Hanguk Story

President Lee Shufflin'?

2012-03-01T17:42:00.003-08:00

President Lee is dancing at the Young Adult CEO academy of SBC.
Hope his dance skills are better than how he manages the Korean economy...

North Korean Nuke Deal

2012-03-01T17:30:00.001-08:00

Pyongyang promises to rein in its nuclear program if the U.S. sends food, offering a faint hope that Kim Jong Un will lead his nation in a peaceful new direction.
In a surprise breakthrough, North Korea agreed Wednesday to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment, and long-range missile launches, and will submit to checks by nuclear inspectors. The price? Nearly 250,000 metric tons of food aid from the U.S. Of course, the impoverished, hermit kingdom has gone back on plenty of promises in the past. But at least on its face, this deal — the first big move since the death of longtime leader Kim Jong Il — marks a sharp shift for the communist country's reclusive leadership under Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong Un. Has North Korea finally decided to come in from the cold?

Source: North Korea: Nuclear rogue no more?

Lee Seung Gi's comeback: King2Hearts

2012-02-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won on the set have recently been released.

On February 27, MBC TV released some pictures taken on February 7 on the set of its new drama series King2Hearts. In the pictures, Ha and Lee are dressed in a North Korean officer’s uniform and a South Korean officer’s uniform, respectively.

Ha is playing the role of Kim Hang Ah, a female drill instructor of North Korean special forces, and Lee is playing the role of Lee Jae Ha, a spoiled, carefree South Korean man.

Lee and Ha have an awful first meeting as Lee doesn’t like Ha and provokes her into a quarrel in the drama series.

The officer’s uniforms make them look completely different from the previous images they’ve shown. It was their first meeting, but Lee and Ha worked in perfect harmony and were praised by the crew.

Especially, Ha attracted attention by perfectly portraying North Korean official Kim Hang Ah. As she burst into a laugh while acting in a North Korean accent, the atmosphere on the set was also loosened up.

With positive, bright Ha and polite, pleasant Lee, the set was full of laughs, according to reports.

Kim Jong Hak Production, which produces the drama series, says, “It was Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won’s first meeting, but they worked in perfect harmony and got praised by producer Lee Jae Kyu and the crew. Please look forward to their story.”

King2Hearts will start airing on March 14 after The Moon Embracing the Sun goes off the air.

Source: '킹투허츠' 하지원·이승기..첫 만남부터 신경전 '팽팽'

Repatriation of North Korean Refugees

2012-02-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

China is a member nation of both the "Convention relating to the status of refugees," and the "Protocol relating to the status of refugees." However, it refuses to recognize North Korean defectors as refugees.
By a series of secret contracts sgined in early 1960s, the "Mutual Transfer of Defectors and Criminals Treaty between North Korea and China," and the "1986 Mutual Cooperation Protocol for the Work of Maintaining National Security and Social Order in the Border Areas between China and North Korea," both countries mutually agreed to cooperate on the work of preventing illegal border crossing of residents, which primarily consists of repatriation from China to North Korea. China emphasizes that whether to recognize North Korean defectors as refugees is China's own right. They believe that it is not a matter international institutions or a third party nation, especially the US, should interfere.
Currently, there are about 80 North Korean defectors to be repatriated.
Let's hope we get some action at the US Congress CECC hearing (Congressional-Executive Commission on China).

S. Korea Develops Active Protection System for Armor

2012-02-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

South Korea developed an indigenous active protection system for defending armored fighting vehicles from anti-tank weapons, the country’s arms procurement agency announced Feb. 28.
The Korean Active Protection System (KAPC), developed by the state-funded Agency for Defense Development (ADD), uses a three-dimensional detection/tracking radar and a thermal imager to detect incoming warheads, such as anti-tank guided missiles, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
The system can detect incoming warheads at a range of 150 meters, a DAPA spokesman said, and upon detection, a defensive rocket is fired that explodes 10 to 15 meters from the inbound threat.
“This system demonstrates a new concept of active protection system that can neutralize incoming missiles and rockets,” the spokesman said. He added the system will be installed on the K2 Black Panther main battle tank, now in test runs.
Unveiled in 2007, the K2, jointly developed by the ADD and Hyundai Rotem, carries a three-person crew supported by an auto-loading system and a locally developed 120mm/55-caliber stabilized smoothbore gun. Hundreds of K2s are to be produced over the next few years.
The technology of the KAPC is scheduled to be used in developing other active systems to protect warships, helicopters and government facilities, he noted.
KAPC’s per-unit price is around 670 million won ($600,000), according to the spokesman.

Source: 軍, 대전차미사일 자동추적ㆍ파괴체계 개발

Singer Rain takes a rain check on frontline soldiering

2012-02-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

South Korean pop icon Rain will serve as an "entertainment soldier" for the remainder of his two years of compulsory military service, according to the defence ministry. Rain will appear in television and radio programmes of the Korean Forces Network, a broadcaster run by the ministry to boost morale, and take part in weekly concert tours to military units across the country. "As he is a singer and dancer, he will do well as an 'entertainment soldier'," a ministry official told AFP on Friday. Fans from across Asia wept last October when the 29-year-old entertainer entered boot camp to start his mandatory military service. He was said to be adjusting well to military life, being judged a top marksman and groomed to become an assistant instructor. Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, is a major star in his home country and throughout much of the rest of Asia, where South Korean "K pop" commands a huge following. All eligible South Korean men must spend about two years in the military. The country has remained technically at war with North Korea since their 1950-1953 conflict ended without a peace treaty. Most start their spell around the age of 20. But Rain took advantage of a provision allowing famous entertainers to postpone their service.

Source: 비 근황 사진 공개, “군복도 완벽 소화하는 센스쟁이”

North Korean Leader Threatens ‘Retaliatory Strike’ Against South

2012-02-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the military to launch a “powerful retaliatory strike” if provoked by the South, the North’s state-run media reported on Sunday.

Mr. Kim’s statement, issued during a visit to military units on the country’s southern coast that faces a string of islands manned by South Korean marines, comes a day before the United States and South Korea are scheduled to begin a massive joint military exercise.

Source: New York Times

Naver, Korea's Internet Search Engine

2012-02-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

One very interesting thing to note about Korea is that Koreans have their own search engine, Naver. Korea is one of the very few countries that Google was unable to gain market share.
Although Google is loved by most of internet users for its simplicity, and accuracy, it just lacks contents compared to Naver. Apart from being a search engine, Naver also has its own contents, such as Naver Webtoons, and encourages users to actively post their ideas, blogs, etc. by publishing it in the front page if it gains enough attention...
I personally use Naver as 1. search engine, 2. Korean-English dictionary, 3. Webtoons...

FYI... Naver is owned by NHN Corporation.
Go to Naver : www.naver.com

And this is just one of the webtoons that I really enjoyed...

Bongcheon-dong Ghost Story is considered by many to be one of the most horrifying online comics of all time. The story references the real-life 2002 suicide of "Mrs. Cho", a woman who lived in the area. The reason behind her suicide was the loss of her child due to a divorce settlement. The comic tells of the mother's demon who terrifies a young schoolgirl while looking for her daughter.

Source: http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue

Forbes Korea: K-POP

2012-02-26T20:08:00.002-08:00

Forbes Korea: Top 20 Power Celebrities

1.) Girls’ Generation

2.) Big Bang

3.) IU

4.) KARA

5.) Kim Yuna (World Champion Figure Skater & Olympic Gold Medalist)

6.) Lee Seung Gi (Actor / Singer)

7.) Park Ji Sung (Midfielder for Manchester United & former Captain of Korean National Soccer Team)

8.) Kim Tae Hee (Actress / Model)

9.) B2ST

10.) Park Tae Hwan (Champion Swimmer & Olympic Gold Medalist)

11.) 2PM

12.) Kang Ho Dong (Comedian / MC)

13.) JYJ

14.) Shin Se Kyung (Actress)

15.) TVXQ

16.) Super Junior

17.) T-ARA

18.) Shin Soo Choo (Major League Baseball Player for Cleveland Indians, Silver at World Baseball Classic, Gold at Asian Games)

19.) Yoo Jae Suk (Comedian / MC)

20.) Lee Chung Yong (Footballer for Premier League club Bolton Wanderers)

The Top 20 ‘Power Celebrities’ ranking released by Forbes Korea means a lot to readers.

Forbes, well known for its lists established in 1917. The Forbes 400 is an annual list that ranks the country’s richest Americans by their estimated net worth. Other lists include ‘400 Best Big Companies,’ ‘100 Best Mid-Cap Stocks,’ and ‘Americas Best Colleges.’

Then there is ‘The Celebrity 100’ an annual list of 100 most powerful people in the entertainment business. Forbes Korea has selected 40 out of 100 people based on income, influence, fame and expertise. The top 20 consisted of 10 idol groups. There were only 4 that were on the list last year. This is a reflection on the growth of K-Pop, especially the idol groups. They are influencing the economy and brand image of Korea and other countries culture and economy as well.

The Samsung Economic Research Institute released that the brand image of products ‘Made in Korea’ have increased 2.7 higher than 7 years ago. Korean government stated a 2000% increase of export in beverages to the Middle East, 303% of smart phones, 127% in automobile, 190% VTR, 90% clothing, and 32% refrigerator to South America.

Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange ranked Korea 15 that is 3 ranks higher than last year, Korea has been recognized for its attractiveness and refined culture.

This is all the same on the streets. In the street side of Shibuya station, the largest transfer, there is a poster of ‘Girls’ Generation’s entire body. It’s not uncommon to see Korea girl group’s music video being displayed on outside monitors.

The Koreans who are stepping outside to the world market is merely doing more than promoting their own music.

(I am surprised Kang Ho Dong and Lee Seung Gi is higher than Yoo Jae Suk..._

Source: Allkpop.com, Growth Korea K-Pop Stars Big Impact on Korea's

N. Korea's per-capita GDP grows 4.7 pct in 2011

2012-02-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

North Korea's per-capita gross domestic product probably expanded more than 4 percent in 2011 from a year earlier on an improved grain harvest and intensified state efforts, a report said Sunday.

The North's per-capita GDP for last year is estimated at US$720, up 4.7 percent from $688 a year earlier, Hyundai Research Institute said in the report based on the communist country's infant mortality rate and grain production.

Btw $720 is 3% of what an average South Korean gets in a year...

Source: N. Korea's per-capita GDP grows 4.7 pct in 2011: report

Korean Beer

2012-02-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know yet, Koreans usually drink soju, but beer is also a popular drink in Korea, often a substitute to those who don't like soju, and a complement to soju when making so-maek (soju+beer).

As a freshman at uni studying economics, drinking soju is the cheapest and fastest way to get drunk, thereby making it the most efficient choice. However, that was when I wasn't working my ass off. When my wallet was no more deprived of money after starting various part-time jobs, I changed my alcohol consumption from soju to beer. What I found disturbing about beer is that Korean beer all taste really bland. The other beer options are overpriced foreign beers, which goes over my usual budget. Some of my friends say that Korean beer is sparkling water with little bit of alcohol added to it...

Koreans have few choices in beer even though they drink more of it than any alcohol beverage year after year. At any supermarket, convenience store, restaurant, food stall or bar, virtually everywhere, consumers have just two options: cheap and mediocre-tasting local beers or pricey imports.

What makes it sad is that people have come to accept this dichotomy as unavoidable, and adjust their consumption patterns to either downing Korean beer served in over-sized pitchers or splurging on fancy bottled foreign alternatives on special occasions. But the situation could change if the relevant regulations were liberalized ― cracking the OB-Jinro Hite duopoly. Local beers suffer not from lack of imagination but from lack of competition.

N. Koreans' life expectancy ranks 151st in world

2012-02-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

The average North Korean can expect to live 69.2 years, placing the nation 151st (out of 221 countries) in the world in terms of life expectancy, recent U.S. government data showed. Meanwhile South Koreans live 79.3 years on average, placing the nation 41st in the world in terms of life expectancy.

North Korea

total population: 69.2 years

male: 65.34 years

female: 73.24 years (2012 est.)

South Korea

total population: 79.3 years

male: 76.12 years

female: 82.7 years (2012 est.)

But I doubt that North Koreans actually live 69.2 years on average. Like China, the most statistical data on North Korea is unreliable...

Source: N. Koreans' life expectancy ranks 151st in world: CIA data

Soccer: South Korea book seventh successive Olympic spot

2012-02-22T22:19:00.002-08:00

South Korea reached their seventh successive Olympic Games with a game to spare on Wednesday when they cruised past Oman 3-0 in Muscat.

South Korea's Nam Tae-hee gave his team the perfect start when he scored after only one minute at their match in Oman. FC Seoul striker Kim Hyun-sung doubled the Koreans' advantage in the 68th minute before Kim Min-woo, who plays his club football in Japan's lower leagues with Sagan Tosu, adding the third just four minutes later.

Last time, back in '08, we failed to pass the first round...
Hope that we do better in London '12.

Source: South Korea book seventh successive Olympic spot

FTD : Kim Jong-Un Must Step Down

2012-01-03T20:34:00.000-08:00

Financial Times Deutschland(FTD) featured an article called "7 dictators that must step down in 2012". The second dictators chosen by FTD were :

-Baschar al-Assad
-Ayatollah Ali Chamanei
-Alexander Lukaschenko
-Robert Mugabe
-Nursultan Nasarbajew
-Omar Hussein al-Baschir
-Kim Jong-Un.

FTD pointed out that while North Korea is extremely hostile to almost all nations, the US knows almost nothing about Kim Jong-Un. Nobody is even sure of his age, except that he seems to be in his late 20s. FTD also pointed out that the 24 million people of North Korea are starving and suffering from malnutrition, as well as 200,000 people in political labor prisons.

Congratulations, Kim Jong-Un! You just got your face out, and you seem to have taken your father's evil legacy right away.

Source : FTD : Wer 2012 abtreten muss

LG 55 inch OLED TV Wonders

2012-01-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

Source

From AP -

LG Electronics Inc. says it's planning to sell a 55-inch set based on organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. The Korean company is set to show it off at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which starts Jan. 10.Tim Alessi, director of home electronics development at LG's USA arm, said its set will likely go on sale in the fourth quarter. The company isn't revealing the price.
Paul Gagnon, an analyst at DisplaySearch, estimates that OLED sets will start out above $5,000.
The screen technology is in use in high-end smartphones and provides deeply saturated colors and high contrast. However, it's been very difficult to make larger screens with consistent results. In late 2007, Sony Corp. started selling an 11-inch OLED TV for about $2,500, but it never followed it up with a bigger model.
Apart from providing improved picture quality, OLED TVs can be very thin. LG's set will be 4 millimeters thick (3/16ths of an inch) and weight 16.5 pounds.

Look at that! I'm not a techie by any means, but that sure as hell looks really cool. Check out the video below for some really cool LG OLED TV action! (Source)

North Korea's New Year's Resolution

2012-01-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all readers! In the past 10 months or so, I have accumulated more than 60,000 views. Not bad for my first blogging experience, right?

New Year's Day means new year's resolution. Have you made one? I know North Korea has!

North Korea vowed Sunday to make an all-out drive for prosperity as it unites behind new leader Kim Jong Un, ushering in 2012 with promises to resolve food shortages, bolster its military and defend Kim Jong Il's young son "unto death."...This year is a crucial one for North Korea as it tries to build a "great, prosperous and powerful nation" befitting the April 2012 centenary of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung, the new leader's grandfather.
"Glorify this year 2012 as a year of proud victory, a year when an era of prosperity is unfolding," said the New Year's message, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. "The whole party, the entire army and all the people should possess a firm conviction that they will become human bulwarks and human shields in defending Kim Jong Un unto death." (Source)

Well, considering the food shortage, economic depression, and social structures crumbling... I think this is going to be another un-keepable new year's resolution

Kim Jong-Il Era over. Kim Jong-Un Era has arrived

2011-12-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

So, after 10 days of mourning, today was Kim Jong-Il's funeral With the comically giant picture mounted on top of a car, hundreds of thousands of people stood in formation to cry as the face of the late dictator passed by. The question the rest of the world's been asking is : What is going to happen now? Well, I'm going to go ahead and just quote a Bloomberg article.

Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s new leader, stood on a balcony above Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square named for his grandfather, where tens of thousands of people gathered to hear eulogies that ended a period of national mourning for his father.
State television today broadcast Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, praising the achievements of Kim Jong Il, and images of a smiling portrait of the dictator erected in the square. Red banners adorned buildings with the words: “Let’s serve the idea and leadership of respected Kim Jong Un with steadfast loyalty!” (Source)

Well folks, I still hope for better changes in North Korea with the new leadership, but it seems to be starting out with the same ol' story. We're just gonna have to be careful and watch.

North Koreans are running out of fake tears

2011-12-27T20:47:00.000-08:00

Source : RFA

According to Radio Free Asia(RFA), North Korean citizens are forced to come out to mourning events for Kim Jong-Il, and are forcefully pushed to cry and mourn under heavy surveillance.
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Some sources in North Korea complained, "we only hope that these annoying days will pass as soon as possible." Another source said, "there are times set for each factory and office to go mourning. Twice a day, at appointed times, we have to go mourn at the statue. On the way back, we have to stop by at the 'research room' and mourn for another hour."

Everyone must go in their pre-appointed groups to mourn at the statue, then come back to the mourning room at the 'research room' - also known as Kim Il-Sung Revolutionary Activity Center - and mourn while listening to mourning music. Sources complained that hours and hours of mourning day after day is draining out the last drop of their tears. One source joked that North Korea might as well start importing tears.

There are always at least a dozen guards supervising every mourning scene. If they find somebody not crying, they'll take the person out to interrogate. These people will get their name, address, and workplace written down, causing fears for mass crackdown after the funeral.
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Source : 북 주민들, 억지 통곡에 지쳐

7 Best Ski Resorts in Korea (CNN)

2011-12-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

Pictured : Yongpyong Resort

Alright folks, you'd know this already if you're in Korea, but it's freezing cold as frozen hell and it's been snowing outside! Perfect time to go skiing! (or snowboard, whatever floats your boat)

CNNgo has featured an article named "7 Best Ski and Snowboard Resorts in Korea". The list contains : Yongpyong Resort, High1 Resort, Phoenix Park, Vivaldi Park, Konjiam Resort, Muju Deukyusan Resort, and Alpensia Resort. My personal favorite is Yongpyong Resort, 'cuz it's the one my family always went to every winter.

If you like Skiing/Snowboarding and you think you're gonna be around the town, check out the CNNgo article here : 7 best ski and snowboard resorts in Korea

North Korea says : the mother nature mourns for the leader

2011-12-26T21:37:00.000-08:00

Ice suddenly cracked. Mountains started glowing. Glorious and mysterious sunset was witnessed. Entire lake trembled with noise. Legendary birds appeared...

According to North Korea, this is how 'the nature is mourning the death of Kim Jong-Il.'

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on its website that "peculiar natural wonders were observed on Mt Paektu, Jong Il Peak and Tonghung Hill in Hamhung City".
Ice covering Lake Chon was said to have cracked so loudly that the entire lake trembled with noise.
A nearby lake exploration group reported that a bitterly cold storm suddenly stopped and the clouds cleared across the lake.
Then "the sky began turning red with sunrise on the horizon" KCNA reported. "The peaks looked like a picture for wide and thick glow".
KCNA also noted that Kim's "autographic writings" were seen carved on the edge of a mountain, glowing in sorrow for the leader whose brutal 20-year dictatorship resulted in famine and economic catastrophe.
The state-controlled news service also reported how a crane flew around a statue of the president on Tonghung Hill and bowed its head before flying away.
"Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong Il born of Heaven after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him," the news service said.

The list goes on and on...

Did you know that they have a whole government department devoted to making this kind of propaganda BS for North Koreans? It's basically like Orwell's '1984'...

Source : Huffington Post - 'Nature Mourning' North Korean Leader Reports State Media

N. Korea blames South for showing condolence

2011-12-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

Pictured : Kim Jong-Il's body on display for mourners

North Korea has harshly criticized South Korean government showing condolence to North Koreans for the death of their leader. This is North Korea's first move towards South Korea since Kim Jong-Il's death.

North Korea's propaganda website "Uriminjokkiri" commented on an editorial named "We are watching South Korean government."

The news media criticized South Korea for "showing 'condolence' to North Korean people with its "separation of the leader and people of North Korea policy'. They revealed their true evil intent through this act." Uriminjokkiri claimed that South Korean government's condolence is only a great insult to North Korea's dignity.

Also, regarding South Korea's decision of prohibiting civilians from visiting North Korea for Kim Jong-Il's funeral, North Korea claimed, "it is a barbaric crime against humanity."

Source : [김정일 사망]南 조의 표시에 첫 반응…北 "참을 수 없는 모독"

Pictures : North Korean Fisherman's Life

2011-12-21T22:44:00.000-08:00

Source : Free North Korea Radio (www.fnkradio.com)

These pictures were originally on a Chinese news website, then published on FNKradio. The title of the article is "How's the life of those with the most popular job in North Korea - fishermen?"

This decent-looking rural village was made for propaganda purposes, towards foreign visitors.

A fisherman's family dragging a boat engine to the shore. They're so afraid of the engine going bad overnight, they take it home every day. There is virtually no way of fixing this kind of mechanisms in a village like this.

The engine's missing the gas tank. Instead, they shoved a plastic bottle in its place (the bottle is Chinese made, apparently).

These kitchenware you see are all for show-only for foreigners. North Korean citizens don't get to use these nice things. It reminds of those markets for foreigners that have all kinds of things on the display case, but they don't actually sell anything.

The 3 essentials in North Korea : A transformer, flashlights, and a TV. You can't use ANYTHING in North Korea without a transformer. And electricity goes out so often that you need flashlights for emergency.

Picture of Kim Jong-Il. It says "It is my firm resolution to make this, my nation so much more prosperous". What a blatant lie.

Certificates from the Party. This family has participated in some Party-sponsored activities.

Life in the streets of North Korea

2011-12-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

From the video, a homeless child(Kotjebi) smoking

This rare video footage by N TV and JoongAng shows what's been really going on in the streets of North Korea. It's very hard to get a glimpse at what's going on outside of Pyongyang, since foreigners are rarely allowed outside of Pyongyang.

This video mostly shows the lives of homeless children (Kotjebi). With the recent collapse of economy and continuing famine, the number of Kotjebi is only increasing. This, is the legacy Kim Jong-Il is leaving to the history of world. Video below.

More Interesting Things about North Korea

2011-12-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

Kim Jong-Un, the new heir of North Korea... is hungry (Thanks, Reddit)

The whole world's going on and on about Kim Jong-Il's death, though nothing compares to how things are in South Korea right now. I'm sure you've heard and read enough about the dictator's death... so some interesting and hilarious things you might know about North Korea :

1. Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things : This is a photo-blog with photos of Kim Jong-Il... well, looking at things. All kinds of things.
2. 20 Ridiculous Things You Never Knew About Kim Jong-Il : Did you know that North Korea claims they invented... hamburger?
3. 9 Kim Jong Il Parodies: Was North Korean Dictator Known Best From 'Team America'? You know what's coming...
4. Kim Jong-Il, the master of the tubes
5. The True Cause of Kim Jong-Il's Death revealed?!
6. ESPN honors the death of the greatest sportsman

The Last Picture of Kim Jong-Il

2011-12-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Source : News1

Kim Jong-Il, shortly before his death, tours around a newly built supermarket. This supermarket was built by rebuilding one of North Korea's biggest shopping malls, after Kim Jong-Il toured around a Chinese shopping mall. This picture was released by North Korea on the 17th, the same day Kim Jong-Il died. Associated Press speculates that the timing of the release most likely signifies that this was the last picture of him.

Kim Jong-Il is Dead

2011-12-18T19:14:00.001-08:00

Kim Jong-Il, the leader of North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), died. According to some of the breaking news coming out in South Korea right now, he died on the 17th during his visit to a government facility. More to come.
[EDIT] News Articles :
Huffington Post
CNN
Fox News
AP

The Economist : The Hellgate to College and Beyond in Korea

2011-12-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

Source : The Economist

Personally, I moved to the US before I finished middle school in South Korea. And I finished my Bachelor's degree in the US, without having to deal with the harshest part of the Korean education system - the infamous College Entrance Exam. So I haven't experienced it first-hand, and I'm not an expert in this to really enlighten you. But I have seen, heard, and read a lot about this. In fact, I used to tell my lazy college friends that an average elementary/middle school student in Korea probably studies more than an average (lazy) college student in the U.S..

The Economist featured an article about this. Quite extensive, more so than I first thought. Of course, there is so much more to this phenomenon, and I don't agree entirely with the points made in this article. Nevertheless, it is a good read. You better realize that you had it pretty easy, my American readers. (Sorry, just another thing I like to tell my friends...)

A poll by CLSA, a stockbroker, found that 100% of Korean parents want their children to go to university. Such expectations can be stressful. In one survey a fifth of Korean middle and high school students said they felt tempted to commit suicide. In 2009 a tragic 202 actually did so. The suicide rate among young Koreans is high: 15 per 100,000 15-24-year-olds, compared with ten Americans, seven Chinese and five Britons. Min-sung’s older sister, Kim Jieun, who took the exams a few years ago, recalls: “I thought of emigrating, I hated the education system so much.”

Read the article here. The Economist - The One-shot Society

Korean War Veterans Digital Memorial Opened

2011-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Korean War, or 6.25 War as it is known in Korea, has a new memorial, now online. Korean War Veteran Digital Memorial was opened on the 15th.

This online library has interviews, videos, audios, pictures, diaries, maps, and documents from 30-or so Korean War veterans surviving in the US currently. Professor from Syracuse University, Prof. Han Jong-Woo, and his team founded this online collection of rare information. According to the professor, there are approx. 1,800 pieces of information in their database, and they tried their best to show the true memories of the war as objectively as possible.

Visit the KWVDM website here. It's worth a look.

North Korea's War on Christmas

2011-12-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

South Korean Christians sing a hymn in front of a Christmas tree on top of the Aegibong Peak Observatory just south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), Reuters.

Nothing says “international feud” quite like Christmas lights. When relations between North Korea and South Korea fall on the friendly side, South Korea doesn’t light up towers on its border with Christmas lights. When things aren’t so lovely, they let the lights shine. This year marks a newfound effort to light towers with Christmas lights and North Korea is none too fond of it, warning of “unexpected consequences.”

The “psychological warfare” alleged by North Korea comes as South Korean officials have allowed Christian groups even broader freedom to decorate towers that line the border between the two nations.

South Korea held off on the traditional lighting in 2003 at the request of North Korea. But when the two sides fell back into their bickering, the towers were lit up once more last year.

As is tradition, the towers will shine for 15 days, starting this year on Dec. 23. Last year, thousands of lights on a nearly 100-foot tall tree-shaped tower about two miles from the border on the top of Aegibong Hill was reportedly seen from North Korea’s Kaesong city. The North Korean government feels a repeat performance amounts to an invasion of the Christian faith into their atheist borders.

Of course, South Korea hasn’t taken too lightly the invasion of space North Korea has shown by allegedly sinking one of its warships and killing 46 in March 2010 (North Korea denies involvement) and firing upon an island, killing four, in November 2010. South Korea must figure a few lights won’t do that much damage.

Source : Time - North Korea Threatens South Korea — Over Christmas Lights

UFC140 - The Korean Zombie Strike... fast.

2011-12-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

Jung Chan-Sung, "the Korean Zombie" of UFC, has done it. UFC140, taken place a few days ago(Dec 11th, I believe), featured this Korean badass totally knocking out the opponent in.. like, literally 4 seconds. Watch and enjoy!

Now, two-month salary to ride a train in North Korea

2011-12-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

Arirang Festival, part of North Korea's most popular tour program

Source : Radio Free Asia - 평양 지하철 요금, 외국인에 ‘바가지’

According to a Russian journalist that recently visited North Korea, subway fare for foreigners was 2 euros(approx. 260 N. Korean won), compared to 5 North Korean won for N. Korean nationals.

Marc Bennetts from a Russian media outlet called Ria Novosti stated that he was very surprised at how expensive the subway fare had changed in the past few years. It wasn't just the subway; though the tour guide wouldn't tell him how much goods were priced for North Korean nationals, he noticed that "there [were] special prices and exchange rates in the country."

In certain restaurants, they didn't even have the price chart for foreigners. They would first ask for their nationality, then write out the bill.

This kind of rip-off move is thought to be another strategy to rack up on foreign currency, in preparation for their massive festivals and other events they are preparing for 2012, the year of becoming the greatest nation. 260 N. Korean won is about the two-month salary for average N. Korean workers.

Clinics in N. Korea lacking the most basic medical equipments

2011-12-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

Malnourished children in a children's clinic in North Korea (Source : JSH's North Korea RT)

According to International Federation of Red Cross(IFRC) has reported that only 70% of medical clinics in North Korea can afford the most basic medical equipment and medicines due to the severe financial failure of the government. North Koreans living in rural areas have even worse access to medical facilities, IFRC also reported.

In IFRC's recently released report (IFRC's website link here), it was revealed that the overall medical privilege North Koreans have access to is very limited. People in rural areas have even more limited access compared to people living in urban areas. Due to the lack of medical care budget of the government, 3 out of every 10 clinics do not even have the most basic medicines ready.

You don't have to pay a dime to get medical services in North Korea, but it is nearly impossible to get the service at all for most regular citizens. For rural citizens to go to a hospital or get medicine, they often have to travel hours to get to a city. Most rural areas do have a clinic, but all they can do is treat cold or very minor injuries.

IFRC added that the majority of the clinic visitors are women and children.

Source : Radio Free Asia - “북, 진료소 30% 기초 의약품도 없어”

CFR picks North Korea as one of the main threats of 2012

2011-12-11T20:40:00.001-08:00

Pink-colored nations signify the Tier-1 threats

Posted a few days ago, Council on Foreign Relations(CFR) published Preventive Priorities Survey 2012, outlining the following :
- The Preventive Priorities Survey (PPS) is intended to help inform the U.S. policy community about the relative urgency and importance of competing conflict prevention demands. The Center for Preventive Action asked a targeted group of government officials, academics, and experts to comment confidentially on a list of contingencies that could plausibly occur in 2012.

The threats were categorized into tier 1, 2 and 3 in the descending order or urgency. North Korea was right up there in Tier 1, for the following reasons :
- a severe North Korean crisis (e.g., armed provocations, internal political instability, advances in nuclear weapons/ICBM capability)

Read the rest of the survey here. It entails a lot of interesting factors, such as the Euro-zone dangers and domestic threats in the US.

Things Korean you should read for the weekend

2011-12-08T22:04:00.001-08:00

Busy day at work. I'll leave you with some news/blog articles you should read for the day.

1. CNNgo : 10 creative date spots in Seoul
2. CNNgo : Can't find a cab at Gangnam Station? Don't worry, the city will catch one for you
3. North Korea's new course - China.
4. Japan Gives Written Pledge to China Over N.Korean Defectors
5. RFA : Heir Apparent Groomed for Power

International Demonstration for Freedom and Human Rights in North Korea

2011-12-07T20:26:00.001-08:00

December 9th is International Human Rights Day. Freedom and Human Rights in North Korea, an international organization fighting for the rights and liberty of North Korean people, are planning an international demonstration event across the globe for their very purpose. From the event website :

This is an international call to protest on December 9th, 2011, 63rd anniversary of the United Nations Genocide Convention which North Korea is violating in every possible way (For more information, please see “North Korea and the Genocide Convention”:http://hir.harvard.edu/north-korea-and-the-genocide-movement).

There are three main objectives of these international protests on December 9, 2011:

To bring unprecedented pressure upon not only the NK regime but the international community to meaningfully address the horrific crimes being perpetuated systematically.
To influence and awaken global public opinion to the real, genocidal nature of the NK regime.
To create a watershed movement for the liberation of NK itself.

Confirmed Protests So Far:

New York City, United States
12:00pm: Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, silent march to DPRK Mission to the UN
1:00pm: Demonstration at DPRK Mission to the UN
Speech by North Korean Defector Activist Ji Seong Ho (President of NAUH)
Event Coordinator: cbk2004@gmail.com
For Interviews, contact: iptbak@gmail.com

Seoul, Republic of Korea
3:00pm ~ 4:00pm: Demonstration at Seoul Station Plaza
4:00pm ~ 5:00pm: March to UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees)
7:30pm ~ 8:30pm: Candlelight rally in Seoul Plaza
Event Coordinator: pink2011info@gmail.com

Berlin, Germany
3:00pm ~ 6:00pm: Demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate
Event Coordinator: kimsunderhiswing@googlemail.com

Tokyo, Japan
12:00pm ~ 12:50pm Demonstration at Hachiko Square in Shibuya, Tokyo
1:30pm: Demonstration at Chongryon
Event Coordinator: kanandoj@yahoo.co.jp

London, UK
1:00pm ~ 3:00pm Demonstration at North Korea Embassy
Event Coordinator: S.Yang10@lse.ac.uk

A cup of coffee for two months salary

2011-12-06T21:54:00.001-08:00

Now it is not so hard to find western-style food in Pyongyang. Recently, a coffee shop specializing in European style 'Vienna Coffee' has opened in Pyongyang as well.

According to Germany's Frankfurt local news media, a Vienna coffee shop has opened in downtown Pyongyang recently. They featured a detailed article on the coffee shop.

I love coffee, but apparently this so-called Vienna coffee refers to the strong coffee topped with sweet whipped cream. This coffee is known for its smooth yet sweet taste. They named the article "Pyongyang's Whipped Cream Bubble".

The shop was opened by an Austrian investor, and is a relatively small coffee shop with eleven tables. North Korean employees have already been taught how to make coffee and bake bread.

According to a female employee, about 30~40 customers visit the shop every day, most of them foreigners and foreign diplomats. A cup of coffee costs about 2 euros, equivalent to about 5 thousand North Korean won (2 months salary). The newspaper reported that despite the high price of coffee, more North Koreans are visiting every day.

Even then, the newspaper reported that there were young soldiers and children practicing synchronized dances and parades, and they seemed rather malnourished. In the heart of this communist regime, where all are supposed to be equal, the gap between the rich and the poor seems to be widening endlessly.

Source : Radio Free Asia - 평양에 비엔나 커피 전문점 등장

7 ways to love winter in Korea (CNN)

2011-12-05T21:02:00.001-08:00

Ice fishing, fun stuff!

It's wintertime in Korea. It's quite freezing early in the morning and night... soon it'll start to snow! If you're unfamiliar with Korean winter, this CNNgo article may be a good place to start.

CNNgo : 7 ways to love winter in Korea

More pictures : Life in North Korea

2011-12-04T20:33:00.001-08:00

Source : North Korea Real Talk by Joo Sung-ha
These pictures were posted on the North Korea RT blog, with commentaries by a defector from North Korea.

On top of the entrance to the building, it says : "Voting Booth"

1. Voting in North Korea is only a formality, as the results are predetermined before the election. Elections in North Korea takes place in schools and local offices, and they put together a dance festival and whatnot to create a joyous atmosphere for the event. Everybody must participate in voting. But nobody comes in for the sake of voting; instead, they come to enjoy the show like above. When voting begins, everyone is assigned a number and name. Then you walk in with the voting paper government agent gives you, and there are two agents guarding the door, and two more guarding the voting box. There is no real voting booth, because the paper has only one name - Kim Jong-Il - and all you have to do is put the paper in the box next to the agents. After the election, Kim Jong-Il takes the obvious winner with 100% support. Well, they used to say 100%, but now they have become more conscious of international criticism and started announcing 99% support instead.

2. To own a car for the vast majority of North Korean is simply an impossibility. So people must hitch a ride on the back of trucks, but this is not easy either. You have to pay the driver with alcohol, money, or tobacco. Even then so many people try to get a ride, so it's a difficult task.

3. In North Korea, bicycles are the major mean of transportation. However, North Korean produced bicycles cannot meet the massive demand for bicycles, so they must import them from countries like South Korea, China, and Japan. Above picture shows a transport ship with a ridiculous amount of bicycles piled on top of each other.

4. Every woman, man, and child must participate in constant cleaning of Kim Il-Sung statues, buildings, and plazas all over North Korea. Visitors of North Korea have recounted that they couldn't find a speck of dirt in any of the Kim Il-Sung plazas and statues. This is because the whole local population is rallied to clean it continuously, squatting over like the picture above.

5. According to North Korea's 'Socialist Labor Law', every man must work until 60 years of age, and every woman must work until 55. Even after retirement the government encourage them to participate in "the construction of socialism", as portrayed above. These retired soldiers and veterans from the Korean War are encouraging and cheering the farmers working below them. [editor's note : God, I hope this is photoshopped.]

6. You can see this kind of display in North Korean department stores : a variety of plates, bowls and whatnot. But when you ask the employee, "how much are they?", they answer, "they are not for sale." The purpose of these plates and the department stores are only to show off to foreign visitors. All these extravagant display of kitchenware is to pretend that they live in a wealthy society. Ironic, eh?

7. During the early 1990s, North Korean government installed guard posts at every small units of houses. The purpose of these guard posts is to prevent thievery and strangers. However in 1994, when the famine got worse, someone ripped away the door, and broke the windows sometime after. Now most of these guard posts have turned into little stores selling petty foods.

North Korean Propaganda document

2011-12-04T17:59:00.001-08:00

Source : Free North Korea Radio (http://www.fnkradio.com)

This is a propaganda lecture material from North Korea regarding South Korea. Considering this surfaced very recently, according to Free North Korea Radio, it is ironic how North Korea seeks to criticize South Korea's democratic economy and politics, with North Korea's own government and economy in crumbles. They also speak of political sovereignty. With international aids nearly cut off by various UN sanctions, isn't North Korea becoming another puppet nation of China? You decide.

Below is the translation of the image you see above :

Lecture Material : South Chosun(Korea) is the most anti-communistic and corrupt society ever.

Our dear supreme leader Kim Jong-Il has stated that <South Chosun is the most anti-communistic and corrupt society ever.>

As you all know, South Chosun is a colony of the United States.
Currently, South Chosun's puppet government is loudly proclaiming "welfare for everyone" and "stability of living"; however, if you look closely, you can see that South Chosun's society is riddled with anti-communism, corruption, and anti-people sentiments, slowly dying and rotting from inside.
Then what is South Chosun's society like?

-South Chosun is a society where political anti-communism and corruption have reached the peak.

Historically, South Chosun's puppet government has been a minion of the United States, without any political sovereignty.
...

North Korea 'Worst' in corruption score

2011-12-01T21:54:00.001-08:00

From Radio Free Asia(RFA) :

North Korea is the world’s most corrupt nation, according to a new report which ranked the pariah state for the first time. The country tied with Somalia for dead last among 183 nations and territories, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released Thursday. North Korea was given a score of 1.0—the lowest of all rated countries—on a scale where 0 indicates “highly corrupt” and 10 represents “very clean” based on perceived levels of public-sector corruption.

For more, read the original article here : North Korea ‘Worst’ In Corruption

More pictures of life in Pyongyang

2011-11-30T20:38:00.001-08:00

Source : North Korea RT by Joo Sung-ha

The original source of these pictures is David Guttenfelder from Associated Press. I couldn't find more information about these photos, but as you can probably tell, these pictures are for PR purposes. Virtually all these pictures are staged. Enjoy the pictures, as these are from the most isolated regime of the world.

March 10th, 2011. Pyongyang subway

March 9th. A girl playing piano

March 12th. Downtown Pyongyang. Enlarge this picture to see what an ultimate dystopia looks like

March 15th. A badminton dance(...) for Kim Il-Sung's birthday festival

April 13th. Computer lab inside Kim Il-Sung University

April 16th. A fastfood restaurant in Pyongyang amusement park

April 21st. Workers transporting goods with a trolley

March 9th. The caption read "portable radios"

April 22nd. Is it just me or is that lady not looking at the animal at all?

Apartments outside of Pyongyang. Please tell me those are still under construction.

Freeway near Pyongyang. There are never any cars here

Outside the hotel window of the photographer, Pyongyang

Mercedes cars. These belong to high Party officers.

CNNgo's 40 Essential Korean Food

2011-11-30T20:21:00.001-08:00

Pajeon. I don't know what the official English name for this is, but I call it Korean pancake.

Another CNNgo article. CNNgo has featured "40 Korean foods we can't live without". It is a list of 40 popular Korean foods this writer picked. Certainly not the best list of good Korean food, but it is nevertheless a good read for anyone who wants to know more about Korean food. Take a look :

40 Korean foods we can't live without

Fake City of North Korea, Pyongyang

2011-11-29T20:45:00.001-08:00

Also, the ultimate movie-set for any future-Utopia settings

Recently, Pyongyang's been busy with building new apartment buildings and other high-rise buildings.

According to a Japanese news media, there are 14 building projects in process for high rise buildings of 14~45 stories. "Approximately 20,000 people are mobilized to work in rotating shifts," and the buildings are adding a new floor every 2 days, to finish up the whole project by March.

Besides these high-rises, North Korea is also building theaters, department stores, and an aquarium. Quoting North Korea's Central News Media regarding an aquarium with dolphins : "The Dolphin Hall will have a thousand seats to show off the talents of our dolphins."

North Korean government is calling this building project "The New Pyongyang Speed Battle", referring to the reconstruction project that took place after the Korean War. However, American experts are calling this movement "a show-only project for their Great Nation project." (North Korea has picked the year of 2012 as their year to become a 'great nation' of prosperity and whatnot) Experts agree that this building project is similar to what the Soviet Union did back in the day, building fake propaganda villages for advertising purposes.

Dr. Hazel Smith, an expert on North Korean affairs, claimed that the general appearance of Pyongyang has improved a little, but the general welfare of North Korean citizens has not improved.

Asia Press has released a video of Pyongyang soldiers and riot squads being thrown into the construction sites to work chaotically. The video also showed regular citizens of Pyongyang in the back alley eating noodles and what they described as 'an artificial meat'.

Despite their ambitious goal to become a powerful nation, North Korea's economic/social downfall has been continuing. In fact, the food crisis that began in the 90s still continues today. According to WFP, over 6 million people, or 30% of the entire population, is eating only 300 grams (0.67 lbs) of food a day. North Korea's overall economy is actually shrinking, too. In 2009, North Korea had a negative growth rate of 0.9%, and another negative growth rate of 0.5% last year.

Source : 미 전문가 “평양은 북한판 포템킨 마을”

Android game apps coming back to Korea

2011-11-28T21:37:00.001-08:00

Remember how Apple re-opened the game market on its app store right before iPhone 4S was released in South Korea? Google has announced now, effective immediately, that Android app store will also re-open the game store in Korea as well. Cheers to all smartphone owners in Korea! You can now all go play Angry Birds.

Source : Games return to Android Market in South Korea

JKS's THE CRI SHOW-BEGINNING in Tokyo

2011-11-28T21:24:00.001-08:00

Steven Hawking would be jealous of.... whatever this is.

On the 26th, JKS (Jang Kun-suk) opened his solo concert 'THE CRI SHOW-BEGINNING' at the Tokyo Dome.

The concert, consisted mostly of his drama OSTs and his songs released in Japan, was filled up with all 45,000 seats of the concert hall. What a comparison considering that 3 years ago, he could not fill 2,000 seats at his first fan-meeting. After mere three years, he has impressed almost 50,000 people at his live concert.

For more information and fan accounts of the concert, check out this article : [Fan Account] THE CRI SHOW at Tokyo Dome

North Korea, a presidential challenge

2011-11-10T20:59:00.001-08:00

National Journal's World Map of Foreign Policy Challenge (Source : NJ)

National Journal, a non-partisan magazine on current affairs, wrote a list of "Ten Foreign Policy Challenges for the Next President." One of those ten presidential challenges is, not so surprisingly, North Korea. From National Journal :
~ ~ ~
North Korea remains the most reclusive and isolated nation on earth, and one of the most dangerous—thanks to its enigmatic leader Kim Jung-Il’s repressive regime, its dangerous military confrontations with South Korea, and its continuing pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Last year, North Korean forces torpedoed a South Korean naval vessel, killing 46 sailors; and shelled a South Korean island, killing two marines. Seoul was restrained last year but has promised to retaliate against any more provocations from Pyongyang, worrying officials in the U.S. and Japan.

So far, 2011 has been quiet, and last month the North Korean regime resumed denuclearization talks with the United States; previous talks have resulted in food aid for the famished nation. But Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in Asia at the time, said he was “skeptical” and warned Pyongyang “continues to engage in reckless and provocative behavior.”

North Korea cuts airways with Middle East

2011-11-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

From Yonhap News

With many Middle Eastern nations revolutionizing themselves and removing their long-term dictators, North Korea has started shutting itself away. According to Yonhap News, North Korea has recently cancelled airline service with Kuwait, without any known reasons.

Kuwait has been the only Middle Eastern nation reachable by airplane from North Korea. The airline service started in last May, one flight a week.

In addition to this, North Korea has been doing its best to block all information/personnel flow between North Korea and Middle Eastern nations, such as banning all workers from Libya from returning to North Korea.
Source : 北고려항공, 중동노선 폐지…`재스민' 차단?

Google Planning K-Pop Exclusive Channel

2011-11-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

Google CEO Eric Schmidt with President Lee Myung-Bak (Source : Wall Street Journal)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is planning an exclusive Youtube channel for K-Pop. And Girl's Generation(SNSD)'s Yuri made it on the Wall Street Journal! From the WSJ article :

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is in Seoul to meet with executives at several major IT companies over the next couple of days. One of the first stops was the Blue House, where he talked with President Lee Myung-bak about cooperation between Korean IT firms and Google, and Mr. Schmidt said Google intends to set up a YouTube channel for Korean pop music, or K-pop.

This is an exciting news, and it seem like Google's got a lot more plans for Korea in the future. For more, read the WSJ article : Google Plans K-Pop Channel, and More?

Rain to be an Army Assistant Instructor

2011-11-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

Korean Pop star Rain (real name : Jung Jee-Hoon), who enlisted in Korean military this October, has been selected as an Assistant Instructor for the 5th Division's Recruit Training Center(RTC). According to ROK's Army, "Rain has been selected as an Assistant Instructor for RTC on the 4th of November. When he is done with training, he will be placed in his position on the 9th of December."

RTC Assistant Instructors are selected among the recruits with the best Basic Training results, if he agrees to do so. According to an Army official, "Rain was a good leader among his squad mates, finished his training with excellent results. He also wanted to become an Assistant Instructor, so he was selected."

Rain will continue his military service for the total duration of 21 months, and will be discharged in July, 2013.

North Korea Human Rights International Film Festival

2011-11-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

NKnet is hosting the first-ever North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival in Seoul on November 10~11, 2011. This event will include documentaries, new film shorts, and commercial films.

The films featured are : North Korea VJ, Lonely Echo, The Daughter of Tonyeong, Winter Butterfly, Dooman River, Children of Ryanggangdo, Crossing, Elephant in the Room, Final Report, and Inside.

For more information, visit the event website here.
Below is their itinerary.

~ ~ ~

Schedule

Thursday, November 10

1 – 3pm Crossing

3:20 – 5pm Children of Ryanggangdo

5:20 – 6:30pm Premier Screenings of Elephant in the Room, Final Report, Inside

7 – 9pm Opening & Awards Ceremony
• Congratulatory Performance, Award Presentation, More!
• Premier Screenings of North Korea VJ, Lonely Echo, Save the Daughter of Tongyeong

Friday, November 11

10 – 11:40am Dooman River

12 – 12:45pm North Korea VJ

1 – 2:45pm Children of Ryanggangdo

3 – 4:40pm Lonely Echo, Elephant in the Room, Final Report, Inside

5 – 6:30pm Winter Butterfly

7 – 7:40pm North Korea VJ

8 – 9:30pm Kimjongilia

Directions

Lee Hae Rang Arts Theater (map in Korean)
@ Dongguk University

Dongguk University Station (line 3) – Exit 6

– A few steps from exit 6 there is an escalator that goes up to the university. Take this up and then keep walking in the same direction until you see an entrance gate to the university (혜화문); the theater is to the left of that gate.

– If you cannot take the escalator up, walk straight out of exit 6 and up the hill. On the left will be an entrance gate to the university (혜화문), and the theater is back and to the left of that gate. It takes about 5 minutes from the subway exit.

Flowers for Kim Il-Sung Statue

2011-11-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

Source : Free North Korea Radio

From Free North Korea Radio (www.fnkradio.com)...
~~~
When there are major events going on in North Korea, such as birthday of Kim Jong-Il or Kim Il-Sung, every statue of Kim Il-Sung in every North Korean city gets surrounded by bouquets of flowers. These bouquets do not come from local citizens voluntarily; instead, local factory organizations split the cost, and the local government office buys the flowers and puts them around the statue.

But when there are no events going on, there are usually only one or two bouquets around the statue. This is because local citizens put them there to make the statue not look so desolate, but it doesn't seem to help much.

The Kim Il-Sung statues in Pyongyang and Shin-ui-joo are always full of bouquets because foreign tourists like Chinese tourists are forced to buy and leave a flower bouquet at the statue. This is known to be a moneymaking scheme by the government.

A Chinese tourist that recently visited North Korea posted on his blog(http://blog.sina.com.cn/jianadalaohe) that the flowers that are offered at these statues get 'recycled' and sold again.

According to his blog, "I bought a 20 yuan bouquet to offer at the Kim Il-Sung statue. Before I even bought the bouquet, the flowers were already dead. After we offered the flowers and toured around the museum, the flowers around the statue were all gone."

The government forces their own citizens and tourists to buy and offer flowers to the statue every time, but where do they come up with the money? Just sell them again after use.

나는 가수다(I am a singer) in the US?

2011-11-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

Saw this off The Korean's facebook page. Translation below.
~~~
Inviting professional musicians and singers and putting them through a survival-elimination style program, I am a Singer(나는 가수다) of MBC has become very popular in Korea. And this program is about to go international in the United States! MBC has now finished contracting with a US firm.

MBC's CEO announced this news at an event for MBC's 50th year. He said, "The format of I'm a Singer was sold for a million dollars for the US firm, and it was also sold to a Chinese firm." Previously, one of the PDs for the show has said that they were considering selling the format of the show to producers in the US and Japan.

Although I'm a Singer has brought up problems like spoilers and the fact that professional musicians are scored solely by the audience, without any professional reviews, the popularity of the show was beyond anybody's imagination. As soon as the news about an American version of the show came out, Korean internet users have already started speculating about the show.

Currently, I'm a Singer is in its 9th round, getting ready for the second performance of the round.
(Sorry for the poor translation today. I'm just not myself right now...@_@)
Source : ‘나는 가수다’ 미국 간다

Korean Cars dominate Canada?

2011-11-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

2012 Hyundai Elantra

We all know that Korean automobiles have come a very long way. Korean automobile brands like Hyundai and Kia have become very popular virtually everywhere in the world. Even if you're not a fan of these brands, you must admit that Korean cars are generally a very decent buy, especially if you're on a lower budget.

Well, according to AJAC(Automobile Journalist Association of Canada)'s Testfest event, Hyundai and Kia came up as big winners of the contest.

2012 Hyundai Accent : Best New Small Car (under $21,000)

2012 Hyundai Elantra : Best New Small Car (over $21,000)

2012 Kia Optima LX : Best New Family Car (under $30,000)

For more information, read the Autos.ca article : http://w ww.autos.ca/car-of-the-year/feature-2012-canadian-car-of-the-year-%E2%80%9Ctestfest%E2%80%9D

Seoul Lantern Festival 2011

2011-11-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

From CNNgo :

Cool Seoul photo-op alert -- the annual Seoul Lantern Festival kicks off today at Cheonggyecheon in Jongno-gu.

30,000 colored lanterns will float on the water and in the air along the 1.3-kilometer stretch from Cheonggye Plaza to Jongno-3-ga.

The theme of this year's festival? "Seoul of yore," as told through lanterns shaped like traditional landmarks and historical figures from past dynasties.

The theme seems to be a loose one, however, as robots and cartoon characters will also be on display, as well as works from Japan and the Philippines.

The lights will be on from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Admission is free.

Besides all these, you will find special and traditional Japanese lanterns, and Philippines' beautiful Christmas lanterns too. Grab a camera and get out there!

For more : Seoul Lantern Festival

CECC : 100,000 N. Korean Orphans in China

2011-11-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

North Korean orphans. Source : Han-Schneider International Children's Foundation

You may have heard of human rights problems in China through the recently released US Congressional-Executive Commission on China. You can read more about the overall report in this Voice of America(VOA) article : US Congressional Report Notes Marked Drop in China Human Rights

But what you may have missed if you only read news articles is the part about North Korean refugees hiding in China. China has been forcefully sorting out North Korean defectors hiding in China, and deporting them back to North Korea. It is well known that those deported back are subject to death or labor camp. The biggest victims of this deportation policy, it was revealed, are women and their children.

VOA Korea actually has an article focusing on this issue : 미 의회 중국위원회, `중국 내 무국적 탈북 고아 최대 10만 명’ Below is the translation.

In a recently released report by US Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the biggest victims of China's deportation policy on North Korean defectors revealed to be women.

According to the commission, which consists of congressmen from both houses and senior officers from the executive branch, women are quickly becoming prime target for human trafficking because they are afraid of getting deported back to North Korea.

Quoting a data from a NGO, the report stated that 70% of North Korean defectors in China are women, and 9 out of every 10 women are thought to become a victim of human trafficking.

The report also revealed that when a North Korean women gets deported back to North Korea, the children born from the women and Chinese men mostly get abandoned. Because of this, the number of orphaned North Korean children in China have increased as many as 100,000.

Also, children born from North Korean defector women cannot obtain Chinese citizenship, so they cannot get any public services such as medical services and public education.

Despite all this, Chinese government's cracking down on defectors and deportation have only increased in the past year.

Last year in September, Chinese police teamed up with North Korea's special ops unit for arresting defectors and swept across the entire nation to sort out North Korean defectors. About 100 North Korean special ops units were sent, and the Chinese police were armed as well.

The report also stated that Chinese government has been giving out prizes in order to arrest defectors and sympathizers. Chinese citizens and Chinese Koreans who provide information on North Korean defectors get $456 USD, and people who provide help to defectors get fined or given prison sentence.

The commission concluded that the US Congress and the Executive Branch opposes to deportation of North Korean defectors, and strongly insisted that China must do its international duty to the victims of human trafficking, and provide legal alternative to the deportation policy.

No more iphone game ban in Korea

2011-11-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

Source : CNET

If you're an iphone user living in Korea, using Korean iOS, then rejoice! Same goes to game developers, because Korea is one of the biggest videogame markets in the world. Can you believe it? There was actually no 'games' tab if you went on itunes with your iphone in Korea. No Angry Birds! (though Angry Birds merchandises are everywhere in Korea... err)

As far as I know, the ban went on about 2 years ago. I was not in Korea at the time, I totally missed this news at the time (presumably too busy playing Angry Birds or something). According to my colleague, who is a software/game developer, this ban was placed primarily by the works of Ministry of Gender Equality (if you translate directly, it is Ministry of Women). Ministry of GE has been pushing a lot of regulations against video games, for developers and players alike. Android users have been suffering the same treatment, having to access international or US software markets/networks to access games.

Well, not anymore! Go enjoy some awesome games on your new iPhone 4S!

Dokdo Wine 799-805

2011-11-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Do you know what Dokdo is? Dokdo is a set of small islands located far off the east coast of the Korean peninsula. Dokdo also has been the center and symbol of the territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan. (I wrote an article about it before)

Well, to spread the awareness for Dokdo, a Korean American dentist in the US named Ahn Jae-Hyun has founded a winery called Dokdo Winery in the US, Napa Valley, and Dokdo winery will begin selling Dokdo wine in the coming weeks of November.

The wine brand is named 799-805, the postal code for Dokdo. The online store hasn't opened, but from what I can gather from the website and pictures, they'll be selling Merlot, Chardonnay, and Pinot, at least.

Check out the Dokdo Wine website here!

Event : London Korean Film Festival 2011

2011-11-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

What : The 6th annual event, showcasing the very best in Korean cinema, with a number of premieres and events.
When : November 3rd until November 17th
Where : Various locations in London, refer to the website
List of films : War of the Arrow, Sunny, The Front Line, Detective K, Dance Town, Leafie a Hen into the Wild, Poongsan, and many, many more!

From the website...

Every year the festival looks to spotlight certain aspects of the Korean film industry whether it is the role of women in front of or behind the camera or how the country has dealt with war through the ages. This year is no different, shinning a light on the North and South divide which has been prevalent across many of Korea’s films since the ‘Forgotten War’. We shall examine how Korea has dealt with and utilised this in a wide variety of films including The Front Line, Dance Town and Poongsan. Also the festival will look to highlight a more lighter tone of film than the British public is used too with Korean films with a number of comedies and family friendly films.

This year we will continue to promote one of the principle aims of the festival which Is to showcase K-Culture with a number of films explore many different aspects of Korean culture. K-Pop is one of the most up and coming elements of Korean culture that is becoming more and more popular in the UK which the festival will be looking to help to increase the profile in this exciting and fresh musical wave. This will be shown with a lie performance from KPop sensation SHINee.

For more information, visit the official website here.

Search for Korea's best climber called off

2011-10-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

Park Young-Seok

Park Young-Seok, one of the most renowned climbers in South Korea, went missing 12 days ago while climbing Himalayas. Wallstreet Journal reported :

The search for three missing South Korean mountain climbers at Annapurna, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas, ended Saturday after 12 days without success.

Park Young-seok, one of the country’s most renowned summiteers, and two fellow climbers went missing on October 18. His last message via satellite phone said his team had a hard time climbing down due to heavy avalanche.

Park Young-Seok is the first mountain climber to achieve a true Adventure Grand Slam, climbing 14 Eight-thousanders, the Seven Summits, and both poles of the Earth. Holy crap. He also has set a lot of records and Guinness records, such as reaching the South Pole on foot in 44 days self-sufficiently. You can read all about Park's achievements here.

He was a great symbol of never giving up for many Koreans. He will be remembered and missed. Read more about the incident here.

N. Korean Govt squeezing the last dollar out of its people

2011-10-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

Statue of Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang

Next year, it will be Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday (if he was alive, that is). Since Kim Il-Sung is The Eternal President of the Republic, and the Father to all North Korean people, this is definitely going to be a huge, huge year for North Korea, at least symbolically. Not so surprisingly, North Korea has set next year as the milestone to become the greatest nation of all (강성대국의 해), despite the fact that the whole nation is crumbling down economically, socially, and structurally. Add the failure of currency fix, international sanctions, and the fact that they put most of their tax money buying expensive things and feeding military, this has become financially and practically impossible.

So where do they come up with the money for all the festivals and events? Easy! Squeeze the hell out of the already-starving North Koreans.

North Korean government is forcing all government agencies to collect foreign currency and taxes as much as they can in whatever way possible. Exploits include buying dollars and other foreign currency from citizens with North Korean money, which has lost virtually all value because of the failure of currency overhaul. Others include forcing citizens to sell gold, selling cellphones at ridiculously high prices, kidnapping old folks from nearby nations and collecting their pension (as reported by a Japanese Magazine, AERA), asking South Korean government to pay them dollars instead of giving them snacks.

According to some that visited North Korea recently, citizens are complaining that the government has been taking away every last penny out of them in ways nobody can even imagine. When will this nonsense end?

Sources : NEWSIS : 北 '외화매집' 혈안…"꽃제비 정권" 불만팽배
Daily NK : "北, 외화 확보에 혈안…주민 주머니 털기도"

North Korea : 1960s and Now

2011-10-31T00:33:00.000-07:00

Until 1972, the economic situation in the Korena peninsula was not quite like the way it is now. Now, South Korea's economic power overwhelmingly triumphs over North Korea in every aspect, that it is virtually incomparable. However, North Korea was economically well ahead of South Korea until 1972.

1972, when South Korea reached 10.6 billion dollars of total GDP, was the tipping point for both nations. North Korea began its decline, and South Korea advanced and prospered endlessly.

These photos were taken from Chinese media and North Korea's Central News. Photos on the left are from 1972(or somewhere around then), and the ones on the right show recent photos. Let's see how much they have changed/developed in half a century!

More pictures below.

Source : North Korea Real Talk (주성하기자의 북한RT)

Taken in June of 1972. This is a child care center for working couples. A large indoor facility can be seen, with many kids and large space for them to play in. The picture on the right shows a child care center used for propaganda. Children are monitored and controlled under instructors, and seem to have little freedom. Child care centers outside of Pyongyang are simply under reasonable expectations.

Taken in June of 1972. An automated factory producing shoes. You can see different shoes made and transported on conveyor belts, as well as workers checking the shoes for quality. Picture on the right shows mass-produced rubber shoes with no automated production system. Wrapping is done by hand, and these shoes are known for terrible quality.

Taken in July of 1972. Printed cover papers automatically cover products. The whole process is automated and this was a state-of-art technology at the time. Now, product covering is done by hand. I keep wondering, what the heck did they do with all the machines? Eat them?

Medical equipment in North Korea back then was quite extraordinary at the time. The entire process was automated, and they produced their own medications. Now, without foreign help, they can't even properly treat common flu. You can see workers manually sealing medications in bags.

This picture is quite extraordinary. 1970 and 21st century : they are the same, even the machines. If there's a difference to nitpick, it's that the workers from 1970 seem dressed better than now.

Village clinics. Notice the picture on the bottom right. That is the room where they treat patients, or at least that's what they say. It is actually more of a mock-up to show to foreign visitors. What actual clinics look like these days, who knows... (if they exist at all)

Left : A store in Pyongyang, June of 1972. Middle : Where North Korean citizens buy their goods. It is a street market, which is prohibited by the socialist nation; however, the rations system has failed so badly that the government is taking a blind eye on the situation. The stores you see on the right are only for very high Party officers and/or foreign visitors.

3 minute lunch break

2011-10-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Standing-only bread store in North Korea

Recently in North Korea, the slogan of "Less time to eat, more time to spend in the field to build a great nation" has appeared everywhere in the streets. I guess that's a euphemism for "we don't wanna give you guys even enough time to eat lunch everyday."

Kim Jong-Il's ridiculous thirst for this 'great nation' can be seen in many other places these days. A while ago, a store in Pyongyang that used to sell beer has been forcefully transformed into a bakery, and removed all chairs from the restaurant so people would not stick around and eat for a long time. In a soap opera called "Baek-Geum-San", a wife tells her husband who is eating too fast, "you should eat slowly", to which the husband replies, "In order to achieve General Kim Jong-Il's dreams, one minute for a bowl of noodles, and three minutes for a meal is plenty long enough."

North Korea has set the year of 2012 as the year to become "the greatest nation ever", but certainly that has not been achieved, though 2011 is almost over already. So Kim Jong-Il's government is pushing their citizens in every way possible to make them work even a minute longer. Can you imagine having only 3 minutes for your lunch break?

Source : Choson Daily : 北 '국수는 1분, 밥은 3분'안에 먹어라…왜?

Little Kim Jong-Il for Holloween

2011-10-27T23:59:00.001-07:00

Saw this on Tumblr. Aww.

Box of Hope to North Korean refugees in the US

2011-10-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

Couldn't find the actual poster, so I'm linking it from a Korean news website.

Source : 美 선교단체, "美 정착 탈북들에게 선물을 보냅시다"

According to Voice of America, PSALT is putting together a plan to send Christmas presents to North Korean refugees living in the United States. PSALT is "a 501c3 non-profit Christian ministry that works to educate others about North Korea and carrying out work to help the North Korean people – particularly the North Korean refugees." According to the exec. director of PSALT said on the 27th, "in order to share the pleasure of Christmas with North Korean refugees in the US, we have started a movement to send "Box of Hope" to North Koreans living in the US." PSALT will gather presents and donations from local organizations and churches and give the gifts to North Koreans on the 3rd of December.

PSALT has been sending gifts to North Korean in the US already, but it has been unofficial, until now. Durihana church is also planning to send cards and small gifts to single-mother North Korean families in the US.

There are 124 North Korean refugees living in the US, trying to overcome many things as immigrants with extraordinary circumstances : language barrier, separation from their families, different ideologies, democracy, capitalism, and culture shock. They are largely spread out in 10 cities, living harsh lives.

For more information, or to help out...
PSALT NK Website, Durihana
And to read more about PSALT, I've found an interview with their exec. director.

ROK's New Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff

2011-10-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

ROK Chairman of JCS with his American counterpart

General Jung Seung-jo, who has been the nominee for chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been officially seated in his position. During the ceremony, which was attended by high-profile military officers from not only Korea but other allied nations such as the USA, he gave a stern warning to North Korea.

"The army general said in a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday that if any enemy attacks the South, he would make sure they pay a heavy price.
Jung said if he had been the chairman of JCS during North Korea's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island last year, he would have advised the president to use fighter planes in response.
The general added the right to self-defense should apply not just to the location where the attack started but also against the regime that orders such provocations."

So, since the shelling of Yeonpyong islands, Republic of Korea has replaced its Minister of Defense and now the chairman of JCS(Joint Chiefs of staff). Both new officers have promised a much stronger response to North Korea's further provocations. Let us wish that this will stop North Korea from committing any more meaningless murders and atrocities.

Source : Choson Daily

North Korea's Craptastic Air Koryo

2011-10-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

So, North Korea's national airline, Air Koryo, has been given a 1-star rating by leading airline revier SkyTrax. It is the lowest possible rating, and Air Koryo is the only one with a 1-star rating.

Apparently the plane gets fogged up by vapor, "as if by a fog machine"

Straight from... I dunno, 1960s?

All you get is propaganda papers

This plane was made in 1960s. So. Old.

And you can never forget the glorious leader!

The website of the airline. Either North Korea owns Hotmail or they can't even afford an email server.

North Korean Action Film: Pyongyang Nalparam

2011-10-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

Nalparam(날파람) is a word that describes a gust of wind caused by a fast-moving object or person. So you get the gist of the title.

Action films in North Korea are pretty rare, unless you count those blatantly propaganda-isque movies as action films. During the 80s, "Hong-Il Dong" and "Order 027" were the action movies of the decade in North Korea. Then the industry was pretty much dead until 2006, when this film appeared.

Here's the brief summary of the plot. North Korean Taekkyon(a traditional Korean martial arts) masters fight against Japanese invaders. I haven't been able to find the full movie yet, but I'd assume that it's all because of their glorious leader, or one of those lines. I've found a video highlighting the key scenes of the movie. Behold! It was 2006, and you shall experience the 21st century special effects and sound quality... North Korean style.

SMTOWN LIVE NYC 2011

2011-10-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Korean Idols from SM Entertainment went all out in Madison Square Garden in New York last night. In Madison Square Garden - what Korean news media described as "the Mecca of pop culture" - popular K-Pop stars such as Dongbanshingi, Girl's Generation, SHINee, f(X), and BoA performed in SMTOWN LIVE NYC 2011.

This performance was part of a world tour that began in Seoul, then LA, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris and then finally NYC was the last destination. I included a fan video of Girl's Generation performing "The Boys", which was performed live for the first time.

Earthquake in Turkey

2011-10-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

Just a side thought. A couple days ago, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit eastern Turkey. Thousands of buildings collapsed, and many more people were buried inside the debris. I was watching the morning news as they reported that more than 1,500 people were dead or injured. It is a total catastrophe.

Turkey has been diplomatically and militarily closely tied with South Korea for a long time. Koreans are taking this situation seriously. I really hope that Korean government will send some sort of aid group over to Turkey ASAP, and the aftermath will settle down soon.

How they mow grass in Pyongyang

2011-10-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

Pyongyang is the city of nobles, it's the home of the aristocrats, it's where the rich live. Pyongyang is the center of the paradise North Korea advertises itself as, and what's left of it's materialistic prosperity in all of North Korea is all concentrated in this one city.

And now we know how they mow their grass to make the city look clean. Scissors, and poor people.

North Korean officials curse at journalists

2011-10-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

Artist's interpretation of how angry they must've been?

Saw this on Choson Daily this morning. Translation below..

Officials from North Korea got angry at South Korean journalists, cursing at them and taking away their recorders at an academic conference.

At an academic conference on Korean peninsula's problems, taken place in the state of Georgia, a chief official from the North Korean party screamed "you bastard, get the hell away(이 자식아, 저리 꺼져)" and shoved away a South Korean journalist.

This official, Mang Gyung-Il, said in an informal tone (which is considered pretty rude, if you're talking to a stranger or at a formal event), "Who did it? You writing a fiction? We're gonna find out who did this" to a Yonhap(Korean equivalent of AP, AFP, or Reuters) journalist.

The reason this happened was because Yonhap news reported on the 17th that when the South Korean party insisted that North Korea apologize for the sinking of Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong islands, North Korean side unexpectedly did not oppose and defy this notion angrily. When this news went out, North Korean party angrily insisted that the journalist who wrote this article release his sources immediately. In this process, they even confiscated the journalist's audio recorder and checked the content.

The reason for their angry response is probably because these officials don't want the Labor Party to know that they did not deny valiantly the involvement and responsibility of North Korean in the two incidents. If the Party found out, they would be punished gravely. They also filmed themselves protesting against the South Korean journalists, probably to have an evidence for their case when they go back to North Korea.

Reddit : Korean moneyface

2011-10-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Now I can't even remember what the face actually looks like on the bill...

Saw this on Reddit. Enough said.

The most haunted amusement park ever

2011-10-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Vice Blog after a long day, and this article gave me a good laugh. This journalist went to a 'popular' amusement park next to Pyongyang, North Korea. The magical park is called Mangyongdae, and it's been repeatedly advertised by North Korean government and central news to be the hub of all that is fun and magical in North Korea. Well, I will just leave you with the first paragraph of the article for you.

No matter how many blogs I manage to write about North Korea before I die, I'll never be able to hammer home just how much fun it is. And I say that even though I was once held ransom there, and on another occasion blacklisted and threatened by the government after they caught me taking the piss out of them in The Guardian. How could anyone not love the land that's home to the Mangyongdae fun fair, the world's shittiest, most depressing quasi-theme park? Everything in the Western World is so disappointingly competent these days.

Read the article here :

HOPING NO ONE DIES AT THE NORTH KOREAN FUN FAIR!

ADEX : Seoul 2011 is here!

2011-10-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2011, also known as ADEX 2011, is taking place in Seoul right now! The event goes from Oct 18th till the 23rd for 6 days, so it's already half-way through.

I had the privilege to visit yesterday, and I must say, the event was huge! Every prominent defense contractor from all over the world, like Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, EADS, and Boeing were there, and so many more! Boeing 787, Boeing's brand-new airliner set to come into service soon, was there for visitors, as well as Global Hawk, F-35 Lightning II, T-50, and so on. This wasn't just an exhibition, the whole show was coupled with a fantastic air-show of T-50s.

Check out the event website at Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2011, there is much information to be fascinated at.

Below are the pictures from the event... enjoy.

Kim YoonJoo, she was praised as "the people's flying beauty" by Korean media today

Entrance!

Boeing 787

The exhibition halls

You could hop in F-35 Lightning II!

Global Hawk, US AF's surveillance superpower

T-50 formation

Heart with an arrow!

Korea's symbol, Taeguk mark, or the Yin-Yang symbol

More pictures of starving North Koreans

2011-10-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Not much time to work on the blog today. But I'll leave you with these pictures.

These pictures were taken by a Chinese journalist between September 29th and October 1st of 2011. Most or all of the pictures were taken in Southern Hwang-hae providence, and I will list the captions below before the pictures (I suck at photo editing...: [ )

1. A little child in a corn field. Most of the crops are withered.

2. A bowl containing a family's lunch. That's all for an entire family.

3. Students, soldiers, and civilians are forced to work in a waterway construction. There are neither equipment nor rights for these people. They're only Kim Jong-Il's consumables.

4. A woman making porridge out of dried corn. They really have not much to eat.

5. Children hospitalized for severe malnutrition.

6. A child working in the field. A normal child might be collecting cards, or playing with other children, but he must work to survive.

7. We can't even tell what they're harvesting in the fields. All these people seem thin and poorly fed.

8. Park Soo-Dong, supposedly the supervisor of a collective farm. He's basically the chief of the village, but he's so thin that you don't need an X-ray to see the shape of his skull.

9. Hungry children. There is no smile left in them.

10. But pictures of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are in every household.

Click to see full sized pictures

Source : Joo Sungha's Nambuk Story Blog(Korean)

Korea-Arab Friendship Caravan 2011

2011-10-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

The 4th Korea-Arab Friendship Caravan is an event hosted by KAS(Korea-Arab Society) in 7 nations including UAE, Iraq, Oman and Bahrain. The event starts on Oct 17th and ends on Oct 24th. A lot of popular Korean performances like Taekwondo, B-Boy dancing, and Samulnori will be featured.

This kind of event shows that South Korea has gone beyond appealing only to major power nations in the world, especially the Western ones. It shows that Korean communities are truly trying to spread all over the world, regardless of religion, race, and region.

For more information, check out the Korea-Arab Society Website at http://www.korea-arab.org/php/ (Korean) or http://www.korea-arab.org/php/eng/ (English)

Kim Jong-Il's Special Uber Train

2011-10-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Caption reads : A film portraying Kim Jong-Il's visit to China revealed the inside of Kim Jong Il's special train he used in 2004. This picture shows Kim Jong-Il having a conversation with other Party officials, with luxurious couches and wall-mounted TV.

North Korea's Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-Il, has his own special uber train named "The Sun". Traveling by airplane always has the risk of becoming an easy target for terrorism or assassination, so Kim Jong-Il prefers traveling by train, this very train to be specific. When he made visits to China and Russia recently, he took this train for his safety.

According to a Russian news agency, Kim Jong-Il's "The Sun" train consists of 17 compartments. This is one more than 2002, when he visited the far eastern Russia.

Huge office compartments and other spaces for conferences and meetings are all in the front part of the train. These rooms are followed by sleeping rooms, then communication rooms. The rest of the train is for bodyguards, other officials, and workers aboard the train. The Russian media described this train as a "wheeled fortress." According to a Russian official who has traveled with Kim Jong-Il on this train, this exclusive train was given to Kim Jong-Il by Stalin as a gift, and it has been remodified since then. The special compartments that Kim Jong-Il uses are modified to include bullet-proof steel floor to protect from explosions.

A Hong Kong News Agency reported that this specialized train is equipped with satellite control system, satellite television, and telephone. This is no surprise, as this whole train is built solely for one person. Kim Jong-Il can issue orders for his nation or his military while he's on this train, no matter where he is.

His personal compartment is quite extraordinary. To match Kim Jong-Il's luxurious appetite, the whole room is lit up with bright white light, and filled up with many luxurious couches and other furniture. On each end of the room, there are two large flat screen TV's hung on the wall. One TV plays his favorite movies indefinitely. The other one is for "work", displaying real-time reports for the whole world's weather reports, economy, military, political news and other situations.

Source

They recently outfitted these trains with special nets with stealth capability. A running train with stealth capability? But hey, people have made stealth ships before, especially the US military. This stealth net was installed in order to avoid detection by US/Korean military satellites and U-2 Surveillance Planes. According to sources, this net is made with RAM(radar absorbent material) in thin films. Their goal is probably to confuse the US and South Korea on the actual and precise location of Kim Jong-Il when he is on the move.

Obviously, they have enough equipment stashed up inside the train to be a mobile hospital, bomb squad, radar jamming, and everything you can imagine to protect a single person who is supposedly more important than 24 million people in North Korea.

Source :
Joo Sung-Ha's Nambuk Story
Joongang Daily Article
Chosun Daily Article
Maeil Economy Daily Article

Busan International Film Festival 2011 and cleavages!

2011-10-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

These are the relatively SFW ones anyway...

Recently, the 16th Busan International Film Festival ended, with many exciting news and events. But guess what the hot issue of the entire event was?

Cleavages.

Ahem. Well, seriously. A lot of beautiful Korean actresses wore beautiful, yet unprecedentedly revealing dresses, and that's what everybody's been talking about in the past couple weeks. Below is a video clip from the festival with actors and actresses in it, and another link, more NSFW.

More truth on Japan's Unit 731

2011-10-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

This was the only picture that was not NSFW about Unit 731. This building is currently open to visitors.

I generally like to put a few photos with my blog posts, especially with long ones. But this one is just way too NSFW and grotesque you might need your eyes bleached out. So no pictures, but you're free to Google 'Unit 731' with safe search off. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Ever heard of Unit 731? Well, Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II (quoting Wikipedia).

You may have heard of human medical experimentation by the Nazi's during World War II : Angel of Death, dissecting twins, injecting chemicals into prisoners, and so on. However, the Japanese during the wartime took a big step further into hell : vivisection.

Human vivisection refers to dissecting a live human without anesthesia. Japanese doctors in these facilities thought that dissecting human body after death would not give the best results due to decomposition. Anesthesia was also not used for similar reasons. Vivisection took place after various procedures, such as infecting prisoners with diseases, shooting them with new weapons, or injecting/cutting/sewing random things and body parts on and off their bodies. The infected and vivisected prisoners included men, women, children, pregnant women, and infants.

You haven't been creeped out yet? Let's go deeper into details. They cut out people's limbs to study blood loss. They tried cutting both arms and swapping. They froze prisoners' limbs and either amputate them, or dip the frozen limbs in hot water to study frostbites. Some prisoners had their stomach cut out and the esophagus attached directly to the intestines. They did weapon testings, like grenades, flame throwers, explosives and germ-releasing bombs. They hung prisoners upside down to see how long it would take them to die. They put prisoners in centrifuges and spun them to death. They put prisoners in high-pressured chambers and crushed them to death. They put prisoners in an air-tight chamber and sucked the air out of the chamber until the prisoner basically popped inside out of every orifice. Plague, cholera, smallpox, botulism, anthrax, typhoid, fleas... the list goes on and on and on! Just Google 'Unit 731' and you can find all kinds of grotesque pictures and information.

Countless Chinese and Korean citizens were brutally killed in Unit 731, as did many Allied POWs. So these doctors were swiftly put on war trials and killed, right?

After Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, Douglas MacArthur became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, rebuilding Japan during the Allied occupation. MacArthur secretly granted immunity to the physicians of Unit 731 in exchange for providing America, but not the other wartime allies, with their research on biological warfare. American occupation authorities monitored the activities of former unit members, including reading and censoring their mail. The U.S. believed that the research data was valuable. The U.S. did not want other nations, particularly the Soviet Union, to acquire data on biological weapons.

And the government of Japan has been largely denying the activities of Unit 731, though they have acknowledged the existence of Unit 731 during the wartime. Today, however, this popped up in Korean media networks.

"New evidence that Japan's Unit 731 conducted germ warfare during World War II and infected 25,900 people was revealed via a top secret document.

An NGO in Japan called "Organization to find the truth about Unit 731" announced that they had discovered a top secret document regarding Unit 731 from the Congressional Library of Japan.

According to this document, Unit 731 produced and used germ weapons during 1940~1942 and infected 25,946 people. This document was written by a Japanese Army Surgeon who worked in Unit 731, and has detailed information on the locations, dates, amount of germ weapons used, and the number of people infected by stage.

The organization had a press conference and urged the Japanese government to release more information on this matter. Germ warfare was not brought up during the War Crimes Tribunal after World War II, and Japanese government never admitted having done germ warfare." Source : 731부대 극비문서 발견…"세균전으로 2만6천명 피해자"

After a certain point, it's hard to be objective about matters like this. Denying the existence of Unit 731, denying the severity of Comfort Women, territorial disputes with Korea, naval territory disputes with Korea, same things with Russia... Germany dealt directly with the past fault during the Nazi regime, but Japan seems to think that if they pretend it didn't exist, people will just skip over it. Why?

North Korea's failed food policy

2011-10-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

International Food Policy Research Institute(IFPRI) has picked North Korea as one of the three nations whose hunger rate has gotten the worst in the past 20 years. The other two nations picked were Congo and Burundi.

IFPRI conducted research to measure "2011 World Hunger Score" for 120 nations all over the world depending on people's nutritional health, proportion of children with low body weight, and death rate of children under 5.

To nobody's surprise, North Korea got 19 points. IFPRI interprets the scores like the following : 10~19(serious), 20~29(dangerous), 30+(extremely dangerous). So 19 points stands right in between serious hunger and dangerous hunger. North Korea's hunger score increased by 18% over the past two decades, becoming the "Loser" nation whose food policy had failed the worst in the world.

IFPRI's spokesperson said, "The possible reason behind these findings are, failed economic policy, high military spending, obscure agricultural technology, and government policies."

According to IFPRI, 33% of the entire North Korean population suffers from malnutrition.

Source: Radio Free Asia(Korean)

Korean Men : Murses

2011-10-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Personally, this is a huge no-no.

This post is entirely my opinion only. I don't mean to bash anybody, it's just for your information to know, because I think it's interesting.

In case you didn't know, I'm a man. As a male human who lived most of my teen years in the California, U.S., I must say that when I came back to Korea last year, I wasn't all too familiar with the fashion trend here.

Then it hit me in the face, MURSES! MURSES EVERYWHERE!

Alright so, murse = man purse. I'm not saying that I'm against men wearing murses or other metrosexual things. Having lived near West Hollywood I've seen plenty of that, and I'm quite comfortable with it too. It's just that... the population density of murses in any crowd in Seoul was too high for me.

It's just not murses.

Handbacks, Clutches (apparently these are real big right now. I was a little awestruck), and other kind of murses are super popular in male fashion markets in Korea.

If you have seen any Korean drama and/or male K-Pop stars and idols, you probably noticed that male celebrities go for a very metrosexual look. If you ask me what kind of men Korean women look for, I say feminine, and metrosexual.

Pictured : uber-popular Super Junior

Maybe that's why the fashion trend has gone largely feminine and metro, maybe it's something else. I ain't no expert in this field. But I saw this CNNgo article on Korean men with murses, and I had to write something about it. 5 hot murse trends - CNNgo

CNNgo : 20 delish Korean drinks!

2011-10-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

yesss!

It's been a while since I posted a CNNgo article... so here it goes!

CNNgo has posted a list of 20 Korean drinks that you should know about. These range from alcoholic drinks like soju to banana milk - my personal favorite - and all the healthy drinks as well. Worth checking it out!

CNNgo - 20 delicious Korean drinks

K-Pop Star Rain Enlists in Army

2011-10-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

I don't think he got the right memo. 1. his hand and his forearm should make a straight line, 2. his hair seems a wee too long for boot camp.

A wee late for this, but for those of you who don't know yet...

Rain(비 in Korean), a very popular K-Pop star described as "South Korea's modern-day Elvis" by Guardian, enlisted in Korean Army on the 11th of October. Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, will go through approximately 5 weeks of boot-camp training. He should currently be in a prep battalion, before entering a training regiment. Rain will serve 21 months of military service. It hasn't been announced exactly where Rain will be serving, but most celebrities have a special military unit in Ministry of Defense for popular singers and actors, for advertising. Good luck to Private Jung Ji-Hoon!

Make Korean food and win a free trip to S. Korea!

2011-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Do you like Korean food? Do you like making it? Do you have your own special recipe?

Visitseoul.net, basically an official tour website for Seoul, is hosting this event called "Delicious SEOUL Story". You post your own Korean food recipe via Youtube, and the final 5 teams will be granted a free 4-day trip to Seoul. Last day to submit your recipe is Oct 31st, so get on it!

More information in English here : Delicious SEOUL Story

N. Korea's fake Red Ginseng

2011-10-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

In East Asian nations (Koreas, China, Japan), Ginseng(인삼) is not only a popular and historical medicine, but also part of the diet. So, a good and well-grown ginseng can cost quite a lot of money.

According to RFA(Radio Free Asia), a lot of Chinese ginseng has been bought by North Korea in order to re-process it as authentic Korean Red Ginseng and sold it back to China and Hong Kong.

First, some background explanations. Let me explain the different kinds of ginseng products sold in Korea first.

Different ginseng products are differentiated depending on how the ginseng was processed.

1. 수삼(soo-sam) is basically an unprocessed ginseng.
2. 건삼(gun-sam) is a dried ginseng.
3. 백삼(baek-sam) is made by peeling a raw ginseng and drying it.
4. 홍삼(hong-sam) is made by steaming the ginseng first, then drying it.

Perhaps one of the most popular presents people buy at duty-free stores in Incheon airport.
Ginseng Elixir

Out of these, Hong-sam is the most popular choice. Some people eat it as it is, some make tea, jelly, elixir, drinks, and so on. Generally 5~6 year old ginseng is considered the best and most expensive. Generally, at least to Koreans, Chinese ginseng is considered far inferior to Korean ginseng. I don't know if it's scientifically proved, but I believe that the bad reputation Chinese products have for falsified product specifications (this case, how old the ginseng is, how it was grown, etc etc) may have contributed to this.

See that little bottle of concentrated ginseng bottle? That's about 50ml, and it costs 150 dollars at duty-free stores. well above 200 in regular markets. It's hella expensive.

Now according to RFA, a great part of North Korea's effort to earn foreign currency consists of making fake Korean Red Ginseng by reprocessing Chinese ginseng and selling it as authentic Korean ginseng. Chinese ginseng vendors near the border between China and North Korea are almost losing their business because North Korean government is buying massive amount of ginseng with a great effort.

According to a Chinese vendor in the area, "the reason why North Korea is trying to buy a huge amount of ginseng is so that they can reprocess it as red ginseng and export it." This red ginseng is usually sold to Chinese tourist attractions near the border, and especially Hong Kong.

A Chinese Korean who used to live in North Korea said, "it is true that North Korea cannot produce as much ginseng as they used to be able to. It is a well-known news that North Korea makes their red ginseng with Chinese ginseng."

Korean-made red ginseng has been very popular in Hong Kong and China as gifts. However, Chinese ginseng is known to have inferior texture and nutrients compared to Korean ginseng.

There it is folks. If you're living in China/Hong Kong and planning to get red ginseng for your parents next time. Just call up a friend in Korea and buy one of those above.

American GI bodies in North Korea

2011-10-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Korean War Memorial in DC

RFA(Radio Free Asia)'s Korean section had this article on the current situation of unearthing American GIs' bodies from Korean War 60 years ago. According to the US Congressional report, many bodies are destroyed beyond the levels of DNA inspection, and many crates had several body remains mixed up so the process of identifying soldiers have become extremely difficult.

Below is a brief translation of the RFA article.

"North Korean sends body remain crates that had up to 7 boxes mixed together"

According to Congressional Research Service, approximately 1,500 bodies have been retrieved out of 7,980 missing American soldiers from the Korean War; however, only 171 bodies have been identified through identification process like DNA identification. Also, when North Korea conducted their own excavation project and sent crates of human remains over to the US during 1990~1994, many crates had multiple human remains mixed together, some up to 7.

CRS turned in a Congressional report to the Senates, which stated that 416 and 451 American bodies were recovered right after the war in North Korea and South Korea, respectively. However, only 13 bodies out of 867 have been identified. In this case, the kind of preservation chemical they used destroyed the DNA evidence greatly.

On the other hand, the bodies retrieved from North Korea during 1990~1994 were relatively preserved pretty well, so 70 have been identified. However, these bodies came in 208 crates, and many of these crates had multiple bodies mixed together, some up to 7 different bodies. Although North Korean handed over 208 crates, CRS is expecting around 450 bodies to identify from them.

This report was made for the talk between the US and North Korea regarding excavation of American soldiers in North Korea on October 18th.

Source : "북 건넨 미군 유해 상자, 7구 섞인 경우도"

Farewell, Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Quite late on this, but busy work and sickness (again?) came first.

I haven't posted in a few days, but next week I'll get back on track. Next post will be on Apple vs. Samsung, what you need to know about the conflict between the two mega-companies.

RIP, Steve! My Iphone 3G (that I still have) will miss you.

Kim Jong-Un film in North Korea

2011-09-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

North Korean military has begun showing a film about Kim Jong-Il's son and soon-to-be the new leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un. According to DailyNK, “They have been showing [the soldiers] the documentary film ‘One Year under the Banner of the Supreme Leader’ since the start of September.” According to the soldier that told DailyNK about the film, the documentary begins with an announcer saying "“Following in the footsteps of the General, offering guidance to the troops, comrade General Kim Jong Un delivers a great blow to the enemy with the resourcefulness of his keen insight.” The documentary also shows Kim Jong-Un visiting military bases alone, and mostly shows artillery bases with him in it. Kim Jong-Un is also a great hero "to show modernization and command automation to [the military of North Korea]."

When Kim Jong-Il was seated as the leader of North Korea in 1991, they made a similar 5-part(!) documentary film called "Following under the Banner of the Supreme Leader." Yeahh....

Source : New Kim Jong Eun Film for the Troops

Wonder Girls Voted Best Mashup Monday

2011-09-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Good news, all you K-Pop fans/Wonder Girls fans out there!

Wonder Girls have taken the first place in the poll for Best Cover for Mashup Mondays of 2011. They did a cover of B.o.B & Bruno Mars' "Nothin' On You" a few months ago. Wonder Girls got 65% of the internet poll, out of 32 contestants out there. Kudos to you, Wonder Girls fans!
More here : Wonder Girls Voted Best Mashup Monday of 2011: Poll Results

North Korean Assassins on the move?

2011-09-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Here we go again, North Korea doing something you thought you'd see in movies.

Several times in the past weeks, activists against North Korea have been marked for assassination by North Korean agents.... with poison needles.

Three times in recent weeks, activists opposing the government of North Korea's Kim Jong Il have been marked for assassination by well-trained agents wielding poisoned needles, fellow activists allege.
A 46-year-old South Korean pastor named Kim living in Dandong, a Chinese city near the North Korean border, was found unconscious in the street - his face and fingers badly discolored - and died.
The next afternoon in the Chinese city of Yanji, a South Korean involved with missionary work was standing at a traffic light when he felt a pinprick in his lower back. As he collapsed to the sidewalk, he heard a man muttering behind him in Chinese, "Sorry, sorry." He survived the apparent attack.
Initially, the stories about North Korean assassins wielding poisoned needles sounded improbable, but the activists gained some support for their charges this month when South Korean intelligence announced that it had foiled an attack in Seoul in which the intended weapon was a poisoned needle. The target in that case was Park Sung-hak, an activist who had launched balloons into North Korea carrying antigovernment leaflets.

This seems very serious... and we all expected North Korea to consider sinister and extreme methods like assassination. I just didn't think they'd go for poisoned needles... Read more here : North Korea accused of poison attacks on activists

First Korean Adoptee French Senator Elected

2011-09-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

Jean-Vincent Placé(43)

A great news for Korean adoptees around the world. Jean-Vincent Placé, a Korean adoptee since he was 7, has been elected to the French Senate for the Green Party. He joined the Green Party in 2001, and rose up to the second highest place in the Party since then. Not only was he the first Korean adoptee to be a senator, but he was also the first Asian-French to be one. Congratulations!

France has the highest number of Korean adoptees in Europe, around 12,000.

For more, read here.

The Kimchi Chronicles

2011-09-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

I always thought I was the only weird one who likes to eat Kimchi like this. Not anymore!

Ever heard of 'The Kimchi Chronicles'? It actually seems like a popular word of choice. There's the Blog, there's the PBS Documentary, and now there's a Cookbook.

Well actually, the documentary and the cookbook are made by the same awesome kimchi-loving person : Marja Vongerichten.

Amazon Link here

Chicago Tribune featured an article on Vongerichten's new cookbook a few days ago (article here). A few excerpts from the article :

Marja Vongerichten believes it's time for kimchee to be discovered and enjoyed by more people. "I think it's got huge potential," she says. "People just don't really have a knowledge of it."Indeed, nothing looks, tastes, feels or smells quite like kimchee, a pungent, pickled, fermented condiment that is served with nearly every Korean meal. (It's also spelled kimchi or kim chee.)Made year-round, kimchee has hundreds of variations that depend on the season and the available produce, which can include cabbage, radishes, green onions and cucumbers. Many kimchees are fiery in flavor and color thanks to the liberal application of red chili powder. It can also be stinky, but Vongerichten notes the same can be said for a number of fine French cheeses.
"Be adventurous," she urges. "Close your eyes and eat it."

I haven't had the opportunity to look into the content of the book, or try the recipes. But this book has been getting pretty positive feedbacks from both American and Korean media, so I look forward to trying some of the recipes. It's got decent (but few) reviews on Amazon too.

Personally, I'm a big Kimchi lover. My family can never have a normal American dinner (say, a steak) without saying "aw screw this, somebody get the kimchi" in the middle of the meal. Kimchi honestly goes well with almost anything. Pizza, any kinds of meat, rice, hotdog, pasta, burgers... If you go to restaurants in Korea, it's not hard to find things like "Kimchi burgers", and "Kimchi Pasta", etc.

If you like Kimchi and cooking, I think this book might be worth it! Spread the word!

N. Korea Kim's family visits a VHS/DVD factory

2011-09-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

The Kim family is on a road trip! Kim Jong-Il and his lovely fat son Kim Jong-Un visited Mok-Ran Video Company in Pyongyang last September.

Mok-Ran video company has been producing VHS tapes in North Korea, and has added DVD-producing capability very recently. Welcome to a decade ago, North Korea!

More pictures below, with Kim Jong-Un looking like a supervillain.

I wear the stunna' glasses... while looking at CDs?

I sometimes think Kim Jong-Il we see on pictures and videos might be a robot that is designed to do only one of the two things : Pose One, one-hand touching things.

Pose Two, body leaning towards... things

And Kim Jong-Un inherited the same posture, apparently.

Look closely at the last three photos. In the first two pictures, Kim Jong-Un is with his father Kim Jong-Il, all smiling, listening carefully, looking so polite. In the last picture, he is with an old official, suddenly looking like a thug or something. He definitely seems to have inherited the dictator blood in him...

Video : Starved N. Korean Soldiers

2011-09-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a video from KBS, one of South Korea's major news networks. This video was secretly taped near Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. Not sure exactly who taped this, but I'm assuming it's from a Japanese NGO working in North Korea.

Below is the link to the video (it's in Korean, so just click on 'Play'), and I'm providing English translation of the news script below.

http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/actions/VodPlayerAction?type=2&cmd=showMP4&vod_info=D|10|/newsline/2011/08/10/50.mp4|N||F|10|/newsline/2011/08/10/1000k/50.mp4|N&news_code=2338388

Click below for the script.

<Anchor>
Rumors that North Korean military cannot provide sufficient food rations to their soldiers have been proved true in this video.

Their soldiers are all skin and bones. However, their markets seem plentiful and prospering compared to the soldiers. We're live in Tokyo.

<Question>
Shin Gang-moon correspondent, this video that confirms the food and health situation of North Korean soldiers, what's it about?

<Answer>
Yes, it has been confirmed by the soldiers near Pyongyang. Let's see the video.

Soldiers in dark-yellow uniforms are in small groups in a train station. Their eyes seem caved in, and their faces are pale.

They must be at least 20 years old, but their height seems to short for their age.

Some soldiers who are sitting down look worse. All they got are skin and bones, and their eyes have no focus. As they beg for mercy and complain of the pain, their officers return by kicking them.

We ask them if these soldiers are being transported as patients, but the answer is no.

This video was taped by a news agency on North Korea from Japan - AsiaPress - last month near Pyongyang. These soldiers are speculated to be in charge of construction works.

<Question>
North Korea has been pursuing 'Military-First' politics. It is quite extraordinary that soldiers are this malnourished. But this video also proved those markets in Pyongyang to be quite prospering, didn't it?

<Answer>
Yes, you will now see some of the recent footage of Moran Market in Pyongyang now.

Even in the midst of a terrible famine, there are plenty of food in every shop. Eggs, bread, pickled fish are quite easy to find. Some high-quality shampoo and rinse, probably imported from foreign nations, are there too.

Ordinary citizens who cannot afford to pay taxes to sell things in the market are selling things outside of the market. North Korean authority has been cracking down on these illegal markets, but apparently they can't quite control the market. Some people are utterly ignoring the officials, and we can hear people shouting here and there.

<Question>
Isn't North Korea asking the international community for food aid currently? How's it that there are plenty of food stuff in markets, instead of military?

<Answer>
Well, North Korea has been lacking in food anyway. However, the major reason is that the government is losing control and food rations have become nonexistent. That's why soldiers, who must rely on rations for everything, have taken the biggest hit.

However, citizens are selling things in both official and illegal markets to make money. With the economy almost at its limit, people are trying to find a replacement for their nonexistent rations.

EVERYDAY IM SUFFERIN

2011-09-20T19:33:00.001-07:00

Some of the comments are pure gem. And somebody had way too much free time...

Hyun Bin the Korean marine to visit Indonesia

2011-09-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hyunbin(29), who is currently serving in the 6th Marine Corps Brigade of South Korea, may be visiting Indonesia next month.

An official from the Marine Corps said, "Indonesian government invited Hyunbin for their Armed Forces Day event (Oct. 4~7th). South Korea's Ministry of Defense is currently reviewing the plan." Hyunbin is a very well-known Korean celebrity in Indonesia due to his major role in the drama 'Secret Garden'.

Also, Jun-gi Lee, Hyo-shin Park, and 5 other Korean celebrities serving in Korean military will be visiting Indonesia for Korean Culture Relations Event on Oct 1st~4th.

So there it is Indonesian readers. If you like Hyunbin and/or other Korean stars, look into those events in the next couple weeks!

Obama to host state visit for S. Korea's President

2011-09-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

US President Barack Obama will host talks and lay on the official pageantry of a state dinner for South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on October 13, the White House has announced. For President Lee, this is the first state visit to the US. President Lee is expected to visit the US on the 10th or 11th of October.

Notable topics on the table are US-Korea FTA(Free Trade Agreement), which has been a very controversial topic in both nations, 6-Party Talk and denuclearization of North Korea.

Lee will also be in the United States this month to attend the United Nations General Assembly and other events.

In New York on September 20, Lee will receive the World Statesman Award presented by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation for his contribution to world peace, democracy and human rights.

The following day, the South Korean leader will attend the General Assembly and give a speech pledging that his country will take greater responsibility in international affairs.

This will be a very important visit for President Lee's politics, as his political stance has been very pro-USA since the beginning of his presidency, something that has earned both much respect and dissatisfaction in South Korea.

2012 : The Greatest Year for North Korea?

2011-09-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

It reads : Strongest and Greatest Nation, 2012

Nostradamus, Harold Camping... People sure love Apocalypse theories! In South Korea, Nostradamus is still very popular, though I personally believe that most people look at the theory with nothing more than simple fascination. However in the United States, 2012 end of the world theory has been very popular lately. And hoorah, they even made a movie about it!

Well, 2012 End of the World theory is a worldwide popular one now. Except in the one place that seems to be always out of place : North Korea.

The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of Kim Il-Sung's birthday. Kim Il-Sung is the founder of North Korea, and the father of Kim Jong-Il, the current leader of North Korea. Naturally (considering all things North Korea), the year 2012 has been designated by the North Korean government as "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower."

Pictured above : People. Lots of them.

For those leaders of North Korea, the notions of "the greatest nation in the world" and "the world is gonna end" do not go well together. So they simply BANNED the film '2012'. The authorities decided that viewing the movie constituted "a grave provocation against the development of the state." Pirated DVDs from China were searched, confiscated, and destroyed. People selling and buying DVDs were punished altogether. Having pirated DVDs of foreign films, ESPECIALLY '2012', is a grave crime currently in North Korea.

So there you have it folks. While the rest of the Western world is going paranoid and panicking about this nonexistent threat, North Korea is being the optimistic one for once and looking forward to the next year.

North Korean Caption : Those American imperialists are so pessimistic!

Sources
Watching '2012' a no-no in N. Korea

North Korea fears 2012 disaster film will thwart rise as superpower

Buying money with money

2011-09-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Source : Radio Free Asia (RFA)

Remember two dollar bills? Some people carry one around as a lucky charm, or you just find it fascinating then spend it away anyway. Or some people like to use it to tip strippers (really, Wikipedia?). Well, there are some people who take this 'lucky charm' thing to seriously. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported recently that 2-dollar bills have become a major hit item in North Korea... They sure hate Americans but they love the dollars! More below.

Apparently two dollar bills are becoming very popular in North Korea, and Chinese border cities are completely running dry of two dollar bills recently. Rumors say that two dollar bills bring great luck, and everybody in North Korea wants to own one. Currently, not even black market dollar dealers and banks have run out two dollar bills.

Ordinary North Korean citizens and even the higher officials are looking to buy two dollar bills, and now it has become the new top commodity in black markets and regular markets alike. For a 2-dollar bill, people usually have to pay about 10 dollars. That's... yeah, ridiculous.

However, North Korean officials generally believe that two-dollar bills genuinely bring good luck, and it has become a great bribing gift for these officials.

A Chinese with Korean ancestry who works near the China-N.Korea border with North Korean officials says, "whenever I give a two dollar bill to a visiting North Korean official, they couldn't be any happier. Every North Korean staying in China to earn dollars has brand-new two-dollar bills in their wallets."

According to a South Korean human rights activist, "life in North Korea is so cruel and harsh, that people are adhering to every superstition they can find, even having a foreign currency as a lucky charm"

Even South Korea had a two-dollar-bill-is-lucky trend once; however, that trend is now long gone and it is pretty easy to find two-dollar bills in big banks.

Long Hiatus

2011-09-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

I was away from this blog for about a month due to personal work reasons. After that, there was Choosuk(Korean Thanksgiving), so I had to go visit families and all that shenanigans. But all that hellish work stuff is done now!

If you are a regular reader, I apologize for the month-gap without notice. I will start posting regularly again.

Hanguk Story