Pyongyang's once sleepy roads now filling with cars

Traffic in North Korea's capital has gotten visibly heavier over the past year or so, with more trucks, taxis, passenger cars and other vehicles plying the streets and giving the often empty-seeming city of roughly 2.5 million a much more lively look.

Obtaining official figures on vehicle numbers in North Korea is virtually impossible given the opaque nature of the government bureaucracy.

[...] the trend does seem to jibe with an increase in construction going back about five years, which has meant more trucks are on the road to deliver workers and building materials, and the spread of entrepreneurial-style businesses that have the backing of state-run organizations.

For one, the number of traffic lights has been steadily increasing, though they probably don't pose much of a threat to the traffic controllers, who are mostly young women and whose ubiquitous presence and bright uniforms that change with each season have long made them a symbol of the capital.

Lots outside some department stores are now charging fees and so are attendants in the parking area outside the popular Tong'il market, a bazaar-like spot off-limits to most foreigners but normally crowded with locals and diplomats.