USinKorea alerted me to this Time story on North Korea, “The Sopranos State,” an expose on the “the North’s Mafia-style businesses.” Also an interesting side note about the former U.S. Naval station at Subic Bay in the Philippines.
On Friday (13 July) North Korea proposed direct military talks with the U.S., referring to, “for the purpose of discussing the issues related to ensuring the peace and security on the Korean peninsula.” This is alluding to a formal peace treaty to replace the armistice that has been in place since 1953. By asking for [...]
Earlier reports in April on the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, or PUST, stated the new joint university would open in September 2007 with an initial class of 150 MBA students. If North Korea actually allows the project – financed by “unabashedly Christian” backers – to continue as planned, up to 2,600 undergraduate and [...]
No doubt a large part of the reason North Korean authorities recently cracked down on foreign media is the influx of South Korean entertainment, a.k.a. the “Korea Wave.”
North Korean defector “A” could sense changes back home when she got in touch with her nineteen-year-old daughter she left behind in the North. While updating her, [...]
Asia Times: The world according to Pyongyang (Andrei Lankov) [MUST READ]
Time: The Sopranos State
JoongAng Ilbo: North urged to halt public execution
Reuters: North Korea proposes military talks with U.S.: KCNA
Bloomberg: In Kim’s NK, Cars Are Scarce Symbols of Power, Wealth
AFP: Denmark says North Korean refugees want to get to South Korea
Japan Today: Hill [...]
After missile and nuclear tests and uranium enrichment, the U.S. sanctions North Korean firms while Pyongyang reverses, making overtures. It’s not an accident, it’s a pattern of strategic disengagement.
- #Vanity Fair, of all publications, has a lengthy article on North Korea’s counterfeiting operations, including Office 39. Well worth a read. (h/t NE Asia Matters)
- #The Chosun Ilbo has an article about a new book by Chang Jin-song (formerly affiliated with the North Korean Workers' Party) that details Kim Jong-il private life, including the inside scoop on all his lady friends. According to Chang, one unfortunate young lady to get Kim's attention was, "brutally executed after she spurned Kim's persistent advances and fell in love with another man."
- #Gizmodo has an excellent array of Kim Jong-il photos; In Which We Provoke Kim Jong Il in 77 Offensive and Hilarious Ways. Some are sure to become often used classics.
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