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It’s been nearly two months since we have done a Slave to the Blog Roundup and the list of ongoing stories is getting groaningly (is that a real word?) long. So I thought that I would clear up some of the backlog before examining sanctions issues next week. As usual, we start serious and then get weird.
So, North Korea is now sending propaganda leaflets south. One of the things that I found surprising about some of the leafleting done by groups operating in the South was just how politically sophisticated the leaflets were, going into Korean history, the nature of the two political regimes, and the history of the Kim family. So how about those North Korean leaflets? Can they compete?
Well, the BBC’s Kevin Kim went out and collected some of the leaflets. And while there are many criticisms one can make of South Korean government policy (and we do so regularly in this blog), the North Korean leaflets are sadly about what you would expect from the folks who have called President Park a “whore," President Obama “a cross-breed of unclear blood,” who “has the figure of a monkey while the human race has evolved through millions of years,” or Justice Michael Kirby “a disgusting old lecher with a 40-odd-year-long career of homosexuality.” Examples: “Park Geun-hye and her clan are dogs that have gone crazy. We should beat them down for using psychological warfare and worsening inter-Korean relations!,” and a cartoon of President Park (who spent time in a convent) in a red bikini being dumped into a trash can labeled “human filth.” Advantage Seoul.
One of the sadder tales I have blogged on this the increasingly desperate behavior of North Korean fishermen either incentivized or coerced into highly dangerous voyages. UPI reports that over a three-month period October-December, 16 boats with dead fishermen have washed up in Japan. Puts the headline “Kim Jong Un encourages fishery workers to meet production goals" into a different perspective.
After a hard day of whipping his slaves encouraging workers to meet their production goals, the Young General has been known to knock down a few. So he is no doubt overjoyed to learn that North Korea has invented hangover-free alcohol. According to the Pyongyang Times, this breakthrough hootch is concocted with insam, a local kind of ginseng, with scorched rice serving as fermenting sugar. Pyongyang also claims to have also invented fusion power, the triple post offense, and the Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) dance. And developed the H bomb. Oh, and the Moranbong band cancellation? They got a better paying gig opening for Yacob Smirnoff in Branson, MO.
Last but not least: we had a winner in our “President Jim Yong Kim Political Breakthrough Contest.” Fellow Swarthmoron Fred Zimmerman came closest to predicting the date of North Korea’s big boom, and as such wins lunch on me at the World Bank cafeteria. Or, since he lives in Ann Arbor and I'm not sure the World Bank does delivery, maybe he would accept a couple of bottles of super-booze instead.
