North Korea

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhB0ZgBK4Qr34_AZr9pCMXRMum-V3nE2ntOw4UMuDDwXweMeRKlw

http://digg.tumblr.com/post/45262980994/north-korean-propaganda-video-shows-how-americans

"They drink coffee made out snow, live in tents and buy guns to kill each other and children."

lil kim stars in 'this old boat'

http://i.imgur.com/SACseei.jpg

Reminder that the DPRK runs a Cafepress:

http://www.cafepress.com/kfashop.788830791

(want that mousepad)

Too bad the propaganda movie was taken down. It often sucks here, but it would take a hell of a imagination to make living in the US seem worse than what life in NK must be like.

Is it for real? I thought I read somewhere that it was a parody. But then again the fact that it was largely plausible that it did come from the NK gov't (given the bizarre shit they've put out lately) says plenty.

Yeah, this country's rabbit hole is so deep it's hard to tell which way is even up or down.

angry birds comes to north korea

also, nothing new but still fascinating: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/31/behind-the-spectacle-the-ugly-truth-about-north-koreas-mass-games/

We've got Miley, they've got...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/10272953/Kim-Jong-uns-ex-lover-executed-by-firing-squad.html

(not hilarious btw)

jesus christ!

She was luckier than Kim Chol, vice minister of the army, who was executed with a mortar round in October 2012.

Kim Chol was reportedly executed for drinking and carousing during the official mourning period after Kim Jong-il's death.

On the explicit orders of Kim Jong-un to leave "no trace of him behind, down to his hair," according to South Korean media, Kim Chol was forced to stand on a spot that had been zeroed in for a mortar round and "obliterated."

still hilarious!!!

Hyon's band was responsible for a string of patriotic hits in North Korea, including "Footsteps of Soldiers," "I Love Pyongyang," "She is a Discharged Soldier" and "We are Troops of the Party." Her popularity reportedly peaked in 2005 with the song "Excellent Horse-Like Lady."

the independant:

Among those killed was said to be singer Hyon Song-wol, who reached an international audience when she won a Hungarian competition in 2005 and released the hit single “A Girl In The Saddle Of A Steed” – often mistranslated as “Excellent Horse-Like Lady”.

http://rlv.zcache.com/i_heart_pyongyang_north_korea_trucker_hats-ra9e78b7968de4366bf84c2c7d4eedee8_v9wfy_8byvr_512.jpg

http://rlv.zcache.com/i_heart_pyongyang_aprons-r094f77b2ca0f45519c1df676bd220ae8_v9wh6_8byvr_324.jpg

damn. what a fucked up world.

300 page report from the Rand corporation on preparing for a North Korean collapse

It explains how appropriate preparations now could reduce the negative consequences that could otherwise occur.

i love it. god bless america.

Jang Song-thaek, an uncle of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a man widely considered to be No. 2 in the Pyongyang government, has been dismissed from all posts of influence, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea told Parliament on Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/world/asia/uncle-of-north-korean-leader-stripped-of-power-according-to-reports.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all

BBC speculates his removal might be for health reasons, with a continuing behind the scenes role. But really who knows?

Maybe his deputies were executed also for health reasons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25197281 is the speculation FWIW

The story of the 80-something Korean War vet being held there - they just made him do a hostage video - is pretty weird. I guess an eBook he had said something bad about NK, or at least they claim to have taken offense? And they're sort of charging him with war crimes?

The bizarre and baffling tale of an elderly Palo Alto man who’s been detained by North Korea for more than a month grew even more mysterious Saturday as new details emerged about his role during the Korean War secretly training anti-communist guerrillas fighting behind enemy lines.

New revelations that 85-year-old Merrill Edward Newman had served in a once-top-secret U.S. Army unit nicknamed the “White Tigers’’ explains why the North Koreans detained the retired corporate finance executive last month as Newman was about to leave with a fellow Palo Alto traveler after a 10-day visit.

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20131202/new-details-on-california-grandfather-held-hostage-in-north-korea

havent had a good ol' stalinist purge and public executions in a while

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lesliejo/was-an-american-college-student-kidnapped-by-north-korea

the answer to the headline question is probably no. but interesting.

their tv is serious no funny

not funny

http://sinonk.com/2013/12/06/sino-nk-2013-rewind-sepho-and-the-quiet-charisma-of-grassland-reclamation/

the bum's rush
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25295312

drug abusing womaniser executed
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25359939

ice cold

calls for a display name change

There was speculation that the family connection would mean house arrest in the countryside forever but it looks like he's sending a message that he's tougher than his father.

I was dreaming, dreaming different dreams
and double-dealing, involved behind the scenes...

From what I've read, he was an advocate of economic reform. Which I guess will be put on the back burner yet again...

He'd also survived a previous purge, so bad luck second time around...

Not really feeling too hilarious today

every time I spend more than a few minutes reading about north korea (or worse, reading the press releases from the N Korean news agency) part of my brain just cannot wrap itself around the facts. i half expect one of these guys to pop out, smile, say "just kidding!"

i mean:

DPRK People Determined to Remain Loyal Only to Kim Jong Un
Pyongyang, December 12 (KCNA) -- As already reported, the chance and alien elements who had made their ways into the Workers' Party of Korea committed anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts. They expanded their forces through factional moves and dared challenge the party while attempting to undermine the unitary leadership of the party.
In this regard, KCNA had an interview with teachers and students of Kim Il Sung University.
Paek Chol, an official of the university, said:
The purge of the Jang Song Thaek group of anti-party and counter-revolutionary elements made our party and revolutionary ranks purer.
It is the height of folly for them, bereft of elementary sense of moral obligation and conscience, to dare undermine the single-minded unity provided by Generalissimos Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
A sledgehammer blow should be delivered at anyone who goes against the single-minded unity of our people around supreme leader Kim Jong Un.
The recent case has hardened the people's will to remain loyal only to him.
Pak Kum Sun, a teacher, said:
The group's acts remind me of the past in which some anti-party, counter-revolutionary factionists who had sneaked into the revolutionary ranks challenged the party whenever the Korean revolution was undergoing trials.
The purge of the group represents public mindset to invariably follow the respected Marshal Kim Jong Un.
No one can dampen their strong will to hold him in high esteem as the center of unity and leadership.
Sim Kang Sik, a student, said:
The single-minded unity of the leader, the party and the masses based on the great idea is the most precious treasure that can be bartered with nothing.
No matter how the situation may change, I will follow Kim Jong Un only.

(from http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2013/201312/news12/20131212-17ee.html)

there is no reason not to believe they are deadly serious about this stuff, esp. given events of the past week. but it's a wonder to think that this mentality could survive even the slightest bit of fresh air.

Uncle Chang Song-thaek executed

13 December 2013 Last updated at 10:01 GMT

North Korea has executed Chang Song-thaek, the once-powerful uncle of the country's leader Kim Jong-Un.

State media said he had been executed after being purged for acts of treachery, and described him as a "wicked political careerist, trickster and traitor".

The White House said it was another example of the regime's extreme brutality.

i figured we covered that already...?

NK looks to me like a place where Stalinism was wildly successful at doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Pyongyang is the most eerie place on earth. There's an extremely sinister atmosphere, made all the more disconcerting by the fact that there was a near-total absence of people altogether. It has a very Stalinist vibe of being designed by some mechanical, non-emotional being and simultaneously devoid of living, breathing individuals.

bad to be a bad uncle

North Korea: still Eerie

don't know if the horrific details of thaek's execution were previously known:

unlike previous executions of political prisoners which were carried out by firing squads with machine guns, Jang was stripped naked and thrown into a cage, along with his five closest aides. Then 120 hounds, starved for three days, were allowed to prey on them until they were completely eaten up. This is called "quan jue", or execution by dogs.

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/asia-report/china/story/jangs-execution-bodes-ill-china-20131224

jfc