Google earth recently included imagery covering North Korea, I guess they just had a very basic coverage before.
they have concentration camps and gulags labeled, pretty interesting.
Look at the capital, Pyongyang. Lots of what look like apartment blocks, government buildings, etc. But, what is really impressive is the lack of traffic on the streets, and lack of parking lots, etc. You see some buses, but very few cars, even on the main highways.
Interesting.
But IMHO, you picked the wrong category. Maybe General?
I read a novel last fall called The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson about life in North Korea. Faciniating and distrubing but very good. Liz
John Hamilton . . .
Are you performing an illegal survey using aerial photos in North Korea?
Unfortunately, the recent imagery only shows the external view of the camps... very little information is released regarding living conditions internal to North Korea let alone those imprisoned in the camps themselves.
I've read and highly recommend a recently published book titled (and the accompanying documentary available on Netflix)
"Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden.
http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Camp-14-Remarkable-Odyssey/dp/0670023329/
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Camp_14_Total_Control_Zone/70264533?locale=en-US
True life story of one of the few people who 1)escaped a North Korean gulag/prison camp and 2)had been born and lived his entire life in the camp.
It doesn't take very long to read... but I found it emotionally hard to read and comprehend the inhumanity that exists in that country.
The author has been interviewed on NPR radio as well... last November,I think.
I doubt there's any need for surveys in N. Korea... everything is owned and belongs to the state.
China's policy is to return North Korean escapees. Once back in North Korea they face harsh interrogation and imprisonment in concentration camps.
The world needs to put pressure on China to get them to stop this barbaric policy. It is beyond disgusting and beneath contempt. China's leaders are evil bastards.
What does this have to do with Land surveying??
> China's policy is to return North Korean escapees. Once back in North Korea they face harsh interrogation and imprisonment in concentration camps.
>
> The world needs to put pressure on China to get them to stop this barbaric policy. It is beyond disgusting and beneath contempt. China's leaders are evil bastards.
Sounds more like global politics to me.
What does this have to do with Land surveying??
I hope John Hoxen's(?), post doesn't automatically turn this into a non-allowed political post. Personally, I don't see his post as a problem.
Otherwise, any post, regardless of it's purpose could be eventually deemed to be political and then of course should be removed.
I don't find the initial post to be political, any more than a post about a county office requiring some sort of ridiculous something or other from a surveyor.
Half of what we do borders on "political", so what's particularly wrong with a post that borders on political, as long as it not the type of "political", posts that has always gotten us all bent out of shape, along with name calling and what-have-you?
North Korea has been on my hit list for sometime and I had just printed out a Visa application with a Beijing tour outfit for independent travel in the country. ( independent but you still have a couple "minders" hanging with you)
This following statement is on the application.. I guess I would have to leave the big camera at home and rely on smaller snappy cam.
Journalists and Photographers (professional and semi-professional)
The laws of DPRK prohibit journalists and photographers (full or part-time) from travelling on tourist visas. We do not make the laws in DPRK but our work is subject to them, if a journalist/photographer poses as a tourist and manages to join one of our tours then we will be put out of business and the position of our Korean colleague/guides will be compromised.
We ask journalists/photographers to please respect our position and DO NOT APPLY for a visa with Koryo Tours. We are happy to assist journalists/photographers with any information that they may require and we can contact you when the rules are relaxed or opportunities appear.
For an idea of what your trip might be like, make sure you read the following account by 2 Swiss tourists who were able to travel from Vienna, Austria to Pyongyang entirely by rail in 2008- quite the journey. They have since banned that train route for foreigners, but their experience in Pyongyang would probably be much the same for any other Western tourist. Note also they were Swiss- the N.Koreans would have denied a US Passport holder entry from the beginning as their route wasn't on the "approved" tourist route.
http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/
Note also the State department doesn't ban travel to N. Korea (but does ban travel to Cuba- go figure....) However, they highly discourage it- there's no US Embassy in Pyongyang and if something goes wrong... you're on your own.
I'm not sure if being a surveyor would be better or worse than a journalist. I definitely wouldn't show any undue "surveying" interest in military installations, tunnels or other items that have a military purpose.
As for cameras and cell phones- I'd not take anything you couldn't risk having to leave there. Officially there is no cell phone service inside N. Korea at all- just along the border where one can pick up signals from cell towers on the Chinese side.
I really appreciate that link..Thanks!
Cell phone rules have just been relaxed in North Korea...which is kinda amazing considering the phone part is not as valuable in surveillance as the GPS chip and camera.
I actually travel on a British passport and it has facilitated travel to Cuba and other countries as well except for Nigeria. They don't have a great relationship with the UK and the Visa fees show it.
Have you watched the VICE documentary on their visit to North Korea? It is on YouTube. As they said, it really is crazyland. Something like the looniest of Alice in Wonderland, but incredibly militant and dangerous. Watching the documentary is so depressing.
John,
I'll be interested in hearing how your trip turns out (if you're able to go!).
Having a 2nd British passport will be a help.... I see on Wikipedia that Britain does have a foreign mission/ embassy there- do you have to contact them for an entry visa?
-Nathan
The vehicles in the parking lot of the May Day Stadium are interesting...
What does this have to do with Land surveying??
OK, so it is not strictly about surveying, but aerial imagery (and maps) has always been a fascination to me, actually that is how I came to surveying because I loved maps. When I was a kid (under 10!) I used to go to the University library (my dad was a professor) and look at USGS quad maps (they had the whole country and a lot of the world as well).
So I consider maps and aerial photography to be connected to surveying. Notice that my original post was not trying to make a political statement at all, just mentioned the features that they have labeled.
I never figured it to be . . . "political"
I just wish we(as a whole), didn't need to be so afraid of anything "political", when discussion that involves things that border on political have absolutely nothing in common with the old "POLITICAL", posts that wound up in the wire sphere of wrestling.
Iron Sphere . . . is that right?
What does this have to do with Land surveying??
> So I consider maps and aerial photography to be connected to surveying. Notice that my original post was not trying to make a political statement at all, just mentioned the features that they have labeled.
:good:
DDSM
What does this have to do with Land surveying??
> OK, so it is not strictly about surveying, but aerial imagery (and maps) has always been a fascination to me, actually that is how I came to surveying because I loved maps. When I was a kid (under 10!) I used to go to the University library (my dad was a professor) and look at USGS quad maps (they had the whole country and a lot of the world as well).
>
> So I consider maps and aerial photography to be connected to surveying. Notice that my original post was not trying to make a political statement at all, just mentioned the features that they have labeled.
So if you put the word "map" into a sentence, you consider that makes it a surveying discussion regardless of the topic?
Actually my beef wasn't so much with your leadoff post as it was the followup discussion regarding certain country's policies. Wrong or right as they may be.
I'll let you guys know...
> I just wish we(as a whole), didn't need to be so afraid of anything "political", when discussion that involves things that border on political have absolutely nothing in common with the old "POLITICAL", posts that wound up in the wire sphere of wrestling.
>
> Iron Sphere . . . is that right?
When it gets out of hand. The whip will come out. :-O :whistle:
For now, everything is cool. B-)
I watched the Camp 14 documentary on netflix last night-very scary place. Almost unfathomable that a country can function like that.
