Firstly, we have this fascinating photo gallery of North Korean-made cars, trucks, buses and trams, organized by make and model and accompanied by helpful descriptions and histories.
(HT to reader)
Then we have these LIFE magazine photos (some in color) — taken in November 1950 — of a Pyongyang mission school converted into a communist training center, complete with Soviet murals. Fascinating… and surreal:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
(HT to Hamel)
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t know why I am surprised, but I thought it would be more interesting than a series of Russian looking cars and buses and rip offs of SsangYongs. Still very cool though.
No, just awesome especially the Achim Koy.
So, in 1950 the dude getting it in the eye with a bayonet on the posters was Japanese and not American. I suppose Kim Il Sung believed America would never get involved in his upcoming (recent?) invasion of S. Korea. I suppose the anti-blast masking tape and the rigging on the roof make it look like war has started. Is that Tojo or Hirohito or just a generic Japanese boogieman? Why does he have a bear claw for a hand? What did the posters on the streets of Seoul at this time look like? I understand Rhee was pretty hell-bent on invading the North, too. How about the fella strolling about the fields with his wife and a sledgehammer. I agree, must sees and, yes, surreal.
That mission building is a melancholy sight for me. I’ve been reading a book about the Presbyterian missionaries in Korea. It’s a surprisingly thrilling story, and it’s sad to see how it all finally came to nothing up North.
The mural you refer to was obviously Soviet made for Soviet purposes, not Korean per se. It shows the victorious Soviet army has defeated Japan and is now occupying your country as a friend (enemy of your enemy). The wordless propaganda of course is also omitting any reference to the US effort. Stalin’s invasion of Manchuria and North Korea started 3 days after the bombing of Hiroshima and lasted only 11 days. But his influence in North Korea lasts until today.
. It is hard to tell whether it looks more like Tojo or Hirohito, but it does not matter. The message is clear.
Ah. That makes a lot more sense. The flag, the Eurasian looking fellow. Thank you.
How did a Life photog get these pictures in November 1950 and live?
I don’t know. Maybe he posed as a Russian? If you look at those pages, there are several more photos available on the right. Lots more pictures of Koreans staring at Russian propaganda posters depicting Stalin saving them from Uncle Sam.
The Electric trolleys seem pretty cool, if they run on electricity. It is interesting that there were some pick up trucks in the mix, made from Chinese Kits. SK dosen’t really have that much in the way of F150 style pick em up trucks.
Does bad art morally justify carpet bombing of a city? Until I saw those pictures, I would have answered, without hesitiation, no. But after seeing the socialist realism art in such large scale, I’m not so sure about my original position.
the buildings are nice. why carpet bombing? why not some pine-sol instead?
The buildings? Am I missing something? I only see 4 pictures of the same building.
I believe the word you are looking for is “hoardings.”
I bet these photos were taken for the article in the November 27th, 1950 issue of LIFE magazine, which contained the article “Pyongyang shows signs of Russian rule.”
UN forces captured Pyongyang on on 19 October 1950 (thanks Wiki), and “on 5 December 1950, the last unit retreated from Pyongyang, North Korea. By 15 December 1950, most of the Eighth Army was back below the 38th parallel” (thanks Korean War Educator).
Therefore, there was plenty of time for this photographer and others to go around and photograph what Pyongyang and other northern cities and towns looked like after 5 years of Communist rule.
That period of 6 weeks or so when the UN occupied Pyongyang was when much research was done by the US army. Much later, a declassified and sanitized version of this was published as “North Korea: A Case Study in the Techniques of Takeover” (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office,. 1961), a book I am interested in getting my hands on at some point.
Thanks Hamel; I’d been reading about the Chinese Winter/spring offensive of 1951 and that brieff interregnum inexplicably slipped my mind
Sperwer: glad to help out. Actually I have been reading The War for Korea, 1945-1950: A House Burning by Allan R. Millett, which I highly recommend. Click that link to read the first few pages and see the contents at Amazon (but I bought it on Ebay).
I have been impressed by Millett’s breadth of research, and the picture he paints of post-August 15 1945 Korean politics is lively and fascinating (just into chatper 2 right now). His footnotes are extensive, and include a reference to the book I mentioned in my previous comment.
Yes, I’ve read Millett and agree.
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