15. The Forbidden Funfair

This photo captures a nearly deserted amusement park in Pyongyang. Rides are rusting, food stands are empty, and the few visitors are government escorts. Built as a showpiece, the park is rarely open to the public. The regime likes to flaunt it in documentaries, but this behind-the-scenes image revealed a lifeless attraction more for image than joy. The contrast between what’s shown and what exists stunned viewers who assumed Pyongyang offered modern leisure to its citizens.

16. Starving Farmers in State Collectives

This haunting image shows emaciated farmers working in barren fields. Their clothes are ragged, tools are outdated, and there’s barely any crop to be seen. It was taken during what officials claimed was a “bountiful” harvest. The photo’s release revealed the deep failure of collective farming. Instead of food security, it showed widespread suffering. When this photo surfaced, it became one of the most powerful indictments of the regime’s agricultural policies—and the human cost of its failure.