North Korea is famously secretive, confiscating tourists' mobile phones upon arrival in the country and going through their camera memory cards to check for unauthorised photos. Despite this, a photographer has managed to capture a series of photos showing the harsh realities of life in poverty-stricken rural villages in North Korea.

One of the sights that Kim Jong-un's government may not wish the world to see is a child begging for food at a railway station.

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A little boy begs for food on the platform at Hamhung Railway Station Getty Images
Inside North Korea photos
Two women rest in an unpaved alley in Tumanggang Getty Images
Inside North Korea photos
A girl sits at her window in Tumangang Getty Images
Inside North Korea photos
A view of Tumangang, a small town located at the North Korean-Russian border Getty Images
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A train on its way to Pyongyang is delayed for a day and half in Tumangang, due to military transportation Getty Images
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A girl carries a young boy as they head to school in the morning in Tumangang Getty Images
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Children swim in a river along the train's route Getty Images
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An elderly man wearing a Reebok T-shirt looks out from his gate in Tumangang Getty Images
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A little girl walks on the street in Tumangang Getty Images
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North Koreans look surprised to see strangers in Nampo Getty Images

The photos were taken during a train trip between Pyongyang and the Russian border. Customs officers are seen checking passengers' mobile devices and cameras, and soldiers keep a careful watch over the train as it travels from town to town.

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A customs officer checks a passenger's digital camera on the train from Moscow to Pyongyang, at Tumangang railway station Getty Images
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A customs officer checks a passenger's mobile device on train Number 100 from Moscow to Pyongyang Getty Images
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A customs officer checks a passenger's laptop at Tumangang railway station Getty Images
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A conductor organises goods in a compartment on a train between Russia and North Korea Getty Images
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Korean People's Army soldiers take a rest at Hamhung Railway Station in the north-east of the country Getty Images
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Korean People's Army soldiers look out from the train Getty Images
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A Korean People's Army officer watches the train from a window somewhere in North Korea Getty Images
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A female North Korean soldier watches as the train passes a guard post Getty Images

The unnamed photographer captured farmers tending fields of wheat, while army soldiers appear to have been drafted to work on another farm.

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Pictures of men, women and children tending fields along North Korean railway lines Getty Images
Inside North Korea photos
Members of the military work in a field along the train's route between Russia and North Korea Getty Images
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A man transports vegetables on his bicycle in Nampo, 50km southwest of P'yŏngyang Getty Images

Meanwhile, in every village along the train's route, pictures of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il watch over the populace.

The photographer also visited glitzy shrines to the Dear Leader and imposing museums celebrating the country's glorious victory in the Korean War. These lavish marble palaces stand in stark contrast to the run-down apartments and unpaved roads seen in the rest of these photos.

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Children walk past Tumangang railway station Getty Images
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Tumangang railway station by night Getty Images
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A picture of North Korea's supreme leaders at a railway station Getty Images
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The tomb of Kim Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, at Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang Getty Images
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The interior of Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang Getty Images
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