North Korea

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/nkorea_04_24/n25_18563365.jpg

North Korea's military says it considers South Korea's participation in a U.S.-led program to intercept ships suspected of spreading weapons of mass destruction tantamount to a declaration of war against the North.

The communist North's military said in a statement Wednesday that it will respond with "immediate, strong military measures" if the South actually stops and searches any North Korean ships under the Proliferation Security Initiative.

The statement, carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency, said North Korea no longer considers itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean War, as a protest over the South's participation.

South Korea announced its participation in the anti-proliferation program Tuesday, one day after the North conducted a nuclear test.

ugh.

Did anyone see that lolVice TV travelogue thing through N. Korea? It's pretty interesting: http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1438428757

A colleague of mine went to North Korea last year. He described it as an unpleasant experience.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A war of nerves over North Korea should not be allowed to grow into a military confrontation, a Russian official said on Wednesday in a clear reference to Pyongyang's decision to drop out of an armistice agreement.

"We assume that a dangerous brinkmanship, a war of nerves, is under way, but it will not grow into a hot war," Itar-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed foreign ministry source as saying.

"Restraint is needed," the source added.

The foreign ministry often uses statements sourced to unnamed officials leaked through official news agencies to lay down its position on sensitive issues.

Despite being lambasted by the capitalists for years as a dangerous but undeveloped rogue country, the DPRK's outstanding achievements this year have shown that she certainly does have the technical capability to do whatever she wishes.

http://www.korea-dpr.com/cgi-bin/simpleforum.cgi/simpleforum.cgi?fid=01&topic_id=1243238064

Those pictures are outstanding, thanks for that.

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/nkorea_04_24/n25_18563365.jpg

N. Korea is steampunk!

http://mnftiu.cc/blog/images/war.108.gif

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2008/sep/12/kim-north-korea?picture=337564436

this picture does not look real in any way

NK Ministry of Propaganda needs better shop fu.

kinda amazed the Chinese are so blase about North Korea... if any war breaks out, China's gonna have a flood of refugees to deal with.

No, still hilarious.

"...shifting an entire brewery it bought in Great Britain to North Korea"

I'd like to think Kim Jong Il towed it through the air on cables attached to his presidential jet.

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/08/04/ba-nkorea_journa_0500447422.jpg

yep

Last known photograph.

one looks healthy and happy, one is somber and sullen

both look like they're in a 16-bit videogame

Kim looks like a very large action figure of Kim.

"your wife looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-08/48456549.jpg

the "journalists" have been pardoned and will be released with Bill.

well done bubba!

a friend of mine works for Gore's news agency, was totally freaking out about this

somehow i don't have a lot of sympathy for these "journalists"/"hikers" doing questionable activities whilst straddling the border of some of our most vocal countries of opposition... is this just me?

what are you some kind of police state stan

Happy birthday, Barry. Got you 2 azn hottiez lol

Bill

PS - send video

somehow i don't have a lot of sympathy for these "journalists"/"hikers" doing questionable activities whilst straddling the border of some of our most vocal countries of opposition... is this just me?

― (*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･)　　　°~ヾ(･ε･ *) (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, August 4, 2009 2:19 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yep, they were asking for it.

I cannot believe it

Can't wait for the "Rambo 6 Meets Air Force One" movie version.

I heard from somewhere that they WERE aware they were on NK territory, and that they purposefully took their camera crews etc into the restricted area, and then had to hoof it back across the border when they were discovered, and those are the two people who didn't make it across. HOWEVER that doesn't mean that NK isn't completely ridiculous and isn't trying to imprison them for life for "spying" in, say, the middle of a forest where there isn't anything there.

Feel free to correct me if they were captured in a top-secret military encampment.

first statement since their release:
http://current.com/sl/laura_ling.htm

couple of nice photos from the dpr korea website, although they were taken in south korea...

http://www.korea-dpr.com/ocn/wp-content/uploads/NK001-3.JPG

http://www.korea-dpr.com/ocn/wp-content/uploads/NK001-5.JPG

they used that same awesome backdrop of waves for the recent clinton photo op; and for albright's photo op when she went there in there in 99/2000 or whatever. so dope.

north korea's too depressing for me to find anything hilarious about it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63B0US20100412?rpc=60

lynchrabbits.jpg

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/08/04/ba-nkorea_journa_0500447422.jpg

if kim jong-il was actually terry richardson

If we soldiers see beans, we become happy
If we soldiers see beans, we become happy
If we soldiers see beans, we become happy

anyway, this is my favorite kim jong-il piece of trivia:

If the official government media is to be believed, Kim is easily the greatest golfer, the world has ever seeen.

Pyongyang media say Kim enjoys golf, having shot multiple holes-in-one during his first try at the game. He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course. The "Dear Leader" routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round, the government-controlled media reported.

I could see a Gymkata remake only it's golf instead of gymnastics, Tiger Woods has to restore his honor by challenging Kim to the death...

sooooo...

lol legernd

Hello new peninsular war (had to be careful typing that)

What books should I read about NK? http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/01/samuel-johnson-prize-nothing-to-envy sounds OK but any other recs?

Welcome to this one man show
Just take a seat, they're always free
No surprise, no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role, so ronery

"Great Leader, Dear Leader" is v. good; "Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader" is good as well, if you want to go deeper (900 pages)

thanks! GLDL is sadly out of print (?) or unavailable on amazon uk. 900 pages was a bit more than i had in mind. i will try to track down GLDL, but any other tips?

I caught the North Korean exhibition at Vienna's MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) last month. The art was technically proficient but uniformly awful. And the overall impression of the kind of State that produced it was at least seven different kinds of horrifying.

This was made all the more interesting by the fact that I attended it with my Croatian girlfriend, a resident of Vienna, who has strong memories of seeing very similar State artworks from her childhood in the former Yugoslavia. It was a great big nostalgia fest for her...