With much of the world’s attention once again focused on North Korea, many international photojournalists are doing their best to cover the reclusive country. However, North Korea still tightly restricts the movements of visiting journalists within its borders, and controls what can be photographed. For photographers looking in from just over the border, there may be more freedom of movement, but the subjects in North Korea are aware they are being watched, with many looking back—sometimes giving a smile and wave, or sometimes throwing rocks. Gathered here are photographs from the past few years of North Koreans seen just over the border from parts of China and South Korea.
Along the North Korean Border
-
A North Korean soldier looks out the window of a guard tower, on the banks of Yalu River, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, on April 16, 2013. #
Jacky Chen / Reuters -
-
North Korean farmers work in a field as a section of the Great Wall is seen on the Chinese side of the Yalu River, north of the town of Sinuiju in North Korea, on April 2, 2017. #
Damir Sagolj / Reuters -
-
-
A woman reads messages on ribbons visitors left to make their wishes for the reunification of the two Koreas, at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, on April 7, 2013. #
Lee Jin-man / AP -
A rusty sign that reads "military demarcation line" is seen at the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commissions headquarters near the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, on March 30, 2016. #
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters -
North (right) and South Korean soldiers look at each other through a window of a conference room in the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission Conference Building at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, on March 30, 2016. #
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters -
-
A North Korean man comes down a ladder in front of a disused factory along the banks of the Yalu River near the North Korean town of Qing Cheng, on September 12, 2008. #
David Gray / Reuters -
-
North Koreans unload stones onto a track on the bank of the Yalu River near the Chongsong County of North Korea, opposite the Chinese border town of Hekou, on June 15, 2009. #
Jacky Chen / Reuters -
-
A man and two young boys enter the water on an ox-cart from the North Korean side of the Yalu River, just north of the town of Sinuiju, North Korea, on March 30, 2017. #
Damir Sagolj / Reuters -
-
-
A North Korean soldier looks out from a guard tower on the banks of Yalu River, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, on December 14, 2013. #
Jacky Chen / Reuters -
-
A North Korean village in Kaepoong county, on the north side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, and a South Korean guard post (bottom) are seen in this picture taken from south of the DMZ in Paju, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Seoul, on December 22, 2010. #
Jo Yong-Hak / Reuters -
-
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.