Pictured above, flagged by Gawker via Daily NK, is Kim Jong-un, the dictator as a young man during his days at a Swiss boarding school. How exceptionally notable is it that from a team with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, he chose to don the No. 91 jersey belonging to Dennis Rodman? We’re reminded of... Read more »
Outside a salon in the city of Pyongyang hangs a framed picture showing 28 hairstyles for customers to choose from. The North Korean government has declared these styles the official ones for men and women -- and what selection!
We're all too familiar with the practices of a conformist state, but this is a throwback to an even more communist era. If you are a married woman, you have to keep your hair short and ribbon-free; if single, young ladies should keep braids; etc.
North Korea may be distressing policymakers here and abroad with its threats of nuclear blah-blah-blah, but most people tend to shrug off its proclamations as rhetorical bluster, which we've all seen before. "Final destruction," DPRK? Really? You mean, this is finally the final one, now?
North Korea, at this point, is a parody of itself, but that doesn't mean it can't use the occasional poke. Here's Kingsoft to oblige.
We know what the US, Japan, South Korea, and China think about North Korea's third nuclear test yesterday (none of them are happy), but about North Korean citizens?
That's a stupid question, of course. We'll never know what the majority of them think, for obvious reasons. But via Dragon TV news, we know what a tiny number of them are willing to say on television:
NKNews.org has rolling updates of today's nuclear test in North Korea. It reports in a separate post:
North Korea has successfully detonated a nuclear device in the Northeastern province of Hamgyong, causing an explosion with a magnitude of 5.1, geological surveys in China and the U.S. said.
The detonation originated at a depth of about 1 kilometer in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, 378km (235mi) NE of Pyongyang at 1157KST.
The North Korea propaganda website Uriminzokkiri recently published a video depicting a dream sequence in which New York City burns, burns, burns. Check out the 45-second mark in the above video, which comes with subtitles (toggle on/off from the bottom-right corner).
It's only a question of time...
All around the world, there will be massive explosions. It will be The Revenge.
When the Korean Central News Agency uses terms such as "hostile forces" and "paid media" to describe a "smear campaign against the DPRK," the usual targets are South Korea and the US. Indeed, in its latest release, which is a resplendent sun in the smoggy skies outside the DPRK that everyone should go read right now, KCNA calls out its neighbor to the south, referring to them as "rats"... but look who else is implicated in the same article:
