The government of North Korea recently invited dozens of foreign journalists into its secretive country to cover the 100th birthday celebration for founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. Among pageants and openings, the event drawing the most attention is the scheduled launch of a three-stage Unha-3 rocket carrying a weather satellite. The launch is already drawing criticism from Western governments: If successful, it could demonstrate North Korea's capacity to produce an intercontinental missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. Despite their official invitation, foreign photographers are still restricted -- escorted wherever they go and unable to photograph more than they can see within selected facilities or from the windows of buses and trains. As further images emerge from the celebrations of Kim Il Sung's 100th birthday, I will follow up with a second post.
A North Korean student learns to drive a tractor on a computerized driving simulator at the Samjiyon School children's Palace in Samjiyon, North Korea, on April 3, 2012. The facility was built for children to take part in after school programs in the arts, sciences, sports, computer and vocational training. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
A North Korean soldier working as a guide walks through a forest that is said to be a former camp site where the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung overnighted while leading a battle against the Japanese at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea. Photo taken on April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Houses, seen from the window of a train, along the railway line between Pyongyang and the North Pyongan Province on North Korea's west coast, on April 8, 2012. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)
A North Korean soldier stands at a checkpoint seen from a train heading to North Pyongan Province, on April 8, 2012.(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
A North Korean soldier tries to keep order as journalists gather around the satellite that North Korean officials say will be launched with the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, on April 8, 2012.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
North Korean participants in a national taekwondo festival are judged at the Taekwondo Hall in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 7, 2012. The sporting festival is part of ongoing celebrations being held across the country to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)
The sun is reflected from the top of the 105-floor Ryugyong Hotel, which remains under construction, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 1, 2012. The hotel is the largest structure in North Korea, and has been under construction (with numerous lengthy delays) since 1987.(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
The hoof of a deer used as a door handle hangs on the door of the small cabin that is said to have been the home of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the birthplace of his son and late leader Kim Jong Il at what was a secret military camp during the fight against the Japanese at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea, on April 2, 2012. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
The Huichon Power Station in Huichon City, some 250 km (155 mi) north of the capital, Pyongyang, during an opening ceremony for the facility on April 5, 2012. The Huichon Power Station, under construction for more than three years, was a favored project of late leader Kim Jong Il, who visited the project five times before his death in December. The opening was the first big ceremony in a month of celebrations timed for the April centenary of the birth of late President Kim Il Sung. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)
North Koreans commute to work in Pyongyang on April 8, 2012. North Korea is counting down to the 100th anniversary of its founder's birth on April 15 with top-level meetings and a controversial rocket launch scheduled in coming days to bolster his grandson's credentials.(Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)
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