Nov 05 2009
Walter sent me this via E-Mail quite some time ago, and I think it is time to post it. Not only because it is interesting, but because I like this kind of thing. Enjoy!
With a degenerating itinerary our group of seven veterans of the DPRK lobbied the guides to take us to Pyongyang’s Italian Restaurant, [...]
Oct 09 2009
Via NKEconWatch:
UPDATE 3: Northeast Asia Matters has posted a copy of the DPRK constitution in English. Click here to read.
I have been looking for this for quite some time, and now it is available. Reading through it, not huge, groundbreaking changes were made, but enough to (what I guess) a legacy for Kim. Tim will [...]
Oct 08 2009
A big thank you to Walter for the E-mail containing some really neat pictures and DPRK footage. There are so many pictures and goodies, I do not know where to begin to comment on some of them. After this posting, they will be added to the “North Korea in Pictures” section. Again, I appreciate the [...]
Oct 05 2009
Yes, it has been a while since I have been regularly posting news, and maybe today is a good day to start. Some news has come from North Korea, although nothing really earth-shattering.
North Korea May Be Open to Talks (New York Times) – In a chilling turn of events, Kim is willing to go back [...]
Sep 11 2009
It is most likely most DPRK watchers know of Lankov’s work, and this PDF is probably no exception. This paper argues North Korea’s Stalinist style regime is falling apart, which is probably dead on. This also agrees with the bottom-up process of marketization, futile attempts at reforms, and a people more interested in survival rather [...]
Sep 09 2009
Confirmations in North Korea is nearly non-existent, and even if there was a confirmation, it is usually smart to question that as well. Therefore, in the world of rumors regarding Kim Jong Un and his supposed role and/or authority in the Kim regime seem to be front and center? Granted, it is not so much [...]
Sep 06 2009
I was looking up the status of North Korea’s debt, and to see how others rate the state. Then I ran into an interesting article about North Korean Debt Certificates. This thing is probably worth contemplating. As most North Korea watchers know, North Korea’s debt defaulted quite a while ago, and some of the debt [...]
Sep 05 2009
It appears the Ryugyong Hotel is making some progress, at least on the outside. When construction resumed sometime last year, I almost fell out of my chair. I could not believe such a project would ever resume with the many serious problems this thing obviously has. So I open Google News this morning, and see [...]
Sep 05 2009
In studying the Arduous March, North Korea experienced one of the most deadly famines of the 20th century. According to Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard in the very well-written book, Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform. Call me odd (which should be no surprise to anybody), but I became an instant fan of [...]
Sep 02 2009
Some details are starting to emerge about how Euna Lee and Laura Ling crossed the border. According to Bloomberg:
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — Two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea and released after a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton said soldiers from the communist nation “violently dragged” them back across the border from China.
[...]
“We [...]