North Korea’s tentative steps towards twenty-first century pop culture integration are really picking up pace, with a visit from a Google founder, an NBA player, and tentative tweets. But Pyongyang really put the seal on its tech knowledge this week with the release of the first Instagram shots from the secretative nation.
The app, which was recently brought up by Facebook, to the disgust of hundreds of thousands of its users, allows for a variety of snazzy effects and expert looking shots from even the lowest quality phone camera. However, for all the pro skills this application lends, the bulk of the time, Instagram fans devote their skills to capturing the minuate of their daily lives- a colourful cake for example, or cute pet.
Of particular interest are shots taken in a park, of poseters celebrating the recent purported satellite launch- which many commentators belive was in reality the test fire of a ballistic missile
Likewise, the first shots from North Korea are remarkable in their uniform mundane observations. Pictures taken by Jean H Lee, bureau chief for the Associated Press in Pyongyang, include commuters on their way to work, propaganda and a darekening city skyline. Of particular interest are shots taken in a park, of poseters celebrating the recent purported satellite launch- which many commentators belive was in reality the test fire of a ballistic missile.
The move comes following the recent approval of 3G phones by the state- for foreigners only of course. It is believed that recently instated leader Kim Jong-un may be the driving force for many of these developments. Educated overseas, he would have been well aware of the wide cassam between North Korea’s technology and the social media revolution happening around the world. He himself is thought to be one of the state’s few, if not only, native smart phone users.
