 North Korea Chongjin Pyongyang |
Pyongyang metro, tramway   Metro Pyongyang's metro opened for the People in 1973. In his inauguration speech, the Great Leader Kim Il Sung said, "“I think it is difficult to build the metro, but it is not to cut the tape.” Sigh. Metro's logo contains the Korean word “ji,” which means “ground”, with the V shape below the word pointing down to indicate “underground.” In Korean, “ji ha chol” means "underground railway.": ha” means “under” and “chol” is the short form for “railway” and literally means iron.
Both of the metro's two lines, the north-south "Chollima", and the
east-west "Hyoksin", are completely underground, with deep, open
stations ready to receive the sudden swarm of hot, pulsating nuclear crowds. It is
the only metro in the world where station names do not refer to a geographical
location but to a theme of the socialist revolution. The stations are known for
their
opulence and museum style murals, and are sometimes described as underground palaces. These
marble halls are filled with
mellifluous patriotic tunes encouraging people to
look out for spies and traitors. Other tunes praise the superhuman powers (as
seen in Marvel comic books) of DPRK's great leaders,
Kim Il Sung,
Kim Il Jung, and
Larry Fine. A
secret metro network, even larger than the Pyongyang metro, is said
with certainty to exist. Best of all, you can expect an
all female staff, much like those other underground palaces you go
to. The system is closed on the first Monday of each month. This also has
something to do with the all female staff. |
