North Korea has long been shrouded in a haze of seclusion and mystery. But over the past year, the country has eased up on some of its restrictions by allowing visitors to carry phones and even access a 3G network. Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder has been quick to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to disseminate information — and, of course, photos — from within North Korea’s borders.

Art from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a trademark for contemporary socialist realism. You can actually purchase DPRK art online—everything from propaganda posters to lucid landscapes, flower bouquets, and even family portraits. Sure, the propaganda posters sell best (they’re also the cheapest), but the jewel paintings are another thing entirely (rare and glitzy, completely made of stones).

Make that Dr. Kim Jong-un. North Korea has long been known for its love of titles for its leaders. Mr. Kim’s grandfather, the nation’s founder, was known as the Great Leader; his son, the Dear Leader. The country seems not yet to have decided on the same kind of moniker for Mr. Kim — settling for workaday titles like marshal of the military. But now a university in Malaysia has bestowed upon the 30-year-old leader an honorary doctorate that allows him to spruce up his title count.

Is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un strengthening his grip on power after a turbulent period, or is the isolated and despotic regime on the verge of collapse? Both could be the case, said Bruce Bennett, a North Korea expert at RAND Corp., a key think tank in the national security establishment.

With the exception of eccentric former NBA star Dennis Rodman, there are probably few people on the planet who have North Korean spas and sports centers on their list of things to see before they die. The Hermit Kingdom has in recent years built a half dozen luxury hotels, where a single night in a deluxe room would cost the average North Korean worker more than 80% of his annual income.

On Oct. 24, 1995, as a man now known as Kim Dong-sik hiked up a rain-slick mountain road in Buyeo, about 95 miles south of Seoul, he could not shake off a foreboding. He and another North Korean agent had sneaked into South Korea by boat 52 days earlier on a mission to bring home a Communist spy who had been working in the South for 15 years.

Chang Choon didn't get much sleep as he prepared to travel to North Korea this week to see his brother and sister for the first time in more than six decades. But the anticipation of what he called the wish of a lifetime was shattered after North Korea abruptly cancelled planned reunions for families separated by the Korean War.

At the end of August the U.S. and South Korea conducted their joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian (August 19-30), a drill Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for war. North Korea was notably restrained during the entire episode. Before the drills began, some North Korea watchers were concerned Pyongyang might use them to return to confrontational behavior, despite an August 14 deal with Seoul to normalize operations at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex.