"North Korea said Thursday that it plans to carry out a 'high-level nuclear test' and further long-range rocket launches, all of which it said are 'aimed at the U.S.'"

"The statement from the North's National Defense Commission was carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency," says just-in email from CNN Breaking News.

I read it aloud, hear myself laugh, then say, "It's funny 'til it's not funny," and Meade says, "Axis of Evil."

It's Comrade Ri Sol-ju.

Suddenly identified as the wife of Kim Jong-un.

A singer with the same name has starred in several concerts in the past – in one case, performing a song with the apt title Do Not Ask My Name. But she is not the singer previously rumoured to have been Kim's companion, Hyun Song-wol, known for her hit Excellent Horse-like Lady.

There's some ear-shattering audio at all 3 of those links. I was alarmed at the first link by the forceful vocalizations of the female news reader.

On North Korean TV, "Tigger, Minnie Mouse and other Disney characters prancing in front of Kim Jong-un and an entourage of clapping generals."

"The footage also showed the boyish-faced leader in a black Mao suit watching as Mickey Mouse conducted a group of young women playing violins in skimpy black dresses."

At times, scenes from the animated Disney movies “Dumbo” and “Snow White” were projected on a large, multipanel screen behind the entertainers; an article in the state-run press said unnamed foreign songs were on the bill.

This makes me feel hopeful!

"Freedom, in Shin's mind, was just another word for grilled meat."

The amazing story of Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in a North Korean forced labor camp, and escaped at the age of 23:

In the garment factory, the superintendent wanted Shin to inform on an important new prisoner. Park Yong Chul, short and stout, with a shock of white hair, had lived abroad....

Much of what Park talked about, especially at the beginning, was difficult for Shin to understand or care about. What delighted him—what he kept begging Park for—were stories about food and eating. These were the stories that kept Shin up at night fantasizing about a better life. Freedom, in Shin's mind, was just another word for grilled meat.

Intoxicated by what he heard, Shin made perhaps the first free decision of his life. He chose not to snitch. And he soon began thinking about escape.

Was North Korea modeled on "1984"?

Christopher Hitchens speculates:



(Via Jaltcoh.)

"Kim Jong Il, the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, deeply concerned over the soldiers’ diet."

The title of a painting from an exhibit called "“Flowers for Kim Il Sung: Art and Architecture from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.... in Vienna.

By presenting it uncritically, the Vienna museum is subtly legitimizing the world’s cruelest regime....

Like most socialist realism, this “art” is devoid of complexity. Whatever talents the North Korean painters may possess are tragically subordinated to Stalinist politics and stultifying adulation of the Dear Leader. The descriptions of the artwork underline its utterly bland, primitive, and unenlightening character: “The leaders’ closeness to the people is repeatedly emphasized,” reads the press release. “Red, internationally recognized as being symbolic of socialism, is employed most frequently.” My tour guide’s attempt to distinguish the works from those produced in other Communist societies by labeling it “Idealistic Realism” only underscored the lengths to which the MAK has had to go in order to justify the exhibition....


Could one imagine, in the 1930s, an English gallery featuring Nazi art in such undiscerning fashion?...

What about a Viennese gallery? You'd think Austria would be more sensitive.... about its own reputation.

The article, by James Kirchick, ends with this great George Orwell quote: "All art is propaganda. On the other hand, not all propaganda is art." (By the way, Orwell is calling himself a propagandist there, is he not?)

"How Grand Socialism Is!"

"Ooh it’s good, ah it’s good":

How grand, the vinalon fabric pours out like a waterfall

How grand, the Juche iron glows like a fiery sunrise

My socialist homeland overflows with joy

Ooh it’s good, ah it’s good

The day of living well draws nigh

How grand socialism is!

Just some Sunday morning propaganda, submitted for your approval. I know what you're wondering: What is "vinalon"? It's the "national synthetic fiber" of North Korea.

"The worst building in the history of mankind."

Will it ever be finished?

"[W]e believe that journalists have a responsibility to shine light in dark places, to give voice to those who are too often silenced and ignored."

"One of us, Euna [Lee], is a devout Christian whose faith infused her interest in the story. The other, Laura [Ling], has reported on the exploitation of women around the world for years. We wanted to raise awareness about the harsh reality facing these North Korean defectors who, because of their illegal status in China, live in terror of being sent back to their homeland.... We didn't spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret...."

What Chip did with the Clinton-in-North-Korea photo.

It's not what I expected. I was hoping he'd make the little birds that you barely notice in the mural start flying around and maybe nipping at Bill Clinton's ears and ultimately pooping on Kim Jong-Il's head. Or maybe those big static waves would suddenly crash all over the solemnly lined-up dignitaries. Or, no. There is something about the way the 2 seated men are posing as such good little boys with their hands in the I'm-behaving-myself position that demands that what I really want to see is Bill Clinton reach over and feel the thigh Kim Jong-Il, who exclaims: "No broh job!"

Enough photos of me and Meade. Let's look at this picture of Bill Clinton and Kim Jong-Il.

Thanks to Bill Clinton for saving the journalists and submitting to this surreal photograph.

I just wish I could see the "Team America" song Kim Jong-Il sang when he heard that Bill Clinton was coming. Lyrics anyone?

"We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette..."

"... in the international community. Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."

North Korea strikes back.

"Did Robert Gibbs really need to wake Obama at 4:30 am with news of the North Korean missile launch?"

"We knew the launch was coming and Obama had no imminent decision to make. Waking the president to tell him things so he can return to a troubled sleep that leaves him less sharp the next morning strikes me as a PR-oriented tradition we can do without."

***

"Why can't I just eat my waffle?"

"This can be a moment of opportunity for North Korea."

"If it continues to make the right choices it can repair its relationship with the international community."

President Bush, removing North Korea from the terrorism list.