Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 km (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is a directly administered city with a status equal to that of the North Korean provinces.
The music of North Korea includes a wide array of folk, popular, light instrumental, political, and classical performers. Beyond patriotic and political music, popular music groups like Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble and Moranbong Band perform songs about everyday life in the DPRK and modern light pop reinterpretations of classic Korean folk music. Music education is widely taught in schools, with President Kim Il Sung first implementing a program of study of musical instruments in 1949 at an orphanage in Mangyongdae. Musical diplomacy also continues to be relevant to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with musical and cultural delegations completing concerts in China and France in recent years, and musicians from Western countries and South Korea collaborate on projects in the DPRK.
The Ryugyong Hotel, or Yu-Kyung Hotel, is a 330 m (1,080 ft) tall unfinished pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang. The building has been planned as a mixed-use development, which would include a hotel.
Air Koryo is North Korea’s flag carrier and only commercial airline. It is state-owned and controlled by the North Korean air force. Headquartered in Sunan-guyŏk, Pyongyang, it operates domestic and international routes – on a regular schedule only to Beijing, Shenyang, and Vladivostok – from its hub at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport. It also operates flights on behalf of the North Korean government, with one of its aircraft serving as North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un's personal plane. Its fleet consists of Ilyushin and Tupolev aircraft from the Soviet Union and Russia, and Antonovs from Ukraine.
Wonsan, previously known as Wonsanjin (元山津), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. The port was opened by Japanese forces in 1880. Before the 1950–1953 Korean War, it fell within the jurisdiction of the then South Hamgyong province, and during the war, it was the location of the Blockade of Wonsan. The population of the city was estimated at 329,207 in 2013. Notable people from Wonsan include Kim Ki-nam, a diplomat and former Vice Chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
Pyongyang International Airport, also known as Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, is the main international airport serving Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It is in the city's Sunan District. The airport was closed to international travel in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reopened in 2023 with the resumption of Air Koryo flights to Beijing and Vladivostok.
The Pyongyang Metro is the rapid transit system in Pyongyang, the capital and largest city of North Korea. It consists of two lines: the Chollima Line, which runs north from Puhŭng Station on the banks of the Taedong River to Pulgŭnbyŏl Station, and the Hyŏksin Line, which runs from Kwangbok Station in the southwest to Ragwŏn Station in the northeast. The two lines intersect at Chŏnu Station.
Pulgasari is an epic monster film Shin Sang-ok directed and produced in 1985 during his abduction in North Korea. A co-production between North Korea, Japan, and China, it is considered a remake of Bulgasari, a lost 1962 South Korean film that also depicts an eponymous creature from Korean folklore. The ensemble cast includes Chang Sŏnhŭi, Ham Kisŏp, Ri Chongguk, Ri Ingwŏn, and Yu Kyŏngae, with Kenpachiro Satsuma in the title role. Set during the Goryeo dynasty, the film follows a blacksmith's daughter who brings to life a metal-eating monster her late father envisioned to defeat the monarchy.
Korean April 26 Animation Studio, also known as SEK Studio, is a state-owned North Korean animation studio, based in Ot'an-dong, Central District, Pyongyang.
Shin Sang-ok was a South Korean filmmaker with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name. While renowned internationally for directing Pulgasari (1985), Shin is best known in South Korea for his efforts during the 1950s and 60s, many of them collaborations with his wife Choi Eun-hee, when he was known as "The Prince of South Korean Cinema". He posthumously received the Gold Crown Cultural Medal, the country's top honor for an artist.
The cinema of North Korea began with the division of Korea and has been sustained since then by the ruling Kim dynasty. Kim Il Sung and his successor Kim Jong Il were both cinephiles and sought to produce propaganda films based on the Juche ideology.
Sunan-guyŏk, or Sunan District is one of the 18 guyŏk that constitute Pyongyang, North Korea.
Koryo Tours is an independent British tour operator based in Beijing, specializing in group and private tourism to North Korea. Their tours run throughout the year covering budget to exclusive trips. There are packages for staying in the capital Pyongyang with visits to the DMZ at the border with the Republic of Korea. At different times of year there are other events such as the Mass Games and the Pyongyang International Film Festival which are available as special tours when they are running.
Bulgasari at the End of Songdo, or simply Bulgasari, is a lost 1962 South Korean kaiju film directed and edited by Kim Myeong-je. Produced by Kwang Seong Films, it was the first monster movie to be made in South Korea, as well as the first Korean film to use special effects. It stars Choi Moo-ryong as Nam Hyeong / Bulgasari alongside Um Aing-ran, Gang Mi-ae, Kim Dong-won, and Lee Up-dong. In the film, a martial artist is resurrected as an iron-eating monster to exact revenge on those who murdered him.
On the Art of the Cinema is a 1973 treatise by the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. It is considered the most authoritative work on North Korean filmmaking.
Pyongyang International House of Culture, also known as the Pyongyang International Cultural Center, is a cultural venue in the Central District of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It was opened on 2 April 1988. It serves as venue for cultural exchange with foreigners.
The abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee occurred in North Korea between 1978 and 1986. Shin Sang-ok was a famous South Korean filmmaker who had been married to actress Choi Eun-hee. Together, they established Shin Film and made many films through the 1960s which garnered recognition for South Korea at various film festivals. In 1978, Choi was abducted in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea to the country's future supreme leader Kim Jong Il. The abduction of Shin followed six months later.
Ri Kyong Suk is a North Korean singer.
O Mi-ran was a North Korean actress. Originally a dancer at the Pyongyang Art Troupe, she started acting in 1979, appearing in films like A Broad Bellflower and The Nation and Destiny, winning the Best Acting Award at the 1st and 2nd Pyongyang International Film Festival, and gaining a national reputation as a cinema star.
