One of the most often reproduced images of North Korea is a nighttime photo taken from space. 

Deep darkness covers the whole country, in vivid contrast to its Southern neighbor: even in the sea one can see a floating island of light, produced by fishing boats catching squid. Meanwhile, in North Korea, one can see only a handful of dimly lit spots, the biggest of which is, predictably, Pyongyang.

Another less known but equally telling picture can be observed in the Chinese border city of Dandong. One cannot say that Dandong’s streets are particularly