Satellite images show Pyongyang glowing, outskirts dark
North Korea’s capital has grown noticeably brighter at night over the past six years, but the added light is concentrated almost entirely downtown. Most of the city’s outskirts remain steeped in darkness. I compared monthly average nighttime light satellite imagery captured between April 2020 and April 2026. The data come from the Visible Infrared Imaging […]
Satellite images reveal a striking contrast in Pyongyang's nighttime lighting patterns. Over the past six years, the city center has grown significantly brighter, while the outskirts have remained shrouded in darkness. Utilizing monthly average nighttime light satellite imagery captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the Suomi NPP satellite, I analyzed the data from April 2020 to April 2026.
This analysis, which accounts for factors like clouds and moonlight, shows that the area illuminated in downtown Pyongyang increased by about 2.4 times, while overall brightness rose by 3.4 times. Despite the capital's expansion, the outskirts remain largely dark, with most areas accounting for 73.2% of the city's total area. The regime's 50,000-home construction project, which began in 2021, has been a key driver of this change, with new apartment complexes and high-rise buildings contributing to the increased lighting.
While some observers have raised concerns about the quality of construction, the satellite data clearly demonstrate a deliberate focus on illuminating newly built streets and the city center. This stark contrast in lighting between the city center and outskirts suggests a selective allocation of power infrastructure, highlighting a divide in power supply within the capital.
Written by urgent.news from Daily NK's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
