Kim Jong-un as god: Part Two

I do not just stand for the religious groups, (mainly Christian) who have been being persecuted, I also would like to draw attention to the numerous other groups who deviate from the worship of the Kim family, and the wrath they ensue upon themselves for simply being independent thinkers. My heart also goes out to the gay community, the defectors, the outsiders in gulags/prison camps, the people who simply don't cry hard enough during mournful worship of the deceased forefathers of Kim Jong-un, and all the other people who refuse to worship the Kim family like the trinity.

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This article (previously mentioned in my last post) read: "The North Korean government forcefully propagates an ideology, known as “Juche,” based on the personality cult of the regime’s current leader, Kim Jong Il, and his late father, Kim Il Sung. Korean law reportedly mandates that pictures of Kim Jong Il and his father be placed in every home and venerated."

I'm appalled and infuriated by this cult-like culture that the Kim family has forced upon their people. Everything about it is wrong! The indoctrination process is a pack of lies, the false hope in their deities will lead them to death, and the eery Jones-town culture is obviously not beneficial to the population by any means. I wish there was a way to help such a kingdom that resembles a sheltered child in the care of a selfish parent. 

Kim Jong-un as god: Religious Persecution

 Among several disconcerting and intolerable acts committed against human rights in North Korea, one of the most shocking to me, personally, is the situation of religious rights in the DPRK. (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) As someone who has long advocated and fought for freedom of religious belief and practice in my own scholastic, social, and working life, (and in the lives of others) I recognize the pain and suffering these religious groups are going through in NK. I sympathise with these religious groups to the point of being personally moved and upset by their struggles. There are many accounts and testimonies told (in majority) by Christian churches in the USA, but those are at risk if biases, so I decided to take a more political point of view and I found an official Policy Forum, documenting the circumstances.

It said: "Freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief remains essentially non-existent in North Korea, where the government severely represses public and private religious activities and has a policy of actively discriminating against religious believers. Despite the regime’s tight grip on information about conditions inside the country, there is a growing body of consistent reports from refugees that officials have arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and sometimes executed North Koreans who were found to have ties with overseas Christian Evangelical groups operating outside the country, as well as those who engaged in such unauthorized religious activities as public religious expression and persuasion. There is no evidence that religious freedom conditions have improved in the past year."

As someone who has grown up in an environment where I have always been free, and even encouraged to practice my beliefs and be different without oppression, I am beginning to realize how privileged I really am to live in the country I do. My heart goes out to the persecuted in NK.

Another source on the persecution of North Korean religious groups can be found below. It was funded by a church in the USA, so it is at risk of being biased. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable account of personal testimonies of a particular religious group that has been persecuted in ways that are not acceptable, no matter what social group you belong to. The second video illustrates the fact that North Korea is #1 on the World Watch List for persecution of Christians. 

32 North Korean are free

It all started when authorities from Panama found a ship that was carrying weapons from Cuba and was supposed to end his trip in North Korea. The authorities did detained the 35 crew members. As time went on, 32 of the 35 crew members were release and are allowed to go back into North Korea. The captain, his assistant and a political emissary do still face charges of illegal possession of weapons. This accusation could lead to penalty of 12 years in prison.

Something interesting is that North Korea is demanding Panama to return the 10,000 tons of sugar that was on the boat. They believe the sugar is worth about 5 million dollars. The sugar is needed in North Korea for end of the year celebration for children.

HELP for Kim Jung-un

A recent blog post here at Morning Star News reminded us all just how backwards interactions with North Korea really are when it was reported that the North Korea dictator was awarded an honorary PhD in economics for his so called "untiring efforts for the education of the country and the well-being of its people." This doctorate was awarded to Dear Leader by the Malaysian college of HELP which stands for Higher Education Learning Philosophy. As a struggling college student myself I can only stare in awe at the sheer disrespect that Malaysia has for their doctorates if they are willing to give them out to a man who has shown 0 honest efforts to improve the North Korean economy (which remains at an estimated 1,200$/per person each year vs the 25,00 of South Korea). This awarding of a PhD was done in efforts to "create a bridge between peoples" and was claimed as "being a road untraveled" which appears to have been untraveled for a reason! Handing out an award such as this to a man who has done nothing but create waves at the international stage is nothing short of validating a madman's work. Kim Jung-un is not someone who we as a people should be encouraging and with this ceremony having been completed, we can only look on in disappointment as the Hermit Kingdom uses their leader's new found PhD in order to validate their continued isolationist policies and totalitarian regime.

Any One Else Doing Mushrooms?

Kim Jong Un is no longer obsessed with the nuclear weapons phase, he has proposed a new enlightening economic development tool: Mushroom factories. The idea was so innovative that the Malaysian University has honoured the North's leader with a shiny new Phd in economics. The North: the new Mushroom Powerhouse. Who wants to compete?   The leader has been stricken with the idea that the newly built Central Mushroom Research Institute will generate economic growth. National Post 

You can verify the source twice, or three times, like I did.

Kim does live a luxury life

Everyone knows the relationship between the ex-basketball superstar Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un. The following article does tell us a little bit about the North Koreans living lifestyles. Rodman did spend his second trip in North Korea horse-riding, jet-skiing and drinking on a yacht. Rodman explains that Kim’s island is like going to Hawaii. The best advantage about this is the fact that Kim is the only one to live there. Something surprising is the fact that Kim loves to have people around him and drinks and is laughing all the time. Apparently, Rodman explain that if you want something, Kim has the best of the best of what you want. It’s funny to see how he lives comparing to how he rules his country.

Next stop Disney World?

Anybody remember Kim Jung-Un's dream for a ski resort in North Korea? Well he is at it again with this latest addition to the North Korean tourist destination brochure. This American styled water park East of Munsu city is filled with gigantic and vibrantly coloured water slides along with glass pyramids that would make the Louvre jealous. New reports that have shown images of this water park have revealed more men in uniform inspecting the park than those actually enjoying the slides. This appears to be yet another attempt by Kim Jung-Un to portray the Hermit Kingdom as a thriving nation, full of wealth and communal activities as opposed to an authoritarian regime wracked with poverty, starvation and notorious for their prolific use of labour camps. Why the North Korean dictator feels the need to implement such measures is beyond this blogger as it has quickly become apparent to me that the issues surrounding North Korea are far too vast and all-encompassing to be able to be resolved by feebly painting an image of prosperity for North Korea on the international stage.

Nazi-Like Gas Tests: This ISN'T Funny Anymore

 A report from the National Post says that defectors have leaked information about NK using gulag prisoners for chemical weapons testing. A defector, who was once a participant in the lab tests of the Nazi-like sickos spilled the details:

“I watched a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber: parents, one son and a daughter,” he said.

“The parents were vomiting and dying, but until the very last moment they tried to save the kids by doing mouth-to-mouth breathing.

“For the first time it hit me that even prisoners are capable of powerful human affection.”

Is it just me, or is this North Korean madness not funny anymore? Sure it was laughable when we saw Kim Jong-un erect a ski resort worth an indigestion-inciting amount of money, or when he got really chummy with a spacy American NBA star Dennis Rodman, but things have taken a turn for the sour. 

I actually lived a a naive hope that maybe regimes like this would be obsolete, and that the  proactive side of the globe would be able to wash out any shadows of reoccurring Nazism. Unfortunately, I have to force myself to accept the fact that children are being gassed in torture camps halfway across the world, and there is nothing (militarily) we can do about it, because it would lead to nuclear war with a psychopath. 

I usually have some witty remark about how ridiculous Kim Jong-un is, but today I have nothing to say. I am just extremely upset, and ashamed for North Korea and all it's people, who revere such a wayward human being. 

This is Hitler in 2013. 

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China wary of North Korea's ambitions?

Sources claim that China has recently confiscated 500,000 tons of condensed light oil from a North Korea in what appears to be a play to demonstrate their authority over the region surrounding the Hermit Kingdom. What's more is that China is now demanding that North Korea pay "storage fees" in excess of two million dollars! This is a clear power play by China to show North Korea that they will remain dependent on China whether they like it or not.What's even worse is that the facilities within North Korea are not adequate for the refining of this form of crude oil and they require the use of facilities located in Beijing.

I for one am happy to see China stepping up in regards to the stability of their region regarding North Korea. Admittedly, this form of coercion will probably result in the eventual alienation of even China from the ever defiant Korean state. The only ones who can really be to blamed for this are the North Koreans as they continue to press forward on their nuclear campaign without the support of their #1 back, China. Back at the end of 2012 North Korea successfully launched their new longer ranged ballistic missiles, something that China clearly does not support as they have cut their petroleum supplies into North Korean by 1/3 since, but do however remain 80% of North Korea's oil supply despite these new dealings with Iran.

The UN has also increased the number of economic sanctions on North Korean and it appears that China has a few of their own sanctions in mind as well.

Photofraud

Apparently North Korea is not so hot on the photoshop option. The North has been caught taking fraud pictures of war exercises to make the military seem more vast along with doctored photos of non-existent missiles. These recent photos have been released by a news agency in North Korea: the official Korean News Agency (KCNA). Bryan Ashcroft as well as many other online users have said to have caught on quite rapidly about the frauds. Ashcroft writes, “Can someone please help the North Korean government out? The propaganda ministers stink at Photoshop,”. Some online commentators have stated that these photos had not been altered. Although in March 2013, the KCNA released a stream of photos showing rampant hovercraft with marines hovering an unidentified shore. Experts seemed to agree that the photos looked photoshopped. Within the same timeframe, the AFP ''issued a mandatory kill on the image, saying'': “This general service picture… of March 26, 2013 is being removed due to excessive digital alteration, compromising its news content. Please remove all copies from your systems. We and thank you [sic] for your cooperation, and apologize for any inconvenience.” New York Post

Military Practice

This leak is simply terrifying. From Kim Jong-Un's baton waving, aiming bullets to the heart, to the missile ''trials''. Military boats just rolling right into shore; where did they come from and--uh--lightening speed? Soldiers cartwheeling in, like a modern Waltz. Science Fiction?

Oh, SO Dope

Marijuana, weed, yes, CANNABIS, it's legal in North-Korea. Just because North Korean tourists smoke it, doesn't mean it's legal! No, but...Other sources seem to explain that, regardless, marijuana is simply not criminalized or stigmatized as ''poor living choices'' in ''The Hermit Kingdom''. An NGO based in Seoul, held in 2010, an ''Open Radio for North Korea'' and cited that Kim Jong Un's regime does not consider marijuana to be a drug. The HuffPo states that it is unsure whether the drug is ''prosecutable'', but the regime does not appear to take the issue seriously in practice. What has the North been smokin'? Oh, right, cannabis grows wildly in North Korea. The mulla, cashing it in, one joint at a time. Sokeel Park, the director of research and strategy at Liberty In North Korea, says that Marijuana has been sold abroad by government agencies as a ''a way of foreign currency''.

Marijuana is known as 'yoksam' in North Korea. Perhaps the reason why the government has not made such a hoot about the drug is because in Western cultures, Weed is, on the contrary, very stigmatized. The fact that it is criminalized in North-Amercia creates a sort of fetish in regards to the drug. In North Korea, marijuana grows near the streets of Pyongyang, therefore, it is not so much of a hype to see the drug: ''NK News receives regular reports from visitors returning from North Korea, who tell us of marijuana plants growing freely along the roadsides, from the northern port town of Chongjin, right down to the streets of Pyongyang, where it is smoked freely and its sweet scent often catches your nostrils unannounced. Our sources are people we know who work inside North Korea and make regular trips in and out of the country.''

Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high, la-da-da-da-da...

Sound track for article (comic mischief)

Match in the Gas Tank...

Last December (2012), North Korea launched a rocket, that was said, by the state of Washington, to be a ''ballistic missile test''. How pedantic is: ''No. Nuclear. Action.''? Jargon? Guessing it must be or the North is ''hobbesing-it'' because in February (2013) the North carried out its third ''underground'' nuclear test in defiance of the resolutions carried out by the UN's Security Council--word to keep in mind: defiance--. Why so serious North Korea? What are you asking for? Of course! US, drop your bombs. Not literally, of course. On Saturday October 11th, leader Kim Jong-Un, wraps-up threats towards the US by stating that the US government must withdraw its policy of hostility--sounding a little Putin-ish?--against the North if it wants ''peace'' on both the Korean Peninsula and the ''US mainland''. Hear that US of A? These disguising ''missile tests'', sneaky coercion, like letting off steam--literally this time--from the reactors in the central hub of the state (North Korea), China cutting ties with their ''buddy-buddy'' North Korea, in retrospect, all the the recent provocation awaits massive showdown. War of justice--such a paradox--or are we playing who's flicking the first domino?

North Korea makes another statement on October 12th which entails emphasis on the United States to retire their ''various measures aimed to isolate and strangulate us.'' (World News) These comments arise after a two-day joint naval drill between Japan, South Korea and the US. This spikes threats and anger responses from Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. On the following Friday, the North states that this kind of behaviour is ''serious military provocation'' and ''vowed (<--getting serious right here-->) to bury in the sea the American carrier taking part in the exercise.'' Ouch, America. If you haven't gathered, this means: Drop it, and fast, unless of course you want to rot at the bottom of the ocean like Un suggests.

The National Defence Commission of North Korea suggest that the ''constant nuclear blackmails and various war drills'' come to an end, pronto! The US speaks! Response from the United States states that the North must show tangible commitment--wasn't it North Korea that used ''vowed''? Hold the wedding bells!--towards abandoning its nuclear programmes if it wants substantial talks with the United States. Basically, North-Korea, this means: shut up, drop the ''bull--'' and
let us do the talking.

Match in the gas tank: BOOM! BOOM!

United States and South Korea being bullies?

Kim Jong Un decided to launch an aggressive media campaign on Wednesday Oct. 10 to try and gather the support of North Koreans.  In light of the United States and South Korea performing military exercises near North Korea, Kim Jong Un had articles published in local newspapers about his desire for peace.  He claims that he has no desire for nuclear war but that nuclear war seems to be all that his war crazed neighbors and the United States want.
         The problem with Kim Jong Un's plan is that an increasing amount of people in North Korea now have access to external media sources, something that until recently was nearly impossible to acquire.  This means that while Kim Jong Un uses propaganda to portray himself as the innocent victim, North Koreans are managing to get their hands on the other side of the story.  Could it be that the people of North Korea will actually be able to make their own opinions about matters that directly affect them?

Camp 14 Total Control Zone

The documentary tells the story about Shin Dong-Hyuk. He was born in a North Korean labor camp. Life is very rough and lots of human rights are not respected. He lived in the camp for 23 years until he manage to escape. This young adult is very traumatized. He explains that his first memory of when he was little is of watching a public execution with his mother at the age of only four. At the age of six, he began his life of force labor. He also explains that children could be beaten for five hours for stealing grain of corn. As everyone can see, the human rights are not much respected in these camps. Now, Shin travels around the world and gives human rights conference. He adds on that it’s a period of adaptation to live in the real world. He said that in camps he had his own routine, did not have any life problems, no money problems and no decisions problem. Something that is surprising is the fact that if the camp falls down, he is open to go back and live where he lived most of his life.

The North Koreans keep their nation secret and a case like this is for sure a reason why they keep everything secrets. Cases like this happen a lot in North Korea and I find it’s good that the world see how bad the situation is in North Korea. It might put pressure on them to maybe improve their human rights and stop the labor camps.

Here is the documentary! Enjoy

Too good to be true? Probably, yea.

On October 6th, North Korean propaganda ministry released a photo (pictured overhead) of Kim Jung-Un and his advisers at the site of a supposed medical facility. Now ordinarily this would be seen as reason to celebrate, however after one actually sees said photo, it is difficult to remain optimistic. The photo in question is obviously fake and a clear attempt by the government to make their people believe that they are improving the country and not simply allowing their people to starve without acting, which is exactly what they are doing by the way. So to add insult to injury, the propaganda directors over in North Korea were unable to hire anyone with Photoshop talents beyond that of a first year college student. This Photoshop job looks pretty horrid, all the actors are in the foreground looking like they are kind of floating and to make it worse, they cast no shadows! I mean, I suppose this will be good enough to fool the starving farmers and detainees in labor camps, but anyone who is aware as to what Photoshop is will be able to call the North Korean government out for what they are: frauds.

Kidnapped Movie Makers: Kim Jong-Il's Freaky Obsession

If anyone is interested in the creepy obsession Kim Jong-il has with film making, and is not sensitive to the  vulgar language of the shocked and appalled documenters, please enjoy this hilarious documentary about the weirdest "director" in the world. If you thought Kim Jong-un was questionable, you've seen nothing yet. NOTHING.

My opinion: It's really sad that things like this happen, but I'm fascinated in a bizarre and inexplicable kind of way.

Enjoy the Documentary Here:

Or Here, (From YouTube):

More Unnecessary Infrastructure...

North Korea's "latest mega project"  is the Masik Pass ski resort in the North Korean alpines. Here we go again, could it be? An unnecessarily large, and expensive tribute to their culture's cult-like god figure. I have to give them credit, they are very good at paying homage to their "loving father" the nation-state leader: Kim Jong-un. I don't think I'll ever get over the unreal reverence the North Korean civil society has for their dictator. In a documentary I saw, two men travelled to NK and were systematically indoctrinated for a period of days. I cannot imagine living there for WEEKS let alone my ENTIRE LIFE, not knowing what the rest of the world is like, and never being allowed to leave. (Pictures found here.)

The Masik Pass ski resort is not only for Kim though, it is also being designed for 5,500 of the countries athletes! That's dedication to a whopping 0.02% of the population! It's so sweet that he thinks of the inhabitants of his country. The resort is predominantly to show that the country is culturally and economically advanced, so as to give off the impression that there is NOTHING wrong. WHY would there be anything wrong? Do you think there's anything wrong? You do? Come with me, Mam. An officer will see you now. 

Anyway, the ski resort is a spectacular and beautiful monument that has been built for the gracious Kim Jong-un who has been reported to have "enjoyed it as a teenager" when he studied in Switzerland. So why is it being built? Aren't they hosting the 2018 Olympics? Yes, but Seoul turned down NK's offer to host the skiing section.So if it's not for the Olympics, what is it for?  For tourism! For the elites! "It is proof of the great love of the great leader".

Beautiful, isn't it?
Woops, don't look at the labourers, they're just irrelevant teenagers.
Here:

This is all supposedly meant to play a part in NK's newfound efforts to raise the standard of living in NK by offering more sporting events, supplies, and access to sports centres. It is said that sports will bring some sort of revival to the people of Korea. The slogan “the hot wind of sports blowing through Korea." has been used to propagate these new sporting centres.

Despite my distaste for the way it is being done, I am relieved to see the rest of the world pressuring NK to take baby steps toward treating the civil society of NK with care and respect, if you can call it that in it's early stages. 

Does NK have a chance at becoming a morally uncorrupted, developed state? Is it even possible?

Trouble in the Waters?

Tensions flare yet again with North Korea's latest outburst. The trigger? It appears that there were several joint US-South Korean search and rescue drills being performed off the coast of the Korean peninsula. This latest outburst could not have come a worse time for peace in the region as the US government, one of the most vocal players for peace in the region, remains out of commission and will likely remain so unless domestic budget issues are resolved soon. With this in mind it is surprising to see the US military flexing their muscle in that particular area of the world during a time where their major infrastructure is not up and running. North Korean officials have even been quoted as saying "The moment of explosion is coming fast" a pretty thinly veiled threat towards the American interests in the region. As an observer I have got to say that China's passive comments on reigning in North Korea is clearly not enough and China needs to show more action as a leader in the region and cannot allow North Korea to run amok in their backyard. I really hope to see China step up in the coming months.

North Korean female athletes doing well in East Asian Games

There is an impressive number of 2,400 athletes from many Asian countries. The athletes are from China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Guam. They are competing in 24 different sports. Two North Korean athletes has catch the attention. The two woman have set weightlifting records for these games. Rim Jong-Sim has lifted 117kg the ‘’snatch’’ competition and lifted 148 kg in another discipline. In this same discipline, her teammate Kim Un-Ju did set a record of 153kg. She won by 5 kg on her teammate from North Korea.

Not to the surprise of everyone, China has the lead at the games. Like at the Olympics, they dominate all other Asian countries. After the second day, they have the lead with three times more medals than their nearest competitor.

This article has inspired me to look at the results of North Korea at the summer games of 2012. North Korea did finish 20 with a total of 4 goals medals. I believe that it’s very hard to practice and perform a sport in North Korea comparing to South Korea. Sports is something that brings everyone together and maybe this could be one solution to make North Korea a more peaceful country.

A bark much bigger than its bite?

SEOUL: North Korea’s top military body launched a blistering personal attack on Friday on South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and vowed to push ahead with the country’s nuclear weapons programme.

 This comes as little surprise to most as it has become nearly a routine whenever North and South Korean officials meet to discuss, and I use the term loosely, negotiate the terms of their cohabitation of the landmass just South-East of China. This could be seen as retaliation to the South Korean News' bashing of Kim Jung-Un and is likely nothing more than big words with little intent behind, however with recent developments in the North Korean  nuclear development department, there may be more here than the usual uneventful dispute between the two Korean nations. I am even more uneasy at China's continued absence from these discussions as I firmly believe that if North Korea does not halt its continued threatening of its Southern neighbor, then a preemptive attack from China will occur and it will seek to end the tyrannical regime and bring stability to their region so that they might focus on their expanding economy and the ever growing middle class citizens that are constantly demanding more rights. China does not have the luxury to simply ignore what is going on in their own backyard anymore, they have risen to the point where; much like the US, they are expected to set an example for other countries and will be expected to act upon the constant threats that North Korea is continually spouting.

Spend Christmas in North Korea?

It is now possible to spend Christmas vacation in NorthKorea. Believe it or not, a Chinese agency does provide the possibility to spend Christmas in North Korea. The agency is called Taedong Travel. They give people the chance for about 1000$ to travel from china on a train to Pyongyang. (It’s the capital city of North Korea). The trip consist of a five day and for nights in the totalitarian state.  The tourist will also have the chance to see Santa Claus. I believe people have to think twice before accepting and paying for this trip. We have to remember that North Korea is ranked as one of the most hostile countries in the world for Christmas time. We need to know that many Christian are arrested, tortured and even killed in North Korea because of their religion. Therefore, it might not be a great idea to spend Christmas over there. The article states that one Christian has been executed to passing out bibles in North Korea. It does not seem a great idea to spend your Christmas vacation into North Korea.

North Korean leader Photoshop picture! Photo illustration by Businessweek.com  

More Facts about the Empty Peace Village

Kijŏng-Dong is supposedly called the Peace village, maybe because it is situated very close to the DMZ. It was created in 1953, This online source says that

“The North Korean government says that Kijong-Dong is a 200-family collective farm with many amenities catered toward those families, like a hospital and multiple schools. ”

Kim Jong Un trying to gather North Koreans behind his cause?

On Tuesday October 1st, 2013, South Korea held its largest military parade in over a decade.  This was a clear demonstration that it was prepared to go to war if North Korea began to act overly hostile.  While this was less of a threat and more of a way to show that they were capable of defending themselves, a North Korean news paper claimed that this military display was a clear act of aggression and was one of South Korea's ways of "begging" for the United States' permanent occupation.  If Kim Jong Un is using local media outlets to portray his view of the events this may be a sign that he is actually trying to get the people of North Korea to back him on this issue.  Could this be a sign that, while the people still have very little power, Kim Jong Un actually cares about their opinions? This is not to be mistaken with giving the people actual power however maybe he, as opposed to his predecessors, has realized that it is a lot easier to control a willing crowd than it is a rebellious one.
            The media is one of the easiest ways for Kim Jong Un to gather support for whichever cause he chooses because he has total control of it on a local level. This gives him the ability to distort the news to favor whatever view he wants it to, or if he so chooses, to keep certain pieces of information completely hidden from the public at large.  A typical example of this would be the reason as to why South Korea is "showing off" its military forces.  Very few North Koreans are even aware that Kim Jong Un has been testing nuclear weapons, and without this information they could easily be led to believe that South Korea is preparing for a hostile takeover with no good reason.  This is just one of the many examples of how easy it is to mislead people when one person has total control over every media outlet within a certain territory.

Getting Drunk and Singing to get a few NK Visas?

I just so happened upon a documentary, made by a group of journalists with an organisation called VICE who had fought their way into NK for quite a while to cover what goes on in "The Hermit Country."

Here is an excerpt from a written summary  by Shane Smith, a VICE founder who was commenting on the video they had posted,  the snippet is to give you an idea of what they encountered in their journey...

"At the airport, the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left, and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs. We were thinking,Look, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. We’re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed? but this guy with our group, who was from the LA Times, told us, “Everyone in here besides us is secret police. If you don’t act excited, then you’re not going to get your visa. So we got drunk and jumped up onstage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didn’t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on…"

A small disclaimer: The following documentary was not censored for TV, so there is no guarantee the language will be appropriate.

Kijŏng-Dong: The Empty City

One might wonder why there is a completely empty city called Kijŏng-dong near the DMZ in NK, and one may simply look no further for the explanation when they remember that the Kim family runs NK. 

Kijŏng-dong is a city that has been commissioned, created, and up-kept for the sole purpose of propaganda. Although Kim Jon-un is not the original founder, he keeps up the appearances and city maintenance left to him by his predecessors (Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il). For a detailed and photographic account of this ridiculous city, see this guy's blog. 

It's really a fascinating and informative journey; researching an empty and useless city that is funded with money that could feed the population of NK, which by the way, is a starving country. If you ask me, the finance that goes into the upkeep and maintenance of that city is conspicuously offensive to the poor, displayed in a manor that tries to glorify it's leader but ends up contradicting it's own purposes.

(Photos found here.)

Canals of Mass Destruction

North Korea made waves yet again earlier this week when a North Korean Tanker; the Chong Chon Gang was seized and searched by Panamanian authorities. A search which revealed 25 crates filled with Soviet era weaponry. This discovery shows, quite unsurprisingly, that there are countries out there willing to deal with the Hermit Kingdom and that if it weren't for the risk taken by the guards along the Panama canal, this shipment WOULD have reached it's destination. Now officials around the world have been putting pressure on the UN to evoke some form of punishment towards Cuba for ignoring the international embargo on weaponry sent to North Korea and have been quoted as stating "Failure to hold the Cuban government fully responsible will be a slap in the face to our allies" and many have applauded the Panamanian authorities for their initiative in boarding and searching the North Korean tanker. I believe that this search was definitely merited due to the strained relations between Cube and the US as well as the US' relationship with North Korea. Unfortunately the larger issue raised here is that there has more than likely been continued arms deals for years and it will likely continue for years to come. However, I expect that due to the interception of this particular shipment, trades involving arms will probably fall between Cuba and North Korea and hopefully other countries will see Cuba being punished for this breach to international law and will take the hint that these laws are serious and not to be ignored.  Unsurprisingly, North Korea has refused to admit they have done anything wrong and have demanded the return of the ship, crew and its cargo.