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Telling truth from fiction is sometimes difficult on the Korean peninsula. Caveat emptor!
AP: From the “with friends like these, who needs enemies department.” Having just sent out a press release touting an agreement to open a bureau in Pyongyang, AP had to withdraw an apparently doctored photo that it had sent out reputedly depicting flooding in Pyongyang—and hence building the case for aid. Kudos to Martyn Williams at North Korea Tech for catching this one!
Fast food: for the past month the press has been full of rumors (and denials) that KFC and Coca-Cola were going to begin operations in North Korea. What if you can’t get your Big Macs locally? Order out! Julian Ryall of the Daily Telegraph claims that the North Korean elite are doing just that—ordering their Chicken McNuggets via Air Koryo. A free autographed copy of Witness to Transformation to the first reader who sends in a photo of Quarter Pounders being loaded in Beijing. No Photo Shopping, please.
From performance-inhibiting to performance-enhancing substances: in previous post we have followed the saga of the North Korean women’s world cup team—first allegedly hit by lightning while training (causing a second half defensive collapse against the United States), two players testing positive for drugs, then FIFA testing the whole team. The results are now in: five players tested positive. The explanation? Industrial strength musk deer gland secretion that the five were administered—after being hit by lightning.
More seriously, Steroidsources.com—“your inside connection to steroid information” (hey, we read this stuff so you don’t have to) reports that the North Koreans did in fact import East German coaches and subsequently built up an industrial system for producing and administering performance enhancing drugs to both athletes and soldiers (take that, Captain America!).
