PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 2 (UPI) -- A North Korean shift from developing its military might to improving the lives of its people has made few visible changes, The Los Angeles Times reports.
While tour guides talk about the new apartment buildings under construction, a Times reporter saw buildings that were small, made of plaster-coated mud and going up slowly. Workers in Pyongyang wait hours for buses, while in the countryside they walk for miles or rely on battered bicycles.
There are signs of a capitalist economy developing, even though the government claims that the entire system is socialist. Cheap running shoes and other items made in China have begun coming into North Korea since 2005, and many people reportedly trade in small unofficial markets, earning far more income than they do in their regular jobs.
