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20 North Korean Photos Forbidden For Weird Reasons

I knew that North Korea was a weird country, but I never imagined this. The 20 photos you're about to see don't seem particularly odd, but the regime's paranoia meant that the photographer who took them actually had to smuggle them out of the country. Take a look at these photos, which are forbidden for the weirdest reasons: 
 
1. Lady in the crowd
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A woman stands in a crowd of soldiers. This type of picture is forbidden under North Korean law because officials do not allow army pictures. 
2. Using computers without electricity
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North Korean officials are said to be very keen to show the country's citizens eagerly using PCs - until there's a power cut, that is...
3. The grass-cutter 
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People are so impoverished and starving in North Korea that many of them resort to eating grass from the parks. If you're a guest in the country and take such a picture, your guide will likely be furious.
4. Cars? What cars? 
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Seeing as cars in North Korea are few and far between, it's not uncommon to see peasant children playing right in the middle of a main avenue - as if there were no cars at all. 
5. When queuing is a national sport 
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One of the country's many failings is its lack of ability to provide its citizens with an adequate public transport system... 
6. Is that a farmer or a soldier? 
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It's not uncommon to see North Korean soldiers lending a helping hand on the country's farms. 
7. North Korean soldiers never relax...
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...until they do. It's forbidden to take pictures of soldiers relaxing in North Korea. 
8. You can photograph the animals...
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...but not the soldiers that make up 99% of the crowd at the marine park. 
9. Deep beneath Pyongyang
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This photo is forbidden because, Pyongyang's subway system, which is the deepest in the world, also doubles as a bomb shelter. 
10. An official dozes off on a bench inside (what's supposed to be) a Christian church. 
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It is against the law in North Korea to portray the regime's officials in a "bad light".
 
11. A rare example of a North Korean kid lacking discipline...
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...he was standing right in the path of a bus that was driving in Samiyjon. 
12. The Pioneers' Camp in Wonsan is used to show off happy North Korean kids...
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...but it all goes awry when children come from the countryside and are afraid to use an escalator, the likes of which they've never seen before.
13. Whoops! 
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This North Korean soldier was captured sleeping at the side of a road. 
14. It goes without saying that they don't have powerboats in North Korea. 
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This fisherman was captured using a tire as a boat on a little lake. 
15. He looks hungry, doesn't he? 
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It's forbidden to show malnourished people in North Korea, especially soldiers. 
16. No pictures of broken-down buses! 
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Although it's not an uncommon sight in North Korea. 
17. You have to delete this picture because...
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...the photographer might have told Western media outlets that the sleeping man was dead. 
18. Despite the pre-selected rural homes that Westerners are allowed to visit... 
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...there'll inevitably be a cistern in someone's bathroom. 
19. And the most ridiculous forbidden picture of all involved a painting. 
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The photographer was yelled at because the painting was unfinished. 
20. Paranoia in North Korea is pervasive. 
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The photographer was told to delete this picture because his minders said he would say that they were homeless people when he left the country. 
 
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