Satellites document North Korea's dark ages

NASA / NOAA

This picture of Earth at night is based on 1994-1995 satellite data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System, which maps the location of permanent lights on the planet. The borders of North Korea are outlined in white, with Japan off to the right, China to the left and South Korea below.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The death of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, serves as a reminder that the hard-line communist country has long been in the dark — literally. A white border highlights the dark spot known as North Korea in this visualization of our planet's city lights.

This iconic "Earth at Night" picture is based on data gathered by military satellites in 1994-1995, just after Kim inherited power from his late father, Kim Il Sung. The darkness shows how much North Korea has lagged behind its neighbors — South Korea, China, Russia and Japan — in electrification and industrial development. Updates of the data sets show that there's been no change in North Korea's city-light situation between 1992 and 2009. Check out NOAA's "Science on a Sphere" webpage for more about the "Earth at Night" satellite data project.

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A different kind of satellite project shows where North Korea has made progress during the dark age of Kim Jong Il: For years, the Institute for Science and International Security has been using satellite imagery to document the state of North Korea's nuclear program. Pictures acquired from orbit over the past couple of years show new construction at the country's Yongbyon nuclear center.

Here's a recent picture of the Yongbyon site from DigitalGlobe, a commercial satellite imaging venture. ISIS says the blue roofs on a gas centrifuge plant and an adjoining building appear to be part of increased construction activity:

DigitalGlobe

This high-resolution satellite image from DigitalGlobe, acquired on Nov. 4, 2010, shows new construction at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear site. The building with a deep blue roof is thought to be a gas centrifuge plant.

"Whatever the purpose, these activities show that more is going on at Yongbyon than commonly believed," ISIS analyst Paul Brannan wrote in his latest report. The future of North Korea's nuclear program will be a top concern for the United States and its allies as they assess Pyongyang's leadership transition — and satellites will provide the key data for that assessment.

These satellite views of North Korea serve as today's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which presents views of Earth from space every day from now until Christmas. Catch up on these previous entries from the calendar:

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Tip o' the Log to Ezra Klein's Wonkblog at The Washington Post and Afrikent.

Correction for 11 p.m. ET: I mistakenly referred to "Science on a Sphere" as being provided by NASA, when it's actually provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sorry about that! Must have been because the first time I saw the "Science on a Sphere" display was at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Jump to discussion page: 1 2 3 4

ralph396-2103787

The US will look like that if Obama and the EPA get their way!

#78 - Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:34 AM EST

Master Bob

Capitalism: Would work if we lived in a perfect world in which everyone was born with the same wealth intelligence and background.

Communism: Would work if not for greedy government.

Socialism: Overall the best way to go, provides opportunity and property rights (at least the European breeds of socialism) while providing the rights of the people.

1 vote

#79 - Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:11 PM EST

patrick demarco

Yeah because Europe is doing so well (Rodney Dangerfield rolling of the eyes)

2 votes

#79.1 - Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:12 PM EST

Master Bob

We @!$%#ed up europe with our damn trading their sh*t.

1 vote

#79.2 - Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:52 PM EST

Rlquall

What you fail to see is that under the system of Capitalism, Man exploits Man. However, under Socialism, the reverse of this is true.

#79.3 - Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:42 PM EST

Dan in Ohio

I'd like to see someone do the same kind of picture of Candle Stick Park last night! Take the blackout picture and draw a line around where the stadium is supposed to be. LOL.

One person got it right! Even Siberia has more lights!

And if you do a "Google Earth" of North Korea and zoom in on buildings in the cities, trying to find out where the people might live, it looks rather dank and scary. The road conditions aren't much better, and there aren't hardly any cars on the roads either.

One question: Is not the military made up of sons (and maybe daughters) from families that live in North Korea? To have such a large military, doesn't the population have to be fed well enough to supply the young blood? And you need the female population to supply the sons for the military too. But you don't need electricity, a nice house, running water, and all the luxuries that we have to live and grow and form a family. Actually, a family that struggles together is a much closer family unit. I bet they don't have a drug problem, or
teenagers rebelling against their parents, or many of the vast problems that the FREE world has.

I don’t know what life is like for a common person living in North Korea. So I can’t say it is bad. I do have a choice of how I would like to live though, and I prefer my luxury style of living with electricity, and running water, and a nice roof over my head, and a car to drive to wherever I want. I have these things as long as I can work to afford such luxuries. So, “WORK” has me over a barrel. Anyway, I feel bad for the people there that don’t have the luxury of making that kind of choice; not the fact that they don’t have the same luxuries. But I’m not going to say we should nuke them, or even go to war for them. I do not want to force my kind of living on anyone, and hope my government feels the same. But, should some beautiful woman want to come and share my lifestyle with me, I might be more than welcome to share. (Hint: hint: Shannon if you’re out there reading this!!!)

#80 - Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:20 PM EST

Master Bob

Dan, north korea on google earth is mapped over entirely by random bits of terrain. You're not looking at korea, just random terrain. Trust me, google isn't that stupid.