My name is luka im a photographer and live in vienna ive been able to travel to north korea seven times since two thousand and five getting a picture of the countrys people and their world view during these trips i saw more than i was allowed to be shown any journalist visiting the country is accompanied by mind as around the clock ive known mine for a few years now here im taking pictures with them they check what you film who you talk to and what about. I see the familiar images but time and again i see new ones i notice that there are a few new ideas for many of the people caught in this collective mindset. A paranoid system one that i too have to submit to. It is a requirement on every visit to start by going to the statues of the two great leaders im familiar with this. Theyre part of the large man so dave monument which commemorates north koreas fight against the Japanese Occupation the capital pyongyang is home to more than three Million People and to a middle class thats becoming economically increasingly independent of the state a middle class that could in the long term become a problem for the regime around two million mobile phones have been approved since two thousand and eight im currently being monitored with one they used for phone calls too but only domestic ones and for selected citizens such as my mind its the first time ive been allowed to travel by taxi of course only with my mind are we going to a supermarket in which i even discovered typically western products in my opinion people are strikingly well dressed there are casinos and they even spot some viennese coffee culture here of course im the only guest much to my surprise the state Television Shows western propaganda figures during my visit the controversial slovenian rock group was the First Western band to be allowed to perform the dreams of reunification between north and south still exist here but they regularly melt away as a result of new provocations and everyday aggressive posturing at whats being called the worlds most dangerous border ive tried to find out what the North Koreans are really like because for me there are perfectly normal people behind the system. Appearances are deceptive im not in a conventional souvenir shop i mean panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone is no shortage of coffee smiles and cartridges coffee for his. This is not my way on going young to so. This is the railway line has been interrupted for more than fifty years not yet. Here we have manuscripts by committed some to the new ringleader. Visited on this place for tunnels and get something to do to normal soldiers. I drive through the Demilitarized Zone with my mind is three in total the atmosphere is unpleasant full of tension and surreal on the day before my visit shots were fired today military exercises are taking place it smells of gunpowder and war my mind it tells me his army will protect me thats no comfort zone stretches across the entire peninsula along with thirty eighth parallel this is where the allies arbitrarily divided the country after the Second World War the border zone is two hundred forty eight kilometers long and four kilometers wide its considered the most dangerous border in the world i meet a colonel here ive known him for ten years so well in fact that we often drink schnapps together after our meeting its clear to me that theres the person in the uniform and the person underneath it. This is where the truce and the end of the war were negotiated. Its easier then for you for taking pictures is the most important thing you dont when you go to the nation. I dont go on the colonel takes me from one barracks to the next its always important to mention how often which leader has been to the site he has to tell me that but hes clearly also interested in other things. Going on how does austria report on the Current Situation on the Korean Peninsula but always. With other this is the most significant orchestra location with regard to the armistice. Two days after this building was completed on the twenty seventh of july nine hundred fifty three the armistice was agreed and signed yet. On the day it was signed the americans wanted to move the building northwards they didnt manage because journalists saw it and prevented on the third of march two thousand and twelve the Supreme Leader kim young said during a visit if there is another war with the americans you know we wont sign a truce you will destroy the americans until they capitulate to. Evil americans who move buildings sounds like a fairy tale to me dont you know. It and you people know. The casual way in which war gets discussed his sounds to me like italians talking about football my trip continues were on our way to the notorious blue buildings in which the meetings between the delegates from north and south korea take place its the exact border between the two countries drawn by the victorious allies of the Second World War. I have to say you made a real effort with the photographs. Here they are the blue hots the start of the drama for the Korean People in the middle of an impenetrable border the burly in wall was a garden fence by comparison it said a few meters from here is south korea anyone wanting to get across is shot. Ive heard there are some foreign aswan nice to us with a pledge to make money with us when they got home. He was on the you can talk all about him and try to get us on a little that you dont put in hollow you dont have the whole country does a lot of the i know it and i like to learn and the only interrogate me a different translation maybe the same place or for an a. V. O. Good purpose i dont know who questions its dangerous here there were thirteen newspapers in north korea but only one opinion back in pyongyang and i want to find out what people think about it and go to north koreas real uniting im allowed to talk about this with a young student. But. I want to say i want to hit all. The new hotels so all the can people have to fly why dont you take him on. The next obligatory item on the agenda is a visit to kim il. His birthplace hes the founder of the state and the house where he was born is a veritable site of pilgrimage that everyone has to visit. His father and mother who are family members who are fighting against the japanese in these sound days present the most i was from only times this is patrick under with education from his parents all the credits oh great the color of the kings oh well look on young woman the key for it is all over Korean People let me pull up here that are locked he said because he voted like the present king was a huge very like a with a general kings and. Everyone loves the great leader but is that true it becomes impossible to determine whats real and what stage here are. The same flowers here sold several times a day theyre laid once and then theyre collected again by an overseer standing at the back and then theyre recycled eternal veneration for the eternal president. I and. My next stop is the monument to the foundation of Koreas Workers Party fifty meters tall and built of granite it depicts the communist symbols the hammer and sickle supplemented by a paintbrush thats meant to represent intellectuals the release by the way the picture of the battle of the workers against the imperialist threat. Here in the church of the life giving trinity i get surprised when the russian punk band pussy riot were arrested and documented an art event in a Russian Orthodox church in vienna i was even questioned by counterintelligence as a result here in this Russian Orthodox church in north korea i used the topic to talk indirectly about human rights according to the christian n. G. s open doors north korea takes last place in the global rankings the persecution of christians. Or you would but it would also have a most closely riot sang and danced in bikinis and moscows destroys the savior of the drove to demonstrate against the printing regime during the Russian Election campbell weve got Something Else ponies for were told on so little kids its a little too. Soon you dont smell so i believe whats in the musicians mean sultanzoy in the holy mother of god almighty out of court and the communist cannot it will hurt them and. I wouldnt want to imagine what would happen here if the holy kim were insulted for a north korean priest the man is quite well informed in my opinion the information from the outside world must come from somewhere if i were to ask direct questions about human rights it would immediately be seen as a provocation and could make my state much harder in any case he would deny what they dont want to talk about anyway concentration camps purges shootings none of that exists here officially its a paradise on earth. The North Koreans are taught from childhood to submit to the state ideology to sacrifice their individual existence to the collective even the youngest children a called upon to denounce adults who expressed dissatisfaction with the leader in the party i want to know how and where the brainwashing starts i tried to find answers to that question in a school a school for more than a thousand students but during my visit the corridor was deserted headmistress takes me through the rooms everything seems very new very tidy the schools i know look different this is our cloning lab heres a microscope and on the screen you can see a cell magnified one thousand five hundred times here the tech. Nicol process is to clone animals. She tells me that kim jong il had declared nano and biotechnology to be at the heart of north korean science. It looks like it. And so that i just see empty classrooms the head mistress takes me to a class that is just having a math lesson. Seems very staged to me i dont know what the students here are really being told. When i start filming the students used to calculate is like mad but the calculations in seem to make any sense i believe the students just pretending. The picture is the great need is everywhere. In every room. When i ask one of the students whether he knows the man who discovered America Christopher columbus is silent at first then the headmistress asked me to leave the room because im interfering with the lecture. But theres another surprise in store for me during this visit i was invited to play football with thirty teenagers ive never experienced anything like that in north korea its a great moment for me in that genuine jersey for them it wasnt about winning i think the students played poorly on purpose to make me look better at times they were two to three hundred students sitting around the pitch it almost felt like a stadium. He said you. Guys know the right. Move. Because of the latest u. N. Sanctions north korea has been forced to be selfsufficient no role materials or products may be exported given the current Economic Situation its hopefully only a matter of time before north korea gives up its stop a nuclear policy. And. Im allowed to visit a Textile Factory and ive been here four times already but the managers knew come in and take a look. And shown a showcase Spinning Mill the workers staunchly women in this case are the pride of the nation officially the people earn five euros a month its very probable that their actual wages are even lower. The people here can only survive with food stamps handed out london government malnutrition is so common in north korea that people have become demonstrably smaller i have to say the factory is strikingly clean the workers are laughing and joking. Its obvious that the country needs Economic Reforms exports to china have dropped by half in addition the country is losing large parts of his Agricultural Land every year as a result of environmental disasters such as drought and flooding making it in the face of Climate Change like so many put countries and because of the new sanctions north korea is even more isolated than before. I. I. I i. I i. I. Im glad i was allowed to photograph some of the women none of this can be taken for granted here my mind is a responsible for my proper behavior if i dont stick to certain rules i could put them in a difficult situation to. For some years now the increase in private vehicles has been shaping the face of the city it demonstrates that theres something happening in the capital and the private economy at least New Buildings are being constructed and the city silhouette increasingly reminds me of the financial districts of well known asian cities but in reality these buildings are home to the high ups in the Workers Party i was fortunate enough to visit one such private flat again after a few years. In the lift the surveillance becomes visible again there are people who document who in the building goes where and when its hard to imagine such a system. The flat im shown isnt a normal one its a kind of involuntary place of pilgrimage for western journalists its stressed time and again himself has visited the flat but does anyone actually live here he doesnt smell of anything everything is meticulously arranged like in a catalogue i find it hard to believe i feel like im in a film in which kim jong un is the all powerful director. On the fourth of september we went to work. Suddenly someone came by car they were looking for me. They told me that the Supreme Leader was going to visit i wasnt expecting that. Of course it pleased me. To me that sounds as if kim jong un would not just executing people but also committing trespass its not clear to me want to dictate who would be doing in someones flat but everythings different here. Even though most North Koreans have almost no money to buy anything to supplement their food rations there are still supermarkets with western products theyre not always open and often many shelves remain empty but its a sign that theres a growing middle class in pyongyang that is demanding an opening up or at least certain luxury goods. As i mentioned earlier a work out officially ends five euros per month you cant buy much in a supermarket for that the people who shop here are part of the upper middle class. The longer im here the more certain i am its the women who will force a cultural change in that country that clothes very obviously no longer conform to the propaganda line they look western the desire for luxury goods has reach pyongyang to or at least the privileged. And. The women performing military exercises in front of me and shouting long live the victory of song song means military first and its the name of the state ideology that gives north koreas defense top priority so it can resist the imperialist threat from the United States in japan theres Compulsory Military Service for the men of north korea it lasts ten years. The beloved leader was here six times the venerable general was here four times the current leader has been here twice. Who was where and how often youre constantly being informed of that in north korea im visiting a state vegetable plantation four hundred twenty three families live in new houses have been built to expand the agricultural collective. Im hoping to be allowed to talk to the workers here ive been promised ill be taken to one of the operations but i can only see a few people in a place thats meant to be home to four hundred twenty three families. On a small elevation that feels like a surveillance platform im allowed to film the workers from a safe distance its really not what i had imagined and once again its typically north korean. Giving up isnt exactly one of my qualities and so i insist on being allowed to make it work as i dont just want to see what im supposed to be shown im here because i want to get to know the Korean People a bit better to achieve that i need to meet them i finally convince my mind is and after theyve made several telephone calls the group is quickly assembled the take me to the greenhouses as a side note theres nothing in north korea thats not meticulously organized i dont think there would improvise ation exists in north korea. By the way the red panel in the building says vegetables for the population of the capital. Regardless of all the propaganda and the id call it brainwashing the koreans always manage to surprise me positively its always important to focus on the details during. These human encounters even though theyre always organized and managed such meetings have an impact on the people here i think its the only way to separate people from the propaganda. Young yang the capital with a population of more than three million is currently undergoing a construction boom new skyscrapers a shooting up all over the place shaping the citys skyline if you look closely you can see that south korean brand names have been covered by north korean banas like i say you just have to Pay Attention to the details im wondering when north korea suddenly got all the money for these gigantic Construction Projects almost eighty percent of young young was destroyed in the korean war over the course of three years the United States dropped around thirty tons of napalm bombs on various towns and cities nevertheless north korea was economically stronger than south korea until the seventys thanks to the support of the soviet union after that north korea slid further and further into isolation. And. Its not possible every day to film a live concert for workers on the streets of pyongyang in recent years i frequently try to capture such images but to no avail and this footage dates back to twenty thirty mm when i was allowed to film this every day seen in north korea while for. A score for me im allowed to take a taxi for the first time for that to happen my chaperon even had to call the Foreign Ministry because im not alone i have mind is to the left and right on me. And. Then. You know as a tourist of course i paid three times the price but that would happen in rome in new york to. Put it on. I notice something new it may seem insignificant but this small picture of an aircraft belonging to a north Korean Airline is an advertisement and a surprise in a country in which Public Images only have a show that got likely that its new and maybe a first gentle attempt to open up the country to a globalized world. The taxi driver whos missing his left thumb drives me to a place youd never guess is one of the most popular Entertainment Venues in pyongyang. The ice rink properly called the peoples ice rink in two thousand and seven it was even one of several venues for the womens world ice hockey championships the Austrian Team played here in pyongyang whats telling is that the games in north korea with the best attended and clearly not because there are so many fans here. Going you know middle class meat for ice skating ice cream and being sunday afternoon. To have down. Unfortunately i didnt get a martini but there is table tennis and the enemy escapes me is allowed to play and win on this occasion. That is why. That will be a. Young young cityscape isnt just changing architecture really young people have discovered roller blading and can increasingly be seen out on squares where tanks can only roll or at least used to advocate that even down im not certain whether its aliens taught here but its a start speaking of area that at shady iran festival is always had a special fascination for me as it has im sure for anyone else whos seen it its named after an old korean folk song and tries to present north koreas history in heroic manner using mass dances in gymnastics. More than one hundred thousand people participate making it the Worlds Largest dance event of this kind if i look beyond the propaganda madness the choreography is always hugely impressive. The an iran festival doesnt take place at regular intervals its normally held in spring and autumn but sometimes its not held at all anyone who participates im told gets a television or a fridge as a reward the mass event is meant to commit the people to the Political Goals of the regime through the unmistakable imagery. I. Have attended the iran festival four times now but this time i saw something strange people suddenly left the stadium while oversea is trying to stop them there was a large military presence around the stage thats why i wasnt able to film for long my mind is one to be to focus on the show is not a form of resistance. Maybe there really are people in north korea who dont want to accept a third member of the kim family is their leader. The. Something else historic happens during my last visit the controversial slovenian rock band libre was the First Western music and to give a concert in pyongyang. But i think were over here and. You know shows is that. Both sides have been willing to work with something which is really hard but both sides need to stretch out their most dont. To make this project and that is what for real and true Cultural Exchange when both sides come together and sacrifice something for the coming weeks or. So after mickey mouse western music has also reached north korea even the lyrics were translated into korean as can be seen at the top level concert which you saw. Would not come in possible without. The three or four big cultural collaboration projects that came before it. Music is a language that works. And we just both looked at this town in many different in many different ways. And this is a magical thing you dont you cannot have like. A users restriction for me. But i felt for the first time that i understood that there is one me you know the of this so nothings going to change the world. To a. Young audience of one person so. That was. Magical moment. Nothings going to change my world is the perfect sentence for a country that has kept every kind of western music away from its people. Role. Its not uncommon for people caught with south korean films all c. D. s to end up in a concentration camp. Up until now western music could only be heard in a few karaoke bars for foreigners that there will lie back go down in history in the way Bruce Springsteen did in east germany. Well see. Anymore. For me the north Korean People are cheerful and optimistic at least thats what the people i met showed me a lot of. I think the North Koreans know that nothing last forever. But. Why. There are people that wants to live in peace but because of mistakes made during the cold war they are forced to live in a permanent state of war where. My. Home life lost. Just. To. Stop them i found a contrary often enough that i. I feel happy on the North Koreans ive been able to make friends the trips of recent years have told me that blanket condemnation and generalizations serve no purpose. Either in europe or in north korea a country i still know very little about. The. Way. The feel. In the snow we all go. Forwards a lot the other french. Outraise enter lucas to go works up a sweat. Under occasion close to nature. The ugly region in winter. Next. Week old out of africa. The price of the beauty and. Intensity of feeling old donkey trade is. The reason that chinese Beauty Products extract it from their hides one needs to be done to stop the scroll to save the farms let them done their pack animals a go at africa in thirty minutes on d w. Im not proud and they will not succeed in dividing us set out not succeed in taking the people off the streets because were tired of this dictatorship. Taking the stand. Matters. Made for minds and if you look at me speak your language doesnt up. For content in dari pashto. Prospects for returning to our web special. Needs like germany and the prospects for those returning home. Join the discussion on t w dot com and on facebook. Prospects for returning news d. W. Made for my. Hundreds of people have attended a Funeral Service in egypt Coptic Christians gunned down on friday the victims are among at least ten people who died when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire outside its