PHOTOS: Inside A North Korea That Is Changing — But At Its Own Pace

NPR journalists Mary Louise Kelly and Becky Sullivan and freelance photographer David Guttenfelder were among the some 150 foreign reporters who visited North Korea last month, at the invitation of the government, to cover celebrations commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Guttenfelder has taken nearly 40 reporting trips to the isolated country since 2000.

After just seven years under the rule of Kim Jong Un, North Korea is in a moment of change. Most visibly to the outside world, Kim — the third generation of North Korea's founding family to lead the nation — has made 2018 a year of unprecedented diplomatic engagement, with South Korea and the U.S.

Signs of change are visible inside the country, too. Once thought of