A look into the North Korean transport system
This may well be China Car Times, but we sometimes look into the hermit kingdom of North Korea where it appears to be China in the 1960′s. The trucks shown below are based on early FAW designs, and those with the barrels to the rear of the driver are powered by wood, it might sound like a strange combination but it was a popular solution to the fuel crisis that gripped Europe in the middle of World War Two, and due to the scarce fuel in North Korea it seems they have reverted to wood burning cars once again. The rest of the models appear to be of Russian design, although we are sure that some of our commenters will be able to confirm for us:
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Damn. Glad my country was never communist. North-Korea should go along with China.
Hi Ash,
This is a great article. Very interesting for people who know very little about the lives of the people of North Korea.
Once again China Car Times has produced an interesting and factual article. It’s good to get a unique insight of a country as isolated from the rest of the world as North Korea.
It’s why I keep visiting your site every day.
Keep up the good work Ash. This is one of the reasons why you are streets ahead of the competition.
Patrick
Lest anyone get the idea that the place is completely hermetically sealed, mention should also be made of ventures with South Korea’s Pyeounghwa Motors and China’s Dandong Shuguang and their scant production of more modern passenger vehicles. Of course the “peoples” from the Democratic Peoples Republic can only dream of access to them.
Hello Ash,
more to see at:
1. DPRK vehicles, by “Kernbeisser”, see Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernbeisser/sets/72157622978283522/
2. my picasa webpage, http://picasaweb.google.nl/birgit1401/DprkAutomobiles?feat=directlink
3. of course my very famous book, “Automobiles made in the DPRK”, the only book on this subject, see http://www.chinesecars.net/index.php?page=4
greetings, Erik
the trams are NOT SOVIET but former Czechoslovak /now Czech/ origin, designed and made by CKD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8CKD_(company)
I remember reading in a ‘car guide of the world’ published in English by a Polish publishing house (and sadly now no longer available in the UK) that a company was making Fiat models under license in DPR, the Palio saloon and pickup I think.
A truly wonderful country, and I hope one that wakes up when their idiot dictator dies and his hopefully less deluded son takes over (although from what I have read, the eldest son is just as deluded and despotic as his dad and so the younger brother who is less mental seems to have got the nod) and so it can join the real world.
That mag also showed loads of JV’s from around the world, the ones in Iran (mostly with old Peugoet based cars) and Egypt (Chery and others) were very interesting.
These are photos I took of transportation in the DPRK in the last two weeks:
Wood Gas burner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/4924273134/
Under repair (arent they all?)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/4924434533/
Electric Bus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/4925034678/
Reliable Transport
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/4918797910/
Military Motorcycle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/4915840385/
Traffic lights are functioning in Pyongyang
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaruka/4911361529/
In three visits this was the first time I saw the lights working.
I will be posting more.
Ray
Bumping this back up as Ray’s comment was stuck in the comment filter (too many links!).
Brilliant stuff Ray – keep it coming.