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Inside The Strange World of North Korean Advertising

The propaganda-filled world that’s mostly missing one ingredient.

pic Wikimedia Commons

Take note now.

If I am suddenly shot by a poison umbrella dart at the airport, this article will be the reason.

For decades, there’s been nearly zero commercial advertising in North Korea. It’s considered capitalist and therefore the ultimate evil.

However, with loosening restrictions, ads are beginning to pop up in Pyongyang, although they are very controlled, and still ooze propaganda.

Note the Juche Tower monument in between the fireworks. It represents the self-reliance ideology, invented by North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung. (source: pic via Paul-Nikolas Hanz)

Outside of these one-offs, you can travel the entirety of North Korea without seeing a single billboard ad — which makes for a very grey and gloomy way of life, particularly against the brutalist architecture:

Source: Pic via BI

It’s first important to understand the underlying conditions that facilitate this alternate reality. North Korea sits at the…