Satellite Images Just Revealed Something Very Strange in North Korea

Paul J. Warburg 17 min

North Korea is essentially the Hunger Games in the real world. This is how empires and kingdoms have always worked.

  • Kim Jong-un

Chapters

  1. 0:00

    Strange Developments in Pyongyang

    The lit area of North Korea's capital city has grown by nearly two and a half times, and has also become nearly three and a half times brighter.

  2. 1:04

    Shift in Control Mechanisms

    Smartphones are becoming more widespread, and with them, smartphone services, like food delivery apps.

  3. 4:34

    The Hunger Games Analogy

    North Korea is essentially the Hunger Games in the real world, where a centralized capital consumes the work product of the poor.

  4. 6:58

    Wealth Concentration

    The wealth only flows to those closest to the center of power, while the rest of the country remains flat.

  5. 9:05

    Failed Rural Promises

    North Korea promised factories in 20 counties, but satellite imagery shows only five out of the 20 were actually any brighter.

  6. 10:44

    Russian Far East Exodus

    The Russian Far East is emptying out, with the current population expected to lose 8% by the end of the decade.

  7. 12:10

    North Korean Incursion

    North Koreans are building infrastructure in four specific Russian cities that serve as trading nodes for goods flowing to Pyongyang. The benefits of the land and trade routes flow to the closer imperial capital, Pyongyang, rather than Moscow.

  8. 15:22

    Historical Imperial Trend

    North Korea is following the historical trend of empires and kingdoms where the capital grows while consuming resources from elsewhere.

Key points

  • 0:00

    The lit area of North Korea's capital city has grown by nearly two and a half times, and has also become nearly three and a half times brighter.

  • 1:04

    Smartphones are also becoming more widespread. And with them, smartphone services, like food delivery apps.

  • 4:34

    North Korea is essentially the Hunger Games in the real world.

  • 6:58

    But in practice, the wealth only flows to those closest to the center of power.

  • 9:05

    When we look at the 20 named counties where development was promised due to the factories, only five out of the 20 were actually any brighter.

  • 10:44

    The entire region... is emptying out. The current population is only around 8 million people, and it's declining rapidly.

  • 12:10

    And on the local level, North Korea is building this infrastructure in four specific Russian cities.

  • 12:10

    The benefits flow to the closer imperial capital, Pyongyang, which sits just a few hundred kilometers to the south.

On the map

Map of the places in “Satellite Images Just Revealed Something Very Strange in North Korea”

Who and where

Places · 8

  • North Korea 41
  • Russia 21
  • Pyongyang 7
  • Russian Far East 1
  • Ukraine 3
  • Kremlin 1
  • Moscow 1
  • United States 1

People · 1

  • Drawing of Kim Jong-un

    Kim Jong-un 2

    Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011

    Photo 1

1. Photo: Владимир Смирнов / ТАСС, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Kim Jong-un)

Related episodes

Map of the places in “The U.S. Chooses Favorites: North Korea over South Korea” 6:04

The U.S. Chooses Favorites: North Korea over South Korea

Peter Zeihan

The United States is abandoning South Korea, forcing it to develop nuclear weapons and triggering a regional arms race. The strategic balance of peace in Northeast Asia is ending because South Korea will likely build a nuclear weapon.
Map of the places in “Ukraine’s Massive Advantage Over Russia is Now Impossible to Ignore” 26:15

Ukraine’s Massive Advantage Over Russia is Now Impossible to Ignore

Paul J. Warburg

Modern democracies win wars and long-term competition because market incentives drive continuous innovation, while dictatorships stagnate due to fear of success. The future belongs to societies where youth are incentivized to build technology that solves problems rather than just seeking military salaries.
15:11

China No Longer Controls North Korea

Peter Zeihan

North Korea is no longer a Chinese satellite but an independent state seeking leverage against Beijing. This shift makes North Korea a dangerous wildcard that will cause pain to dynamic Asian economies.
23:15

Something Very Strange is Starting in Russia's Far East

Paul J. Warburg

Russia is quietly making historical concessions to its neighboring nations due to weakness from war. The scale of weakness, dependence, and concessions is only growing as Russia continues to run lower on men.
25:12

Ukraine Will Soon Strike Russia’s Most Important Chokepoint (WORSE than the Crimean Bridge)

Paul J. Warburg

Ukraine could soon conduct a massive military campaign against Siberia that cripples Russia's war effort. Russia is going to be in a world of hurt because Ukraine will be able to do damage to Russia like they've never done it before.

AI-generated summary · model qwen3.5:9b-12k · prompt version whole-3.window-7.combine-10.s-f4be8e · video id UZjcz8_M800 · Watch on YouTube