David J Shaw

Photographer Journalist

The Yalu River stands between China on the right and North Korea on the left.

A Chinese railway worker at Dandong train station which has direct trains to Pyongyang in North Korea four times a week.

A bus passes over the Yalu River from Dandong, China into Sinuiju, North Korea using the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge.

South Korean conscripted soldiers on a tour of the DMZ. All South Korean men aged 18-35 must join the army for around two years.

The frozen Tumen river marks a section of the border between the Chinese town of Tumen and the Namyang Workers' District, a North Korean industrial border town. A bridge connects the two countries at Tumen and trucks cross regularly at this point. The land border is 880 miles long and there are three crossings primarily used for trade.

A view of a North Korean village taken from the most southern tip of the Great Wall of China.

A tourist in South Korea looks out onto the DMZ and North Korea whilst on a sight seeing tour from Seoul.

A South Korean tour guide talks about the Gyeongbu Railway line between Seoul, North Korea, and greater Asia. The line currently stops just south of the DMZ at Dorasan Station due to recent political disagreements.

A USA military serviceman at the entrance to Camp Bonifas – a military camp which is 400 meters south of the DMZ. His current duties include regular tours of the DMZ for the many local and international tourists who pay to visit.   

A Chinese police officer in Dandong.

A Chinese tourist awaits her tour of the North Korean border on a boat trip along the Yalu river near Dandong.

A tour operator uses binoculars to observe what is happening in the North Korean banks on the Yalu river. From Dandong in China visitors can take a boat trip along the Yalu river and its tributaries for a rare glimpse of the country from the safety of a Chinese tour boat.

Tourists pose for selfies at the respective land borders of North Korea. It is predominantly Chinese tourists visiting the North Korean border areas in Dandong. In South Korea, tours of the DMZ are one of the most common activities for international tourists visiting Seoul, which is ninety miles away from the Southern tip of the DPRK. The Joint Security Area is part of many DMZ tours and attracts over 100,000 visitors a year. 1/2

Tourists pose for selfies at the respective land borders of North Korea. It is predominantly Chinese tourists visiting the North Korean border areas in Dandong. In South Korea, tours of the DMZ are one of the most common activities for international tourists visiting Seoul, which is ninety miles away from the Southern tip of the DPRK. The Joint Security Area is part of many DMZ tours and attracts over 100,000 visitors a year. 2/2

Tourists pose for pictures with a South Korean special forces soldier standing on the Demarcation Line which represents the border between the two countries. This building is one of the conference rooms which straddles the border in the Joint Security Area.

A Chinese couple poses for a portrait across the Yalu river from North Korea in Dandong, China.

Many restaurants and clubs adorn the riverside facing North Korea in Dandong, China.

A delivery shop in Dandong, China. The city handles a substantial amount of North Korea's trade which passes by both road and rail via bridges over the Yalu and Tumen rivers.

A Chinese woman watches an industrial complex on a train between Dandong and the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. The area has a certain degree of autonomy due to the large amount of ethnic Koreans living there.

South Korean conscript soldiers on a tour of the DMZ.   

Ribbons bearing thoughts and prayers hang off the wall near the start of the DMZ at the Imjingak park in South Korea. The park was built to console those who are unable to see relatives due to the conflict.

Visitors at the Imjingak park, South Korea.   

A commemoration on the border featuring Chairman Mao Zedong and the DPRK's founder and previous leader Kim IL-sung in the Chinese town of Tumen.

The entrance to an art gallery and shop selling exclusively North Korean art in Dandong, China.

A man smokes inside a Korean restaurant in Dandong, China.

A man smokes inside a Korean restaurant in Dandong, China.

Korean visitors to the War Memorial of Korea walk past old fighter jets on display. The memorial lists the names of all the known servicemen lost in the 1950s Korean civil war.

A subway in Seoul doubles as a shelter. Across Seoul and the surrounding areas, there are fortified underground shelters in case of a violent outbreak.

A statue at the War Memorial of Korea.

A screen on a Chinese train.

A television displays DPRK state-run broadcasts in a restaurant and hotel operated by North Koreans.

A person stands in North Korea watching a boat of foreigners pass by on the Yalu river.