Stories about North Korea from September, 2011
Incredible Photos of North Korean Mass Game
Photographer Sam Gellman took 50 photos of a large-scale Mass Games in Pyongyang during his 4-day trip to North Korea. Although nearly 100,000 North Korean were mobilized for the game which is heavily laden with regime's propaganda, net users left good comments on Gellman who captured these incredible images.
North Korea: Kim Jong-Il's Surprise Appearance On the Simpsons
Martyn Williams from the North Korea Tech blog wrote a short post on Kim Jong-il's appearance on “The Simpsons”. One character from the episode says that he was forced to write a musical about Kim in a North Korean prison and introduces a song addressing the regime's ban on internet.
North Korea: Kim Jong-il Plans to Solve Famine by Breeding Giant Rabbits
Zimbabwe Metro site posted a list of eccentric acts and plans carried out by North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il. It includes Kim's plan to solve famine by breeding giant rabbits and revelations that Kim being one of the world’s largest buyer of Hennessy, German cars and Uzbekistani caviar.
Book Review: ‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea’
Change in Longitude blog posted a thorough review of the book ‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea’ by Barbara Demick. The book’s title comes from a song that North Korean school children recite, “We have nothing to envy in the world” in spite of chronic malnutrition and famine...
Ethical Issues in Doing Business in North Korea
Uhro van der Pluijm from Omkar Gopalakrishnan's Posterous blog wrote about ethical issues in doing business in North Korea.
North Korea: Google Earth Reveals Death Camps in Detail
Kyle Wagner from Gizmodo site wrote a post on one of the most detailed images of the North Korean concentration camps taken by Google Earth. It is estimated that over 200,000 North Korean citizens are imprisoned in the camps under unimaginably harsh conditions.
South Korea: More Blocking of Pro-North Korean Internet Content
Quoting DongA newspaper's report on the censorship of internet content in South Korea, Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog wrote that there has been a sharp increase of the number of South Korean police requests demanding the deletion of pro-North Korean internet content.
Korea: Plan to Launch Satellite TV Airing Programs to North Korea
Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog posted about a private South Korean group's plan to launch a satellite TV station that will air South Korean dramas and entertainment programs in North Korea. Williams, however, voiced worries that it would be nearly impossible for impoverished North Koreans to afford the satellite...
North Korea’s First Cruise Ship Draw Harsh Reviews
Bearded Wiseman from the 2Oceansvibe site wrote about North Korea's first cruise ship, calling it a ‘bit of a joke’.
Korea: WikiLeaks Reveals More on South Korean Policy, Rather than North Korean Realities
Leon V. Sigal from 38 North site posted an interesting analysis on the WikiLeaks cable traffic between Seoul and Washington. The author stressed that the cables shed less light on North Korea than they do on South Korea’s policy toward the North.
North Korea: Inside the House of Upper-class North Koreans
A net user ID:CheeseNoodle posted photos of a North Korean house in South Korean citizen journalist website, Wiki Tree. The house, which belongs to upper-class people, is equipped with a flat-screen TV, electric devices and just like any other households, portraits of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung in one corner.
North Korea’s Character Set has Unique Characters Reserved for Kim Jong Il
Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog posted an interesting article on North Korea's official character set. According to the author, the set includes unique characters reserved for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and special symbols for their ruling Worker's Party.
North Korea's GPS Jamming Device
Edwin Kee from Ubergizmo site wrote about North Korea's GPS jamming device that can disrupt signals which occur across a wide area, even places 100 kilometers away.
North Korea, Country in a Long Coma
Alex Tabarrok on Marginal Revolution blog wrote about how the dictatorship in North Korea has survived decades despite mass starvation and economic failure. The author, quoting parts from the book Nothing to Envy, commented that the North Korean iron curtain which has been much more impenetrable than that of Eastern...
