Surprising photos show what life is like for North Korea’s elite

Beach-goers dance at the West Sea Barrage beach outside the coastal city of Nampho, southwest of Pyongyang.Getty Images

North Korean bride Ri Ok Ran, 28, and groom Kang Sung Jin, 32AP

A waitress carries a tray of food while another talks to a young boy on the Taedong River Boat Restaurant.AP

A waitress pours a new type of Taedonggang beer, the eighth in its line of specialty brews, made of wheat and hops at the Taedonggang Brewery in Pyongyang,AP

Jon Kuk Chol, 31, a student at Pyongyang Print and Publishing University.AP

Swimmers gather at a water park in a leisure complex in Pyongyang.Getty Images

A man and a boy ride a water slide at a leisure center during an organized tour for visiting foreign journalists.Getty Images

A North Korean cheerleading group wave flags to propaganda music at the start of a working day in Pyongyang.AP

A North Korean school boy looks up from his computer screen at the Sci-Tech Complex in Pyongyang.AP

North Korean athletes perform stunts at the Taekwando Palace.AP

North Korean men play shooting games at the Central Zoo.AP

School children take part in a tug-of-war during sports games marking "Children's Union Foundation Day."Getty Images

A North Korean couple row their boat on the Taedong River.AP

North Korean university students wait for the start of a mass dance as part of the celebrations for the 64th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War.AP

University students dressed in their traditional Korean dresses wait for the start of a mass dance.AP

Ri Su Jong, 18, a student at Pyongyang City Commercial College.AP

An elderly lady carries her belongings at the end of a long work day in Pyongyang.AP

A North Korean traffic policewoman stands at a street junction in front of a propaganda slogan that reads: "Safeguard with a do-or-die attitude." AP

A man talks on his mobile phone as he and other commuters ride in an electric trolley through downtown Pyongyang at the end of a work day.AP

North Korean women bow to pay their respects to their late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.AP

A woman carries a parasol as she walks towards kiosks that sell flowers, snacks and drinks in Pyongyang.AP

For some of North Korea’s elites, life isn’t so bad.

As the world anxiously looks on amid rising tensions between Donald Trump and the nuclear-armed rogue state, some of North Korea’s elite enjoy amusement parks, sporting activities, restaurants and entertainment.

According to North Korea expert Dr. Leonid Petrov, visiting fellow at the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific, the North Korean economy under the brutal regime of Kim Jong Un is actually improving.

“Pyongyang is doing really well,” he said. “It’s turned from the black hole of northeast Asia to a city of lights, entertainment, restaurants, food, mobile phones, computerisation, cars — it’s growing very fast.”

Petrov says North Koreans are acutely aware of their lower living standards compared with other countries, but still only have a “vague idea about the economic realities of the 21st century.”

“The education is similar to the Stalinist Soviet Union, based on a highly idealistic perception of Communism. It’s changing slowly. North Korea’s economy is growing, some segments of the population are more exposed to money and markets, devices and gadgets and communication, but only a small proportion.”

“The economy is becoming more market-oriented — still government-run and centrally planned, but more and more market activities are appearing. But North Korea cannot reform itself and probably won’t. The regime cannot afford the freedom of information, travel, conventions, so it’s impossible.”

North Korea, he said, will never get the same economic boost as China did when it was diplomatically recognized by the US in 1979 due to America’s alliance with South Korea.

“No one is going to trade with the North Koreans until the Americans permit it to trade with the international community,” he said. “It could happen if it hadn’t been for South Korea, which claims sole legitimacy on the peninsula. It’s like China and Taiwan, they are politically irreconcilable.”

It’s not quite the “Rich Kids of North Korea,” but its close.