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A huge crowd at the Kim Il Sung stadium awaits the start of the Pyongyang marathon. An official guards the exit in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 9, 2017. More than 50,000 spectators assembled to see the start of the marathon. Thousands more gathered on the streets of the North Korean capital along a route that took runners past such landmarks as the Arch of Triumph, Kim Il-sung Square and the Grand Theatre. North Korea is one of the most isolated and secretive nations on earth. A leadership cult has grown around the Kim dynasty, passing from Kim Il-sung (the Great Leader) to his son Kim Jong-il (the Dear Leader) and grandson, the current supreme leader Kim Jong-un. The country is run along rigidly state-controlled lines. Local media are strictly regulated, and the foreign press largely excluded, or, if allowed access closely accompanied by minders.
(Photo by Roger Turesson/Dagens Nyheter/World Press Photo)
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