For all the saber-rattling North Korea has been doing, precious little is known about daily life in the isolated nation. Even a railway map is close to classified information.
A doctoral student at George Mason University is using satellite images to get a closer look at a historically secretive country. North Korea is once again in the news because of its growing nuclear threat and the imprisoning of two American journalists. By closely examining Google Earth and corroborating physical evidence of infrastructure with reports from visitors and defectors, Curtis Melvin has assembled a workable map of North Korean railways -- not to mention hidden palaces and outdoor food markets. The Google Earth overlays are available at his blog, North Korean Economy Watch.
"I am confident I've mapped over 90 percent of the system above ground," Melvin told Wired.com. "There are probably still railway lines in low-resolution areas that I have not been able to find. Additionally, there are likely underground passages that I am unable to map, and the size of these I cannot guess."
Since Kim Jong-Il is reportedly terrified of flying, Dear Leader travels on a luxurious private train that carries him between "on-the-spot-guidance opportunities." That's one thing for which we don't blame him, considering the state of national airline Air Koryo. According to Melvin, there are special train tracks that carry VIPs to oases of luxury in the impoverished nation. "Several elite compounds have private train stations," he said. "We can follow the railway lines through the security perimeters and into the elite compounds."
In an era where anyone with an internet connection can book a flight on Cubana, using satellite photos to divine a secret railway network in an isolated dictatorship has a hint of Iron Curtain intrigue about it. Despite the subterfuge of the private lines, the majority of North Korean railway activity is pretty mundane. "The railway is used for the same reasons it is used everywhere else: it moves people and freight," Melvin said. "As with other state resources in North Korea, the railway system has military uses. Soldiers regularly travel on trains."
Melvin has even managed to dig up some dirt on the inscrutable Pyongyang Metro -- that's the system's Puhung station in the photo. Far from a Potemkin public transit system, the parts of the metro hidden from tourists seem to be less impressive but still functioning. "I have seen a couple of official pictures of other stations. They are much more spartan than the two shown to tourists," Melvin said.
One thing is for sure: The North Korean railway network is hardly the Orient Express. Built during the pre-World War II Japanese occupation of Korea, the lines have seen little maintenance over the years. "Based on stories from defectors, much of it has fallen into disrepair -- though this is impossible to verify in person," Melvin said. Some intrepid travelers wrote a fascinating account of their trip to Pyongyang through Moscow, and report that major arteries are operational.
Photo: Flickr / yeowatzup
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