21 photos of North Korea that Kim Jong Un wouldn't want you to see

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un keeps a close watch over the media in his country, controlling much of what citizens know of the outside world, and vice versa.

Though Kim has fought to present the Hermit Kingdom to the world as a bastion of military might, nuclear power, and anti-American sentiment, the reality of day-to-day life is grim.

Much of the country lives in poverty, tens of thousands of people are held as political prisoners, and the government tightly controls most aspects of life.

Here's what Kim Jong Un's North Korea really looks like:

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AND THEN: A photographer captured these dismal photos of life in North Korea on his phone