North Korea Tweets, June 8-20, 2012

Twitter is an amazing resource, but is difficult to archive and use long-term.  In view of experimentation, a very limited archive of North Korea Tweets from @adamcathcart is here laid out.

Generally speaking, the commentary and links concern the output of North Korean (and occasionally Chinese) state media.  If 12% of this material is tangibly useful, then we’re doing far better than the rest of the Internet.  Feedback is welcome.

JUNE 20 ‪

New film on youth of #KimJongIl: “revolutionary party…giving a steady continuity to the Juche blood.” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0001

Allegations of NK backline troops on 4/15 wearing Chinese castoffs http://www.rjkoehler.com/2012/06/11/nice-threads/ responded to http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0024

@benjaminkatzeff @chosonexchange Assuming paucity of on-site inspections by DPRK leaders into S. Hwanghae stems from a fear of association

Global Times pretty up front about PRC crackdown on “illegal activities like Koran teaching” in #Xinjiang http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/716029.shtml

@chosonexchange ROK Foreign Ministry asserts North Korean food shortages not as bad as imagined (Yonhap) http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2012/06/19/0301000000AEN20120619003900315.HTML

@chosonexchange Different view on this question in S. Hwanghae in Chosun Ilbo http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/06/19/2012061901102.html

Kim Jong Un is some hybrid between Jesus, Hirohito and Kim Il Song. In this kid’s eyes, anyway. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0022

Fascinating look by Danish scholar: How a North Korean children’s book talks about the Great Famine/Arduous March http://www.soas.ac.uk/koreanstudies/events/seminars/25nov2011-a-new-deal-comic-story-representations-of-food-issues-in-post-famine-north-korea-.html #soas

The next time someone goes on about NKorean “human rights violations,” just remind them of this magical blue box! http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0025

DPRK officially shoring up #KimJongUn’s age problem by focusing again on #KimJongIl’s brilliant 20s http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-20-0010 #age

China Defense Times noted ROK bluster that #SKorea could win a conventional war with #NK in 90 hours flat. #Rodong: http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-18-0018

“Patriotic Breeder,” Rodong Sinmun, June 18, 2012. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-18-0020

“Merry Laughter All Over” at the Pyongyang Zoo; horses fairly emaciated. DPRK-Hannover trade needs to increase. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-18-0024

Xinhua headline “North Korean Eat 5 Meals a Day” nets no result. What’s a reporter to do? Keep an eye on 张利 in Pyongyang – next stop, Paris.

Xinhua sends reporters to Pyongyang explicitly to regurgitate #NKorean child-talking points; precisely zero (0) reverb in DPRK media.

“Legacy” strategy of #NK Workers’ Party: constant undifferentiated bliz of triple-Kim nostalgia, Volk will relent to #KimJongUn as mother.

Perpetual newsroom question in #Pyongyang: to crop or not to crop the looming dark mass of Ryugong Hotel? http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-18-0021

#ryugong

Pyongyangites may be wondering why the statue of their founding father was melted down, shrunk, given a necktie, glasses and a rictus.

Perfect example of choreographed gratitude families are supposed to feel for a free trip and a little box from Pyongyang http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0023

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Finally, Children’s Union clears the square, allowing Pyongyang university students to proclaim their festering pride http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0004

Children’s Union members return home with ubiquitous blue boxes; they are as inexhaustible as children’s fiction http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0022

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Another beautifully surreal picture within a picture from Pyongyang. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0007 #Rodong #KimJongIl #youth #succession #1964

#Rodong on the Kim Jong Il celebration. (Pics & 한굴 text.) Kim Ki Nam is the leading speaker and ideological mind http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-19-0012

#KimKiNam

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Huge meeting of #NKorean bureaucrats to further cement Kim Jong Il’s nuclear legacy. FYI: they’re not disarming http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-15ee.html

#NKorea turns the dial to 11 yet again with an accusation of South Korea inviting a “war holocaust” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-10ee.html

Buried in this orthodox cannon-blast is a complaint about China pressuring #NKorea at US behest http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-11ee.html #sinonk

Massive US-ROK sea drills about to start. Why is Rodong Sinmun cautioning against siren song of US “peace ballad”? http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-09ee.html

Korean socialism is so bipolar: sometimes a strong class-orientation, but today it’s all about culture http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-08ee.html

Perhaps there is no need this time, but the “discovery” of Koguryo tombs in the past has been linked to succession http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-19ee.html #koguryo

North Korea now proclaiming Kim Jong Il era as “Renaissance of 20th Century” arts http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-18ee.html

#culture

Priorities: DPRK Premier finally in drought-affected areas; everyone else studying 1964 succession arcana in Pyongyang http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-23ee.html

Keeping up with Kim Yong Il in Myanmar, DPRK trying to make up lost ground http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news18/20120618-24ee.html

JUNE 19

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#DPRK provides justification for horrible rictus of new Kim statues: dead leaders pleased at new apt. quarter http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news15/20120615-29ee.html

Youthful North Korea blah blah blah: clear reminders the state is overseen by 85-year-olds http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-17ee.html

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Official North Korean rebuff of the Secretary of State, who failed to praise #NK children’s festival http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news17/20120617-21ee.html

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‏‪Surprisingly unvenomous KCNA item summarizes Vietnamese investigations of Agent Orange use, “1961-71” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-09ee.html

JUNE 18

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KCNA hagiography 101: When out of Korea, long for it, compose songs about pines, hate American bombers, play organ. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-20ee.html

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DPRK Sea of Blood Troupe in Shandong; my previous speculation that all tickets were giveaways is dead wrong http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-14ee.html

Another indication that Workers’ Party finds it smarter to detach the two dead Kims so as not to smear the founder http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-23ee.html

Choson Exchange ‏‪@chosonexchange

Chinese media are talking about ‘investment wives’ being promoted in #northkorea. http://chosonexchange.org/?p=1605

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#NK iconographers backtracking on incessant pairing of Kim Il Sung with his vinylon-clad offspring http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-16ee.html

Leader/nukes convergence in DPRK: “The DPRK emerged a dignified nuclear weapons state and satellite launcher.” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-07ee.html

‏‪Several “Arduous March” evocations in #NK media this spring, as if to say, “We survived that, why not this?” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-07ee.html #famine

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朝鲜式的和谐社会： “harmonious whole of leader, party, army and people serves as a fundamental cornerstone of the DPRK” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-07ee.html

Dictatorship, sure, but artists who cooperate in Pyongyang are being handsomely rewarded http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-21ee.html #unhasu

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Nice: #NK Foreign Ministry statement comes on anniversary of 1866 attack on USS Sherman near Pyongyang http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news16/20120616-25ee.html

Children’s Union festivities are the answer to any challenge to NKorea: “How could you possibly criticize us?” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news17/20120617-21ee.html

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Here is the official version of Sunday’s DPRK Foreign Ministry statement/response to Sec. Clinton http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news17/20120617-21ee.html

More official concert reviews of KPA Band in Russian Far East: audiences chanting for all 3 (mostly dead) Kims http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news17/20120617-09ee.html

Bullhorn economy: NK Railway Bureau workers mobilize in brown around some scrap metal (pic) http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-18-0020

Confucius Institute animation: U.S. Korean War “broke out,” no mention Chinese invasion of Seoul HT @imagethief http://kid.chinese.cn/en/article/2009-09/01/content_51110.htm

State Dept. speechwriters: try noting instead how many new Mansudae apt. blocs it would take to house NK’s gulag population.

State Department once again shows total inability to hurt NK w/ “gulags/hunger/nukes” triumverate http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/world/asia/north-korea-accuses-clinton-of-reckless-criticism.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimesworld&seid=auto HT @profLind

May 21 Q & A with 李开盛 Li Kaisheng, unknown academic re: #NK-China boat hostages still on #Huanqiu front page, http://bbs.huanqiu.com/thread-1406308-1-1.html

Analyst Yang Xiyu tells #Huanqiu he sees “really big changes” in #NK under #KimJongUn, more outward looking http://world.huanqiu.com/roll/2012-06/2827579.html

Mycal Ford ‏‪@StandtoTruth

political nostalgia, Kissinger meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-06/13/content_15496866.htm

Fragmented future of news? Click on a Tweet for French election results, get a page of aggregated Tweets. Hydra. http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/en-direct-le-second-tour-a-commence_1127565.html

NBC’s Richard Engel voyages to #NKorea, meets students who are unaware of Facebook. The horror! http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/16/12254682-engel-gets-rare-look-inside-north-korea-one-of-worlds-most-secretive-nations?lite

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Had missed this 30 May Rodong Sinmun injunction for officials to, well, stay awake.  James Church later said it was in fact a big deal. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-05-30-0013&chAction=L #creative #totalitarianism

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“Hyperpoliticization of daily life”: N. Ireland reconciliation efforts could be useful for Korean unification experts http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2012/05/SAVARIC/47714

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NK’s stance re: comfort women issue isn’t purely historical. The assertion is that denial = preparation for re-invasion http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-12-0011&chAction=L

Die Welt revisits #KimJongIl funeral, asserts crowd went out of control in SW Pyongyang, Romanian errinnerung http://www.welt.de/print/wams/debatte/article106614104/Warum-ich-Nordkorea-beobachte.html

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Rodong Sinmun phrase “decendants of those victimized” same term as used for “decendants of Kim Il Song” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-12-0011&chAction=L #KimJongUn

JUNE 17

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@melnik0v Kim Ki Nam led a big architectural symposium perhaps a month ago, not sure if designer info was buried in all the KJI sycophancy

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DPRK remains a cultural font even if disparu: See: East Germany. “Si n’avait pas existé, il aurait fallu l’inventer.” http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2012/05/UMBRECHT/47686

So many NKoreans must be working hard to gain expertise, somehow are able to tolerate this ugly schmaltz http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-11-0020&chAction=L

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Consider that DPRK built a huge dam in Huichon so that Xinhua could compare Pyongyang to Shanghai #distortion http://pic.twitter.com/Saymmxdi

#Rodong article opens up the possibility of Japanese intervention in #DPRK post-Paektu volcano explosion http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-15-0010&chAction=L

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Interesting feature in anti-NATO coverage is the “statement by US movie star,” signs of NK int’lism http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-16-0005

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DPRK brought recent group of foreign entrepreneurs to North Hwanghae farmers market, one lonely Chinese face http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-15-0001

I found another North Korean tunnel; this one is newly constructed near Mangyongdae — http://pic.twitter.com/u9bA7Aij

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Rare look at some of North Korea’s Showa-era architecture, of course the object is to venerate Kim Il Song http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-17-0012

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This week’s #Rodong commentary titles as Scandanavian heavy metal album song titles cc: @torrauden @electricviking http://pic.twitter.com/0hTWOAXn

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Impossible to keep track of all the back dating, but #DPRK still sensitive to age: now commemorating Kim Jong Il age 22 http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-16-0003

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Possibility for minor unrest in Pyongyang when certain elites unable to grapple up to these new apartments. Still empty http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_02&newsID=2012-06-16-0011

#Rodong 6/16: “His balderdash about reform and opening is nothing but a malicious scream let out from the frustration of his absurd dream”

More essentially ridiculous DPRK attacks on “Lee and his janissaries” in the human rights hell of South Korea http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-16-0009

God knows why #Rodong takes a month to report on NATO-protest red meat in Chicago, but here it is, angry vets and all http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-16-0010

At least domestically, DPRK is still promoting notion that they’ve got a friend in Myanmar http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-16-0005

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#Rodong: “We have our own strategy and tactics […] to make our country rich and strong.” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-16-0037

It appears that no one is living yet in those beautifully lit new apartment blocks in the home of the NK revolution http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_02&newsID=2012-06-16-0011

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JUNE 15

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Normally a Scriabinesque Poem of Extasy, #Rodong photo of #KimJongUn’s new rehash-treatise discussion oddly deflating http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-15-0004

‏On the one hand, these are TEL missile trucks. On the other hand, China is selling a lot of vehicles to DPRK. http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=9362

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Neat graphic of China’s space trajectory; plan by 2020 is to have 60-ton permanent space station http://mil.huanqiu.com/photo_china/2012-06/2652097.html 中文

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Forthcoming Routledge book on “De-Bordering Korea,” Koen de Custer, ed. http://www.psypress.com/debordering-korea-9780415637435

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Minju Chosun praises Germany for its “liquidation” of World War II guilt http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news13/20120613-12ee.html

Norwegian artist has ability to hook you up with North Korean cultural bureaucrats http://www.voanews.com/content/north_korea_finds_cultural_ally_in_norwegian-artist/1206109.html

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At a safe remove, Koreans in Uzbekistan call for more inter-Korean cultural exchange http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news13/20120613-25ee.html

Is there a point at which the novelty of KimJongUn’s blunt approximation of grandpa’s avuncular glad-handing wears off? http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news13/20120613-24ee.html

North Korean tech delegation to China. (micro item) http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news13/20120613-13ee.html

JUNE 14

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Apparently there were Black Panthers living in Pyongyang in 1969-70. Would make for an interesting Holly/Bollywood script, and history.

Spent some time this morning reading German 1942-43 press re: Hirohito, horribly derivative, but useful for critiquing B.R. Myers #gorgon

Embarrassed? Rodong Sinmun’s Mansudae photos this week shying away from gruesome double-rictus statues http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-14-0012

“North Korea 2012: We Move Dirt” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-14-0022 (pic)

Student returns to Sinuiju from capitol, moved to write poems, family can’t see Dandong skyscrapers through the tears. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0013

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Half-right: North Korean denunciation of capitalism asserts US has national university system, is tuition driven. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0012 #国立大学

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#Rodong Sinmun’s Chinese can be scandalously sloppy (金＝全), but when they denounce capitalism it’s pitch perfect http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0012 #胡作非为

Finally, a #Rodong story about youth who arrive in blasted Man’po on PRC border by train, not jet http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0010 (Chinese)

BR Myers’ “infantilized” #NK people fits: Week of orgiastic Kim worship by youth, modelling absorptive doctrine http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0010

More proto-environmentalism for NK youth (pic) http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-14-0034

“Rodong Shinmun in Full Flow” Daily NK: Excellent, but no mention of how LATE young Kim is in his theoretical cribbing http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00400&num=9363

Do you think Leon Panetta keeps a picture of General MacArthur in his wallet?

re: NK prodigy piano pedagogue Kim Hyong-suk 김향숙/金香淑, teaching for 23 years, impressive http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterCn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0009 (Chinese)

JUNE 13

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New “written treatise” by Kim Jong Un is a rehash of the historical orthodoxy, more political commissar for KPA role http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news12/20120612-01ee.html

Recommended #DPRK business practice for UK/Swiss: “bring a gift” for Kim Jong Un even if he gives it to KPA. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news12/20120612-39ee.html

How nice of them to care. North Korean media critiques South Korean restrictions on internet. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news12/20120612-36ee.html

Renewed critiques of Western youth on drugs in Rodong Sinmun http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news12/20120612-13ee.html

Everybody mocks the #NK “FunFairs” but the point is that they are all being taken over by the KPA http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news12/20120612-34ee.html

Hankoryeh: “we have to accept the inconvenient truth that relations with Tokyo will be a Sisyphean struggle” http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/537510.html

U.S. Embassy Seoul ‏‪@usembassyseoul

Amb. King discusses North Korean prison camps, defectors & human rights activists in his interview with the Dong-A Ilbo http://goo.gl/4dTHx

Chinese news media, this week: in-depth reexaminations of US nuclear threats toward PRC-DPRK in 1950-51 http://mil.huanqiu.com/history/2012-06/2809977.html

DPRK pianist Han Su-nae 한시내 performed revolutionary concerto for Children’s Union members; she plays on a Steinway http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0061

Even “robotic” North Korean child-performers have nurturing teachers; the state is just an interface http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0062

About 100 foreign insurance salesmen in Pyongyang for a conference, includes Chinese http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-13-0032

(pic)

 

JUNE 12

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Nothing says “human rights” like promises of food safety, huckster academics, a Vice Chairman and six microphones http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/714335.shtml

@limlouisa analysis of NK hijacking of Chinese fishermen, audio will be available at 9 am EST! http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154774626/hijacking-reveals-strains-in-china-north-korea-ties #PublicOpinion #China

@nknewsorg interviews Chinese-Korean businessman in DPRK, who says a Chongjin SEZ could be on the way http://www.nknews.org/2012/06/exclusive-a-special-economic-zone-for-chongjin/

Good recap by Evan Ramstad of growing official interest in #KimJongUn’s mother http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/06/11/nk-starts-to-address-kim-jong-euns-mom-dilemma/

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Off-kilter North Korean “questionnaire” threatens to out #ROK leaders for donating to “holy sites of revolution” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news11/20120611-09ee.html

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Orthodox by definition, Rodong Sinmun is now trumpeting environmentalism as a feature of the #NK youth movement http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news11/20120611-05ee.html

Bill Gertz ‏@BillGertz

U.S., S. Korea reach accord on extending missile range. Pact opens sale of long-range drones. Could impact nuke balance http://freebeacon.com/bee-bim-bomb/

NKorean child attends conference, brings home pamphlets, bag of rice. Family, living in photo studio, is overjoyed. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-11-0007

JUNE 11

Some bracing video of #ROK air force blowing things up in an “impromptu” drill http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/video/2012/06/11/exercices-militaires-en-coree-du-sud-sur-fond-de-tensions-avec-pyongyang_1716571_3216.html#xtor=AL-32280258 (French, Korean) via @lemondefr

Re: “rising Chinese nationalism” trope. Consider: 100+ more netizen comments on a Pyongyang maternity story than this http://world.huanqiu.com/photo/2012-06/2651495.html

Group of female #PeoplesDaily reporters in Pyongyang for 5 days shadowed by group of female #RodongSinmun writers http://world.huanqiu.com/regions/2012-06/2804455.html

Huanqiu Shibao with some pics and backhand mockery of “North Korean-style hamburger” on Air Koryo http://world.huanqiu.com/roll/2012-06/2805476.html

Beijing People’s Daily piece sings the praises of North Korea’s free health care, maternity hospitals http://world.huanqiu.com/regions/2012-06/2804455.html

Beijing People’s Daily delegation of female reporters re: Pyongyang festival: “kids eat 5 meals a day” http://world.huanqiu.com/regions/2012-06/2804455.html

KCNA: “Only when the Juche idea is comprehensively applied to #Kyrgyzstan, can a genuine people’s country appear there” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news09/20120609-03ee.html

North Korean state media again explicitly refutes idea of preparations for third nuclear test http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news09/20120609-25ee.html

SK “seeks to rattle the nerves of the DPRK in a bid to cause it to conduct a nuclear test, though such a thing is not under plan at present”

DPRK: Get ready for another 100 years of Kim family rule! http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news09/20120609-06ee.html

(Presently Juche 101=64th year of Kim rule.)

It’s horribly hackneyed, but #DPRK children’s propaganda functions as a means of binding rural areas to capitol http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news09/20120609-22ee.html

This would appear to be a barnacled North Korean justification for more foreign contacts http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news10/20120610-08ee.html

All this junk about Kim Jong Il’s great sacrifice for posterity was telegraphed in the drama sector a year ago http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news10/20120610-07ee.html

JUNE 10

KCNA rebuts defector issue by asserting that more than 500,000 ROK citizens “defected”; more threats at #SK press http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news06/20120606-05ee.html

Quite an interesting fact that the first #DPRK assertion of #KimJongUn as feminist is made by a Chinese guest http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news06/20120606-25ee.html

Election game-changer MT @adamcathcart North Korean op-ed on #Romney’s “gay” dog with “loose vowels” http://bit.ly/LcF7tx #Obama #2012 #dprk

Even Eunsun Kim, the most recent refugee celebre author, says she misses these kind of #NK group activities (camping) http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news06/20120606-22ee.html

The problem with the Kim Il Song system of gathering loyal youth bodyguards is that one needs a steady supply of war orphans to make it work

Is health care in the #NK provinces that bad? Some youth delegates to Pyongyang have operations while in the capitol http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news06/20120606-29ee.html

KPA General Ri Yong Ho attends #Unhasu Orchestra children’s concert http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news06/20120606-37ee.html Unhasu-KPA relationships are strong.

@adamcathcart The purpose being to inflect again DPRK’s northern border as a dream-site, terra revolutionaria, natural zone of Kim-worship.

Wherein children from #NKorean-China border region bring kgs of honey and sprigs to Pyongyang tombs http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news06/20120606-33ee.html #tribute

“Swarming Thieves,” “Disturbers of Peace.” Weekly selection of #Rodong commentaries as heavy metal album song titles http://pic.twitter.com/7vCcHiKM

#NKorean media: “U.S. is the only country that has secret prisons like Nazi’s concentration camps” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-09-0015 #humanrights

North Korean op-ed re: #Romney’s “gay” dog with “loose vowels” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-09-0013 #Rodong #dog #Obama #2012 #animalrights #dprk

#Rodong: “There can be neither complacency nor standstill in the work of bringing up the rising generations.” http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-09-0014

Buried within this belligerent Rodong Sinmun essay, #DPRK appears to abjure third #nuclear test http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-09-0014

JUNE 9

#NK Teachers: The purpose of studying the Korean War is to inclucate into kids an imperative to “protect #KimJongUn” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news07/20120607-17ee.html

Hankyoreh Newspaper ‏@HankyorehNews

Kim Jong-un speeches sing a subtly tune on economy: By Kim Young-hwan, Incheon correspondent in Dandong Jin Zhe,… http://bit.ly/Lw1Ink

When in doubt, express #KimJongUn-dominated content of your subconscious dream life. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news07/20120607-17ee.html

#NorthKoreanSurvivalTactic

Chilling: #KimJongUn asks kid: “What’s your favorite ride at the FunFair?” Kid: “Free Fall.” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news07/20120607-22ee.html

#KimJongUn’s “unexpected speeches” are like GWBush’s “secret trips” to Iraq: if he didn’t make them, something would be deeply wrong.

Finally, a KCNA write-up of #KimJongUn speech reaction which is not entirely strident or hallucinogenic http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-19ee.html

Have yet to see a cogent essay re: #NK children’s fete. This suggests it is purely about building #KimJongUn prestige. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news07/20120607-19ee.html

SEZ law is explained; then, on same day, KCNA quotes Sinuiju teacher on eternal battle vs. “class enemies” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-10ee.html

North Korea releases more legal details about SEZs near #Sinuiju – why now? http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news07/20120607-16ee.html

#NKorea pinning its #Olympic hopes on women’s football, weightlifting, and wrestling. Just under 50 atheletes total. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-11ee.html

Mirroring demographic of defectors, about 2/3 of DPRK’s Olympic delegation are women http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-11ee.html

In which #NKorean elite youth from provinces talk to statues & consider a meal of meat to be absolutely remarkable. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-14ee.html

@markmackinnon on “a noteworthy week for despot-watching” in Beijing; too bad #KimJongUn was too busy shoring up his youth ‘vote’ to attend

Mark MacKinnon/马凯 ‏@markmackinnon

With Putin, Hu, Ahmedinejad, Nazarbayev and Karimov in Beijing, it’s time to come up with better words than “dictator”: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-21st-century-checklist-of-the-new-autocrats/article4243069/#gallery_4048=0

Via typical ventriloquism, KCNA is still voicing injustice of int’l condemnation of #NK’s 4/13 #missile launch http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-04ee.html

Wonder: what kind of divides will manifest in this #NK generation of haves and have-nots? http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-14ee.html #songbun

Children’s Union fete: a strong reminder of the importance of songs in consolidating regime themes in #NK http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-12ee.html

China’s emphasis to DPRK on building province-province relations is already manifesting in NK-Russian Amur ties http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news08/20120608-07ee.html

环球人物 no. 184 has interviews w. two important fisheries officials, very curious use of “country X” to describe disputes http://www.globalpeople.com.cn/

Small but interesting new layer in #NK succession propaganda: #KoreanWar = support of generations of Kims http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-08-0025

North Korean media starting to make a habit of “overhearing” pro-regime student conversations. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-07-0020

“Meet at #KISU”

#NK Youth Festival propaganda revives and attributes to #KimJongIl an important slogan re: opening up to world http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterEn/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-07-0020

JUNE 8

8 Jun Blake Hounshell ‏@blakehounshell

North Korea offended by comparison to Nazi Germany http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-22ee.html via @adamcathcart

New song lyrics in Pyongyang youth stadium jumble all the Kims together, followed by pic of “not-Hitler Youth” salute http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-07-0018

#NKorean historians preparing shadow patriotic narratives around #KimJongUn’s other, Japanese-affiliated, grandpa http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-11ee.html

Persistent KCNA campaign to get Pak Gyun Hye to “come clean” on her father’s past would appear to postdate #KimJongUn Japanese revelations

KCNA’s junk editorial reveals official anger at #SKorean news about marketization of #NK society http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-36ee.html Chinese news also has!

Elite #NK kids likely have cell phones or iPads, but they are reduced to marveling at #Rodong Sinmun like it’s 1946. http://www.rodong.rep.kp/InterKo/index.php?strPageID=SF01_02_01&newsID=2012-06-08-0027

Example over misuses of pliable history in #NKorea. Korean War museum kid visits now lead to vows to protect #KimJongUn http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-29ee.html

@blakehounshell “You accuse us of being fanatics following a maniac; the very accusation makes us want to suicide in battle for the man.”

@blakehounshell #NK also failed point out that Hitler didn’t have the benefit of hereditary succession http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-22ee.html (original link)

Interesting evocation of (false) hopes for an “Arab Spring,” Pyongyang edition in this KCNA slash-out http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-37ee.html more #Hitler

Chinese gov. not so diff. from #NKorean: anything short of “hailing celebrations envied and admired by the world” is “vituperation” KCNA 6/5

KCNA: To evoke #HitlerYouth in #NKorea is so wrong that NK youth all now demand vengeance and would die to get it. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-22ee.html

First item in quite a while in KCNA extolling economic #NKorea- #Libya ties http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-21ee.html

Smack amid #boathostage situation on May 20, DPRK sent a delegate to Beijing to meet re: Japan’s history http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-05ee.html

DPRK youth orgs: #NKorean prosperity is on the way in spite of “the pernicious blockade of the imperialists” http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-02ee.html

Chinese functionary runs ritual circuit in Pyongyang, meets Chae TaeBok, says nice things about the city, KCNA conveys. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201206/news05/20120605-24ee.html