Thomas Billhardt is among the most acclaimed German photographers, gaining a reputation for capturing the human and political experience in North Korea, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Vietnam, and elsewhere.
Thomas joins the NK News Podcast to talk about his impressions of North Korea in 1989, where he was dispatched to photograph the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students.
Thomas Billhardt’s work can be found here.
About the Festival: the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students was held in the North Korean capital Pyongyang almost thirty years ago next month. A global gathering of international Communist Party-affiliated youth organizations, it represented something of a last hurrah for a world that was soon to disappear in a storm of revolution and unrest.
Hosted by North Korea in large part as a response to the South’s successful hosting of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, the Festival cost the country billions and saw thousands of international students descend on Pyongyang for an event devoted to Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace, and Friendship.
And if you’re interested in learning more about the festival, last summer NK News produced a six-part podcast series on it! You can listen to part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here, part five here, and part six here.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted exclusively by NK News, covering all things DPRK: from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field and insight from our very own journalists.