Rare N.Korea Photos Released

The Academy of Korean Studies on Monday released 1,062 rare photos of political and economic conditions in North Korea during the four to five years after independence from Japan.

The photos were donated to the AKS in 1978 by the academic institute's first president Lee Sun-keun, a former minister of culture and education.

The photo above shows former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung (front left) delivering an address at a meeting of two Koreas in April 1948. At the back is a model of the Korean Peninsula flanked by two Taegeukgi. The North began using its own national flag featuring the red star of Communism on a white disk instead of the Taegeukgi from the 5th session of the Supreme People's Assembly on July 8, 1948.