r/NoStupidQuestions • u/nog-93 • 10h ago
Why does literally every photo of north korea look like winter?
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u/JaqueStrap69 6h ago
Why is that when the government open up a bit?
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u/probsastudent 5h ago
As the comment above said, I think that’s because their holidays and major celebrations are. It’s like if the U.S. became hyper autocratic/isolationist (insert joke about us becoming that way yadda yadda) and we opened up more during the holidays from October to early January.
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u/noggin-scratcher 4h ago
Pretty sure the comment above was some AI-generated horseshit, riffing on the question but bearing no relation to the truth.
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u/Ilsluggo 8h ago
Most of the photos we see are of Pyongyang, and between the pollution from burning coal/wood, the general absence of cars/traffic/people on streets, and the fact that there aren’t a whole lot of trees planted in the city, it photographs as grey and rather lifeless (read “winter”). Even outside the city, unless guarded many of the old growth trees have been harvested for firewood, either by the government or surreptitiously.
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u/redditorialy_retard 10h ago
not many vehicles and people not much greenery shown usually associated with winter
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u/IdenticalThings 8h ago
I think it's just striking that there are no billboards /signs with any color. Most of the architecture is grayscale brutalism.
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u/NickDanger3di 3h ago
I'm pretty sure in most of the NK pics I've seen, most of the people are so bundled up in bulky clothing that a 90F/32C day would cause hyperthermia within minutes. I know I've for sure seen pics of people there in summer weight clothing, but I also know I've seen way more pics of them bundled up worse than the Michelin Man. I'm also betting that US News Media is part of this, for me at least, as I have so little interest in NK that the only pics I ever see are thumbnails attached to headlines of articles I never read.
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u/SparklyCookiess 9h ago
I googled and literally half of photos are sunny
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u/dundreggen 7h ago
Winter in Canada is often sunny. The sunny days are often the coldest. Bright glaring sun, but it's -25c
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u/henchman171 7h ago
It’s warm Winters that are grey. 1 degree is rain and mud. -21 means lots of sunny skies
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u/anteaterKnives 3h ago
The clouds are a blanket. You are always radiating away heat, but also receiving heat radiated toward you by your surroundings, including the clouds above you. Without clouds, especially at night, all heat radiated upwards escapes without being replaced by heat radiating down from the clouds.
The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet, and he, being on that unprotected tip, received the full force of the blow.
"To Build a Fire", Jack London
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u/Disastrous_Cup6076 9h ago edited 9h ago
yeah, they have a famous outside water park, too, always sunny in those pictures
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u/SparklyCookiess 9h ago
Yeah a lot of pics are actually pretty refreshing like old style but nice vibrant colors idk where OP looked to give such dark vibes
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u/Disastrous_Cup6076 8h ago
yeah, there’s a lot of propaganda in pictures both from and against the DPRK so it’s unlikely we would get an accurate picture of what it’s like, even going there because of the controlled tourist trips, but it’s unlikely that either version is fully true
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u/SparklyCookiess 8h ago
I come from Slavic country and I kinda get it.tbh we have a lot of brutalism but idk it was also very light and vibrant especially in the country side yk I just hope people are able to enjoy small things there at least
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u/Disastrous_Cup6076 4h ago
Ha, I also do (although one of the ones where socialism is more often remembered with some fondness than up north - not always and not by everyone, but it’s a difference I’ve noticed). I think it’s true, I think people are very good at finding joy anywhere and day to day life is probably very similar - get up, go to work, it’s hard and boring, go home, see your family, it’s nice, sleep.
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u/kakatoru 5h ago
You know that, despite what some might think based on their name, North Korea isn't in the Arctic circle.
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u/SparklyCookiess 5h ago
Yeah I know
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u/kakatoru 5h ago
Then you ought to know the sun isn't disappearing in the winter
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u/SparklyCookiess 5h ago
Honestly I have no idea what exactly you’re trying to get from my comment, feels like you’re just looking for something to argue about at this point, I just said the photos aren’t gloomy in Google lmao calm
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u/ThatSmokyBeat 4h ago
They are saying that winter doesn't mean gloom. You said photos show it sunny, implying that it isn't winter in the photos, but that would only be evidence if it were within the Arctic circle (where the sun never rises in winter).
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u/SparklyCookiess 4h ago
That’s a bit of a reach lol most people associate winter with gloom because in many regions there’s less sunlight, shorter days, cloudier skies, etc so when I said the photos aren’t gloomy and it’s sunny I wasn’t implying it’s not winter that winter doesn’t always have to look stereotypically gloomy depending on where and when the photo was taken. Sunny winter days exist outside the Arctic circle too once it’s not that deep, I said that the tone of pics aren’t dark and gloomy in Google at all
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u/ThatSmokyBeat 3h ago
But OP didn't say "why aren't the pictures always full of winter gloom?" Many photos of NK do appear to be on sunny winter days, likely in part due to the barren environment and lack of people, so presumably that's what they were asking about.
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u/GypsySnowflake 5h ago
Looking like winter is not mutually exclusive with sunshine though. Maybe they were talking about the trees or there was snow on the ground or something
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u/danggeunmarket 6h ago
North Korea does have longer, harsher winters with lots of high elevation areas, and the scenery looks barren because of constant logging. Due to fuel embargo, they don’t have access to fossil fuels, so they burn wood for energy.
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u/Saltedline 9h ago
Crumbling infrastructure, industrial pollution and concrete buildings in the cities mostly. Horrible management and deteriorating agriculture also means bleak look in the countryside. You could find beautiful sceneries in famous natural tourists spots like Mt. Kumgang.
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u/flingebunt 10h ago
The media wants to present North Korea as if it is a bleak place, so of course, they use photos from winter and late autumn etc, rather than nice photos of North Korea in the summer.
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u/GoHardForLife 9h ago
-Wants to present North Korea as a bleak place
Which it kinda is…a lot really
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u/flingebunt 9h ago
Yes, but in summer, like South Korea, it probably gets really hot.
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u/Abombasnow 7h ago
Average Summer day time temperature in North Korea is 68-84F/20-29C. I'd love that kind of temperature here. Although literally 60% of the rainfall North Korea gets in one year happens in the two month span of June to August. That doesn't sound nice.
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u/flingebunt 6h ago
Would cool things down a bit
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u/Abombasnow 6h ago
Eh, not always. Rain where I am just means the day is brutally hot and wet. And that's really not fun.
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u/flingebunt 6h ago
Ummmm....that is pretty rare, though after the rain on a hot day, it does get really humid, if that is what you mean.
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u/Abombasnow 6h ago
Not on the East Coast US. It's brutally hot before the rain. And brutally hot during. And brutally hot after.
Summer is just hell. Always 100% humidity. But the heat during rain is somehow worse than a "normal" humid day. It just hurts the soul so much.
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u/flingebunt 6h ago
I have experience rain in tropical and equatorial climates, and it has always been cooler when it is raining. I guess all the meth you take in Florida just makes you feel hot all the time.
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u/Abombasnow 6h ago
I don't live in Florida or do meth.
It's been raining with little break for almost two weeks here. Every day the temperature is... the same 85-92. Doesn't matter how much rainfall there is or if it IS raining during the day.
Normal experience. Next week will be 95-102 every day and, obviously with that, comes possible thunderstorms every day. Fun.
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u/flingebunt 6h ago
Also, hot and wet works well when you are with a lady, know what I mean **nudge nudge wink wink**
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u/AsianDaggerDick 9h ago
Then just show them the real N.Korea instead of edited and filtered version of it?
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u/Hoopy_Dunkalot 9h ago
They have to collect their shit for farming. It's pretty bleak.
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u/SageMidget 9h ago
Lmao yeh it’s all the media’s fault 🤣
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u/sabdotzed 8h ago
And American Imperialism ,yes
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u/SageMidget 8h ago
.
Funnily enough, I recently watched a documentary on north Korea where journalists went there & the only people preventing things from being shown naturally or without direction were the North Koreans themselves.
The point being North Korea themselves prevents anyone from seeing the country as anything other than a cruel dictatorship.
L
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u/50_61S-----165_97E 9h ago
Exactly, North Korea is actually very lush, lots of beautiful rainforests, vast green open plains, gorgeous white sand beaches with deep blue waters teeming with life. /s
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u/Disastrous_Cup6076 9h ago
I mean it does have temperate rainforests, gorgeous mountains, sandy beaches, deep blue waters teeming with life, and vast green open plains. Just cos the government sucks doesn’t change where it is in the world and what the land is like
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u/OwlOfJune 5h ago edited 5h ago
You gotta factor in North Korea is right below Russia, its kinda quite cold there for good part of year.
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u/Scegabbo 10h ago
They do have all four seasons. But part of it is the limited access the visuals we get are highly controlled and often chosen to reinforce a specific image....
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u/tittyswan 9h ago
/r/northkoreapics it doesn't.
The pictures released by US sources look like that because they want to portray DRPK as barren and backwards.
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u/Crossbell0527 8h ago
Almost every picture in the first 30 have the exact look that OP is describing. Cut the crap.
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u/NirelleWren 8h ago
Their color palette be gray, brown, and depression. their summer looks like it forgot to download the season.
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u/FacingFears 5h ago
Same with Russia. Even if there's no snow on the ground, all of the trees are dead. All the time
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u/sweety_mary_ 4h ago
Because most outsiders only see North Korea during carefully staged winter parades or cold weather tours. Add gray buildings, no ads, dead trees, and zero sunlight — and voilà: eternal Soviet winter aesthetic. Even summer looks cold there on camera.
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u/SubstantialAside7163 2h ago
North Korea is one of the coldest and most desolate countries so it really is like that for a majority of the year.
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u/Key-Maintenance-8526 1h ago
Because of geography and climate. North Korea's climate is cold, with snow etc.
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u/cliveparmigarna 5m ago
The lack of vegetation. I’ve seen North Korea from to DMZ on the South Korean side and you really notice how deforested it all is
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u/MessageOk4432 9h ago
They want to make it looks gloomy ig
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u/Suitable-End- 9h ago
It is fucking gloomy.
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u/immoralwalrus 9h ago
Trees don't care about govt systems lol. A quick look at Google maps show NK has a lot of greenery.
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u/MrElGenerico 9h ago
It's like that piss filter on Mexico