The Eerie Amusement Parks of North Korea

I’m hooked on virtual tourism and one of my favorite stops in Google Earth includes Pyongyang, North Korea. While traveling along the Taedong River, I noticed something that looked like an amusement park, an intriguing find in such a pragmatic and tedious city.

It turns out there are three funfairs in Pyongyang in various states of disrepair, the largest being the Kaeson Youth Park. Opened in 1984, it was built to project an image of progress and the ingenuity of its citizens. Backed by Russia and China when they were heavily funding the DPRK’s growth, the Kaeson Youth Park is the largest of three funfairs still in operation in the greater Pyongyang area.

As freaky as it looks, if I were a kid growing up in Pyongyang, I’d be pretty excited to visit these parks.


There's a special eeriness reserved for an abandoned amusement park.


A looping roller is a stark contrast to an out of commission merry-go-round. Image source: NKeconWatch


The "Wheel of Death" at Kaeson Youth Park is notorious for ejecting riders. There are no safety straps and it apparently spins very quickly. Image source: The Real Jeku


The "Roller Coaster of Death" at Kaeson Youth Park. Image source: Kernbeisser