North Korea has gone through a tremendous metamorphosis since leader Kim Jong Un assumed power after the death of his father late in 2011.

What were once vacant lots or neighborhoods of traditional style houses have been transformed into blocks of huge skyscrapers dedicated to the nation’s nuclear scientists, or its rocket engineers, that tower over the capital of Pyongyang.

Street stalls offer fresh fruits and vegetables, even pancakes or hamburgers. There are almost enough taxis to make the city’s iconic women traffic controllers obsolete.

The nation has, at the same time, continued to struggle to provide all its people with such basic necessities as a balanced diet. Plagued by shortages of power and consumer goods, its economy was surpassed decades ago by its capitalist neighbors in South Korea. It remains one of the least free countries in the world, with severe restrictions on access to the Internet, to any form of international communication or travel and information that hasn’t been approved by the state. And, under Kim Jong Un, it has become a nuclear power, with long range missiles capable of reaching the United States.

As Kim emerges from his six years of self-imposed isolation, holding summits with is neighbors and, for the first time ever, with U.S. President Donald Trump, a country that had for so long seemed somehow dormant is now beginning to rumble back onto the world stage.

What path will North Korea take? For now, perhaps only Kim Jong Un himself knows the answer.

In anticipation of the upcoming historic summit, we have curated a series of photo galleries that take a closer look at life in North Korea.

North Korea

North Korea: Kim Jong-un family

Kim Jong Un is the third generation of North Korea’s ruling Kim family, the first and now only hereditary socialist dynasty. But while still in his early thirties, he appears to be as deft with wielding power as his grandfather, “eternal president” Kim Il Sung, and father, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il.

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North Korea

North Korea: Daily life

The headlines are all about nuclear weapons and ballistic missile launches. But on the ground in North Korea, scenes of daily life attest to both the poignancy and resilience of a people struggling to succeed.

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North Korea

North Korea: Military parades

Along with its famous mass games, North Korea has taken the tradition of the military parade to a level all of its own. Its parades are used to show off the best and newest weapons in its arsenal and the almost-unhuman precision of its goose-stepping troops.

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North Korea

North Korea: Workers

As the heroes of socialist propaganda, they are depicted as a self-sacrificing, proud proletariat upon whom the weight of the nation is said to depend. But the life of the worker in North Korea has never been easy.

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North Korea

North Korea: Monuments

In the totalitarian world of Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, everything begins from the center of Kim Il Sung Square, Pyongyang’s physical and spiritual center. And every neighborhood, it seems, has some sort of a statue or monument in honor of the Kim’s and the nation their created.

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North Korea

North Korea: New economy

Grassroots barter and trade that began as a necessity in the famine years of the 1990s has grown into a quasi-legal market system that is now one of the most important drivers of North Korea’s domestic economy. For those who know how to navigate it, called the “money masters”, there are riches to be had.

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North Korea

North Korea: DMZ

For more than 60 years, the artificial dividing line between the two Koreas has separated families and stood as a testament to hostilities that have seemed to have no end. The Demilitarized Zone, despite its name, remains the world’s most heavily fortified border.

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