David Guttenfelder, the Associated Press Chief Photographer for Asia, took the following selection of images during a recent trip to North Korea.
A 3G network is now available in Pyongyang, so Guttenfelder was able to immediately upload the shots via his smartphone, before the police had a chance to censor them.
Visitors seen taking pictures are regularly stopped by police and asked to delete offending images.
The result was a unique and uncensored glimpse into modern life in the world's most reclusive state.
children rollerblading
children in pioneer scarves playing with David's camera
a soldier reading a text book at the Grand People's Study House
A typical residential area in Pyongyang
An evening view of the capital, with not a soul in sight, and no lights on in the windows.
Workers repairing a fence
The Grand People's Study House. Could be a computer cluster anywhere in the world - except that there's clearly a lack of heating.
A synchronised swimming performance.
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Posted Yesterday, 05:08 PM
A bus - similar to those that still ply the roads of former Soviet countries.
An imaginatively-named shop.
A photo developing shop.
No advertising - but plenty of propaganda, in a style that apparently hasn't changed in well over half a century
A playground and some disturbingly deserted balconies with not a scrap of laundry in sight.
A park swing in the shape of the Unha-3 rocket
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Posted Yesterday, 05:14 PM
The Juche tower. Juche is the political philosophy thought up by Great Leader Kim Jong-il, on which the country's governance is supposed to be based.
Students at a concert. Similar pioneer scarves are still worn by school children in nominally communist (but de facto capitalist) Vietnam.
Newlyweds pose for a shot in front of a statue of the two Kims.
Traditional folk-dancing
Commuters at a bus stop.
Veterans of the Korean War.
A Soviet-style trollybus being mended.
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Posted Yesterday, 05:16 PM
A bus to the airport. It would seem there's only one suit factory in Pyongyang.
An Air Koryo flight to Beijing.
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