North Korea… Kim Jong Il Dies in His Train: Updates 18 Dec 201119 Dec 2011 About an hour ago at noon Pyongyang time, Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Jong Il had died yesterday morning in his train "from overwork." A Chinese reporter, Zhao…
Cultural Politics… Lux Sinica: China’s Civilizing Influence in North Korea 17 Jun 201117 Jun 2011 It takes more than a few days, or perhaps a few weeks, to sift through all the reports, speculation, and rumors surrounding Kim Jong Il’s “new deal” with China. At…
American Foreign Policy… Kim Jong Il in China: 28 Things You May Have Missed 22 May 201122 May 2011 Cross-Border Economic Development 1. Indeed, the Rodong Sinmun [劳动新闻/Worker's Daily], North Korea's key ideological mouthpiece, has said nothing of Kim Jong Il's since his junket to a Hamgyong fruityard. But…
American Foreign Policy… The News from North Korea: Relations with China, Aerial Drone Denunciations, Green Totalitarianism, and the Middle East 19 May 2011 Since the emergence of putative successor Kim Jong Eun into the public eye, the North Korean news media -- specifically the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA -- has taken…
American Foreign Policy… North Korea: Examination Materials 13 May 201112 Oct 2018 I recently completed a month-long lecture series on North Korean-Chinese relations at Pacific Lutheran University. Because these lectures were occasioned by a course I teach at PLU, I had the…
Art… ‘Succession is the Issue’: Rap Ditty on the Kim Clan and Sino-North Korean Relations 18 Feb 201128 Feb 2011 If you want footnotes or typed lyrics, then they shall be produced. Otherwise, enjoy this little ditty, which began in the pre-dawn with a civilized train ride and a consequent…
Japan… Sinologistical Violoncellist China Media Review – Feb. 15, 2011 16 Feb 201120 Feb 2011 Today's focus: Sino-North Korean relations, with tidbits about border security, a North Korean diplomatic visit to France, and the ongoing consequences of Mubarak's fall in Northeast Asia. Link to the…
Hip-hop… Smartphone Border Run Shamaness North Korea Remittance China Friendly Kim’s New Family KCNA Pastiche 12 Feb 2011 KCNA, the North Korean "news" agency, has a fascinating piece on problems caused by smartphones in US prisons (thus simultaneously bashing America and reminding readers that mobile technology is potentially…
American Foreign Policy… North Korea Notes 21 Jan 201121 Jan 2011 The Hu-Obama Summit has already been subjected to some of the most intense lobbying pressures known to man. From big business to human rights groups to the defense hawks in…
American Foreign Policy… New Winter: Sino-North Korean Relations Today 16 Dec 201022 Dec 2010 Of China’s many bilateral relationships, few are as pregnant with doom as the relationship with the DPRK. That is to say, the relationship is significant to China not primarily for…