North Koreans: ordinary lives, forever in their leader’s shadow

NORTH KOREA — When asked what’s important to them, North Koreans might talk about working hard, or doing well at sports, or having a big family. But Leader Kim Jong Un is never far from the conversation.

Pyongyang subway officer Ri Ok Gyong says she wants “to serve people because Marshal Kim Jong Un loves his people and so must I.”

Professional long-distance runner Pak Chol says, “I want to please Leader Kim Jong Un through my sporting successes.”

Ri Ok Ran and husband Kang Sung Jin say they want “to have many children so that they can serve in the army and defend and uphold our leader and country.”

AP photographer Wong Maye-E tries to get her North Korean subjects to open up as much as is possible in an authoritarian country with no tolerance for dissent and great distrust of foreigners. She has taken dozens of portraits of North Koreans over the past three years, often after breaking the ice by taking photos with an instant camera and sharing them.

Her question for everyone she photographs: What is your motto? Their answers reflect both their varied lives and the government that looms incessantly over all of them.

WONG MAYE-E, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Korean bride Ri Ok Ran, 28, and groom Kang Sung Jin, 32, pose for a portrait at the Moran Hill in Pyongyang. Their motto: “To have many children so that they can serve in the army and defend and uphold our leader and country, for many years into the future.”

Jo Myong Sim, 42, a farmer who has worked at the Chilgol vegetable farm on the outskirts of Pyongyang for 15 years, pauses while spraying fertilizer on cabbage crops which will be harvested and used to make kimchi. Her motto: “Family togetherness.”

Pak Chol, 27, a professional long-distance runner, poses for a portrait after winning the Pyongyang marathon. Pak has won three marathons. His motto: “I want to please leader Kim Jong Un through my sporting successes.”

Kim Jong Sil, 35, stands in the Kim Jong Suk Silk Mill in Pyongyang where she has worked for 17 years. Her motto: “As one of the working class, i’ll devote myself to realize the great idea of Marshal Kim Jong Un and I’ll work hard to achieve this.”

Pyongyang subway officer Ri Ok Gyong, 23, holds up a signal in Pyongyang, North Korea. She says that she is proud of her job because the subway station was one of the places visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Her motto: “I want to server people because Marshal Kim Jong Un loves his people and so must I.”

Jang Sol Hyang, 19, a Kim Il Sung University student majoring in mathematics, stands at the newly opened Ryomyong Street in Pyongyang, North Korea. Her motto: “Being a girl doesn’t stop me from upholding the leadership of Marshal Kim Jong Un and it drives me to be even better.”