PYONGYANG, North Korea ( AP) At twilight, the few splashes of color in North Koreas electricity-starved capital are neon propaganda signs and giant, brightly lit images of the communist nation s late founder, Kim Il-sung.
Broad boulevards that crisscross the capital are virtually empty. Solitary cyclists glide past a few knots of pedestrians along Pyongyangs spotless, tree-lined side walks. A l05-story, pyramid-shaped skyscraper soars above the city, but it is vacant and said to be structurally unsound. Shrouded in darkness, it looms in the city’s gloom.
As U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright makes her historic visit to North Korea, she finds an isolated and economically devastated country whose regime is unable to provide even basic services for the two million citizens of its showcase capital.
The prospect of huge injections of foreign aid is at least partly why North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited Albright to talk about ending decades of hostility. Her trip, if successful, opens the way for an expected visit by U.S. President Bill Clinton next month.
Pyongyang is an eerily still place, devoid of the hustle, chatter and commercial chaos of Asia s bustling cities. It has the aura of a museum, a relic from a Cold War era when communism seemed robust and personality cults like those of Stalin and Mao Tse-tung flourished.
The forces of democracy and economic and cultural globalization have moved inexorably into many once isolated corners of the world. But they have failed to penetrate North Korea, where Kim Jong-il commands a near mythical status among an adoring population, at least officially.
He bolsters his legitimacy by couching his policies as tributes to his father, Kim Il-sung, a former rebel who fought Japanese colonial forces and whose image adorns a pin on the suit lapel of every North Korean government official.
Throughout the city there are monuments an obelisk, an arch, portraits and slogans in his memory. "The Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, will Be With Us Forever," screams one slogan beside his portrait overlooking one of the city’s main avenues.
As Kim Jong-il seeks reconciliation with his two old foes, South Korea and the United States, he is allowing the outside world a rare, restricted look at one of the least understood countries in the world.
A group of foreign journalists traveled Oct. 22 from Beijing to Pyongyang aboard a flight on a Russian-made plane of Air Koryo, North Korea s national carrier.
The paint job on the airplane door was crude, the cabin was musty. The stewardesses handed out chewing gum as well as state publications that hailed North Korea as a "rich and powerful nation." An American reporter who asked for a Coca Cola got a perplexed look.
The immigration card for North Korea listed "Name of delegation," a sign that few travelers are able to visit independently. Upon arrival, boxy chandeliers and a giant picture of the ubiquitous Kim Il-sung decorated the dimly lit airport.
An unfailingly polite North Korean guide, who gave his name as Mr. Kim, said state media had widely disseminated the news of Albrights "goodwill" visits.
"It is known to all of our country," he said.
Still, there were clear reminders of North Korea s totalitarian control. Reporters awaiting Albright were told that during her stay, they could only leave the hotel with official permission and would have to be accompanied by a government guide.
North Koreas three television channels are government-controlled. Two of them broadcast only on weekends, while the other is on the air only in the evening. Even so, relatively few people will be listening because

televisions and other electronic goods are a luxury.
North Korea s economic deterioration, fueled by inefficient central planning, accelerated a decade ago with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the abrupt loss of trading partners and aid providers. The onset of famine in the mid-l990s forced Pyongyang to appeal to the West for food.
Nevertheless, meals are easily available in Pyongyang’s best hotel, the Koryo, where a room goes for $l20 and up payable only in U.S. currency. An international telephone
call from the hotel costs $26 a minute.