation's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un reportedly designed and inspected the school himself, which has a swimming pool, computer labs, and even its own generator to ensure consistent electricity and heat.
We were told Kim ordered the school to be supplied with plenty of food and supplies for the more than 500 children. I was told they all consider Kim their father. They are being raised as loyal servants to the government. The vocational skills they are learning such as driving, computer science, and cooking could be their jobs for life.
I'm always mindful that the government is inviting us in with the intention of using us for propaganda purposes. We are only shown the best of the best.
North Korea is the most challenging story I've covered in 17 years of journalism. Nothing in the country is simple, easy, or straightforward.
You must always be skeptical of what you see and experience.
Economic impact of sanctions on North Korea 02:34
No Internet, no international calls
North Korea improves missile program 02:16
I arrived in Pyongyang two days after Kim Jong Un tested a new kind of mid-range ballistic missile.
As we checked into the Yanggakdo hotel, which sits on an island in the middle of Pyongyang to prevent tourists and visitors from wandering around the city, footage of the missile launch was playing on state TV.
The launch, one of dozens Kim has ordered over the last three years, made international headlines mostly because it was the first to occur during the Trump administration.
The rest of the world learned of the missile launch within hours. But North Koreans were not aware until an official announcement aired on state media the next day.
Everything citizens see and hear is carefully screened and approved before being broadcast to the nation's 24 million citizens (or at least those with electricity who are able to watch TV or listen to the radio).
Regular people don't have the Internet. They can't make international calls. State media is their only (very small) window to the outside world.
From a young age, North Koreans are told they live under the constant threat of invasion by the US and therefore their government's allocation of scarce resources to nuclear and missile development is justified.
For decades, that simple, effective propaganda message has helped three generations of Kim family rulers justify their nation's militarization and tight grip on their citizens.
They have perfected how to keep order and control better than perhaps any other regime on earth. They do it by keeping out the rest of the world. North Korea is slowing opening up, but only on its own terms.
