Italian journalist Piergiorgio Pescali has been a regular visitor to North Korea since 1995. Due to his connections with Catholic NGOs he has had access to areas most foreigners are not allowed to see. He visited the secretive state again in August.
"The heavy July rains have spoiled more than half the rice harvest. These farmers are trying to collect the wet rice, but they have few trucks available. The lack of gasoline and spare parts mean that some trucks have been left in the co-operatives."
"These villagers in the northern part of the country are picking rice grains that have fallen during the transportation of the harvest. Scenes like this are common in the countryside, far away from tourists' eyes."
"Roads in North Korea are poorly maintained except for the highways connecting the big cities. The heavy rains of the summer months have triggered landslides causing further damage to the road infrastructure."
"This village in the north of the country was almost totally destroyed by a landslide during the heavy rains. The nearby forest could have prevented the landslide if the trees had not been chopped down by villagers to be used for heating."
"The floods and famine of the past few years have killed thousands of people. Many orphaned children, or children whose parents simply can't afford to feed them, are being cared for in this orphanage in Pyongyang."
"Medication is hard to find in the countryside and, whatever little there is, people have to pay for. People also have to pay for their food while in hospital. Nothing is free anymore."
"While shops in the countryside are empty, you can find anything in this department store in Pyongyang - from Japanese LCD TVs to American Coca Cola. This kind of store accepts only US dollars and Japanese yen, so very few people can shop here."
"After the 2002 reforms, the incomes of workers became proportional to their productivity. But frequent power cuts mean that high production levels cannot be guaranteed, often leaving workers with salaries that are not big enough to survive on."
"The government is relaxing its control on religion. There's one Catholic and two Protestant churches in Pyongyang. North Korea is keen on having a better relationship with the Vatican to bring it closer to the EU." Photos and text: Piergiorgio Pescali
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One-Minute World News
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