This attractive, yet strange city, almost void of cars and most electric power at night, does have some interesting (if not controlled) points-of-interest and orchestrated tours for visitors, including the International Friendship Museum, Juche Tower, the State Circus, Revolutionary Opera, Koguryo Tombs and a few school visits where happy school children sing songs on cue.
Outside of the capital, the ancient city of Kaesong, Kumgangsan National Park and the Buddhist pagodas and waterfalls at Mt. Myohyangsan are worthwhile side trips.
Climate
North Korea experiences long, cold, and somewhat dry winters. Summer are all to brief; often hot (central and south) and quite humid.
Winter temperatures (November – February) seldom rise above 32º F, and temps below -10º F are not uncommon. Summers (June – August) enjoy high temperatures in the 80s.
Approximately 65% of North Korea’s annual rainfall occurs between June and September.
History
A large ancient village in the P’yŏngyang area called Kǔmtan-ni was excavated in 1955 by archaeologists who found prehistoric occupation from the Chǔlmun and Mumun pottery periods.
North Koreans associate Pyongyang with “Asadal (아사달; 신시),” or Wanggŏmsŏng (왕검성; 王儉城), the first capital of Gojoseon according to an Korean history books, notably Samguk Yusa. Many South Korean historians dispute this association because other Korean history books place Asadal around the Liaohe river located in western Manchuria. Nonetheless, Pyongyang became a major city under Gojoseon.
No relic from the era of Former Han has been found around Pyongyang. It is likely that the area of Pyongyang ceded from disintegrating Gojoseon and belonged to another Korean kingdom by the time of fall of Wimanjoseon, the longest lasting part of Gojoseon, by Han dynasty of China in 108 BC. Relics from Later Han (25 AD to 220 AD) periods from the Pyongyang area seems to suggest China subsequently made successful military advances into the Korean peninsula including the area of Pyongyang. The area around Pyongyang was called Lelang-guk during the Later Han periods. As the capital of Lelang-guk (낙랑국; 낙랑), Pyongyang remained an important commercial and cultural outpost until Lelang-guk was destroyed by the expanding Goguryeo in 313.
Goguryeo moved its capital here in 427. Tang Dynasty China and Silla allied and defeated Goguryeo in 668. In 676, it was taken by Silla but left in the border between Silla and Balhae until the Goryeo dynasty, when the city was revived as Sŏgyŏng (서경; 西京; “Western Capital”) although never actually a capital of Goryeo. It was the provincial capital of the P’yŏngan Province during the Joseon dynasty, becoming provincial capital of South P’yŏngan Province from 1896 and through the period of Japanese rule.
In 1945, Japanese rule ended and it was occupied by Soviet forces, and became the temporary capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at its establishment in 1948 while it aimed to recapture its official capital at that time of Seoul. It was severely damaged in the Korean War, during which it was briefly occupied by South Korean forces. After the war, the city was quickly rebuilt with Soviet help, with many buildings built in Socialist Classicism.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang ,
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/kp.htm