Kim Il-sung

While threats of a missile launch have renewed tensions with North Korea, photojournalist David Guttenfelder has returned to continue documenting life there. As the world watches to see what North Korea’s next move will be in a high-stakes game of brinksmanship with the United States, residents of its capital aren’t hunkering down in bunkers and [...]

In today’s pictures, a boy protests in South Africa, a family escapes a fire in Australia, men play in the snow in Jordan, and more.

Victoria Mitchell of VIC clears the water steeple during the Womens 3000 Metre Steeple Open during day two of the Australian Athletics Championships at Lakeside Stadium on April 14, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. North Korean people hold up plastic flowers during an unveiling ceremony of two statues of former leaders Kim Jong-Il and Kim Il-Sung [...]

From centennial celebrations of the birth of Kim Il-Sung in North Korea and attacks in Afghanistan to the moving of the space shuttle Discovery and Nepalese New Year, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.

North Korea will mark the 100th anniversary of its founding father's birth on April 15. Kim Il-Sung ruled the communist country from its inception in 1948 until his death in 1994. The country is also making international news with the planned launch of a satellite, which concerns many other countries because of the nuclear capabilities of the rocket being used. Officials escorted a group of international media from the capital to the see the rocket in Tongchang-Ri earlier this week. Compiled here are group of recent images from inside the country. -- Lloyd Young (30 photos total)
North Koreans pay their respects in front of two portraits, one of founding leader Kim Il-Sung (left) and the other of his son Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang on April 9. North Korea is counting down to the 100th anniversary of its founder's birth on April 15 with top level meetings and a controversial rocket launch scheduled in coming days to bolster his grandson's credentials. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)

Does the opening of an Associated Press news bureau in North Korea herald an era of photo-diplomacy? An exhibit in New York features contrasting views of the famously closed society.

Even before the Associated Press announced its new bureau in Pyongyang, David Guttenfelder’s photographs gave the Western world a glimpse into North Korea. Notoriously secretive and isolated, the nation granted Guttenfelder, AP’s Chief Asia Photographer, rare access to some events in the country. Now, with AP’s new bureau and his trips becoming more frequent, Guttenfelder’s [...]

Damir Sagolj recounts how he took his World Press Photo Daily Life Singles first prize winning photo.

Like father, like son. Since the recent death of Kim Jong Il, North Korean state-run media has been releasing a series of images of the "Great Successor," Kim Jong Un, visiting schools, factories, and military facilities. These visits, which were frequently publicized by his father and his grandfather Kim Il Sung, are called "field guidance" trips -- opportunities for the supreme leader to give on-the-spot advice. For decades, the North Korean myth-making machine endowed Kim Jong Il with amazing wisdom, prowess, and intelligence, and it continues that tradition now with his son, touting him as a marksman, poet, economic genius, and wise military strategist. Little is actually known about Kim Jong Un. Even his age remains in doubt -- he may be 28, 29, or 30. Based on the state-released photos collected here, he is following closely in his father's footsteps, albeit with a touch more visible affection. [35 photos]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) watches flight training as he visits Unit 1017 of the Korean People's Army Air Force in an undisclosed location in this undated recent picture released by the North's KCNA in Pyongyang, on January 31, 2012. (Reuters/KCNA)

Nobody knows when and where death will visit us. The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il shows that this phrase applies to everyone.