New GoPro Video Offers Rare Look Into North Korean Capital

Videos filmed with GoPro cameras usually offer a unique perspective that only those tempted by adventure would normally see. A new YouTube upload shot with a GoPro Hero 3 does not offer high-rise views or aerial stunts, but rather a rare view of Pyongyang, North Korea.
Aram Pan posted video of a tour through the North Korean capital Monday. The 22-minute clip displays
views of a rather desolate city. There are barely any cars on the road, and the car that Pan is in never stops for traffic lights. The photographer says the video is uncut and unedited and that he received permission from the government to shoot it.
The video is a part of Pan's DPRK 360 project and has received mixed reviews. While some are appreciative of a different view of the city, others are criticizing Pan for attempting to hide the country's problems. Some also wonder if the entire video is scripted.

"As for those few readers so upset with my project, all I can say is that I suffer from a condition that causes me to see beauty around me," Pan wrote in response to the critics on his Facebook page. "So unfortunately, it seems that I have found such beauty in the people and landscape of North Korea."

He goes on to address specific points of contention with the piece.

"For those asking why I am not photographing prisons and labor camps in North Korea, what makes you think I'll be able to find them?" Pan asked. "If journalists who've dedicated their lives to uncovering such places already have such difficulty, will a regular joe like me find them? Such a task is better left to high tech satellites. They can see galaxies light years away so I'm sure they can read that book you've left by the poolside."

Pan is from Singapore and he says his loyalties lie with his home country. His goal with the online project is to present North Korea without any "past, present, or future political problems that may be sensitive."