North Korea Cloaked in Darkness

Reuters

A NASA image released this week shows a recent night view of the Korean Peninsula. Apart from a spot of light in Pyongyang, North Korea is mostly cloaked in darkness, with China (top left) and South Korea (bottom right) on either side.  

One of the most stunning—and revealing—photos ever taken of North Korea was a 2002 satellite image of the peninsula at night, shown by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a Pentagon briefing.

The photo showed the lights of South Korean conurbations, and even large clusters of fishing boats, in stark contrast to an almost entirely black North Korea. Other than a small spot of light in the showcase capital Pyongyang and the outline of the country, North Korea wouldn’t have been visible at all.

“South Korea is filled with lights and energy and vitality and a booming economy; North Korea is dark. It is a tragedy what’s being done in that country,” Mr. Rumsfeld said.

Fast forward to 2014, and North Korea remains cloaked in blackness. In a new photo released by NASA on Monday and dated Jan. 30, the contrast between the bright lights across South Korea and a few dim spots in the North is, if anything, more pronounced. That may be because of the better resolution picture but it shows more light across South Korea, particularly in rural areas.

Pyongyang is still visible, along with a few faint spots in other cities like Wonsan on the east coast, but very little else.

“The darkened land appears as if it were a patch of water joining the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan. Its capital city, Pyongyang, appears like a small island, despite a population of 3.26 million (as of 2008),” NASA said in a statement issued with the photo.

“These differences are illustrated in per capita power consumption in the two countries, with South Korea at 10,162 kilowatt hours and North Korea at 739 kilowatt hours,” it says.

Under current leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has been touting progress in urban construction and large-scale development projects like a ski resort, but its power supply remains highly unreliable, with regular blackouts.

Pyongyang says economic progress is one of its main policy goals. but without major reforms that would likely threaten the grip of its regime, it’s hard to see the next satellite photo showing a much different scene.