For the sake of the comity of nations, North Korea has opened its borders to bands from the south such as Red Velvet, seen here "belting out" one of their pop hits for the wildest audience they're ever likely to see.
Just imagine being the poor guy who has to clean up after this mayhem! Read the rest
Kim Jong Un secretly met with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing, an historic first visit by North Korea's leader.
In a detailed Washington Post piece at the end of a bizarre political week, David Nakamura writes, “The White House dumped its South Korean ambassador nominee, State's top North Korean expert resigned; the NSC's Asia director was on paternity leave for 2 weeks. One man swooped in to fill the vacuum: Trump.”
“In Trump’s decision on North Korea, the world glimpses a president who is his own diplomat, negotiator and strategist.
An excerpt from the story of how we arrived at this bizarre point of United States/North Korean diplomacy, without a single Dennis Rodman in sight:
Read the restOver the past six weeks, the Trump administration’s roster of Korean experts, already depleted, grew even thinner. The White House mysteriously dropped its choice for ambassador to Seoul. The State Department’s top North Korea specialist resigned. And the senior Asia director at the National Security Council was out the past two weeks on paternity leave.
But when a high-level South Korean delegation arrived at the White House on Thursday afternoon for two days of meetings over the North Korea threat, one person swooped in to fill the vacuum: President Trump.
In a stunning turn of events, Trump personally intervened into a security briefing intended for his top deputies, inviting the South Korean officials into the Oval Office where he agreed on the spot to a historic but exceedingly risky summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He then orchestrated a dramatic public announcement on the driveway outside the West Wing broadcast live on cable networks.
South Korea's national security adviser today announced he told President Donald Trump that Kim Jong Un says he's committed to denuclearization, and that Trump agreed to make it happen by May, as North Korea has proposed.
The U.S. State Department today announced the United States has determined that the North Korean government used chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate Kim Jong Un's half-brother.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, told envoys of South Korea today he is willing to negotiate with the United States to end his country’s nuclear weapons program. South Korean officials say the North Korean leader also agreed to halt all nuclear and missile tests during the proposed talks with Trump administration officials.
Being a despot sucks. International sanctions keep you from being able to import Game of Thrones DVDs or yellow cake uranium. No one ever tells you that there's food on your face and the anguished cries from your nation's gulags keep you and the rest of your family from getting a good night's rest. When you're not busy threatening the world with nuclear annihilation and when even having your enemies torn apart by dogs doesn't make you smile, it's time to melt away and take a vacation – get outta yer secretive nation!
Oh, if you happen to be from North Korea, you'll likely want to do it with a Brazilian passport.
According to Reuters, the despotic family of North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il attempted to leave their humanitarian crisis of a nation to visit western countries using illegally obtained Brazilian passports. It was long rumored that the Kims had been using forged travel documents for years to venture into the west in search of rest, relaxation and all of the shit that we don't want them to have because they're a terrible family doing horrendous things to millions of people. But up until now, no one, at least outside of the intelligence community, had ever seen any proof of it. That all changed this week when security sources provided Reuters with a photocopy of passports with Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Il's photos in them. Unsurprisingly, the Brazilian government doesn't have much to say on the matter. Read the rest
Since the 1990s, North Korea has aggressively pursued development -- and importation -- of CNC mills, the ubiquitous makerspace staples that automatically machine complex forms out of blocks of metal, wood, plastic and other materials. Read the rest
University of Hawaii sent an email to their students yesterday that had a horrific subject line: "In the event of a nuclear attack." This is in reference to North Korea's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), which experts believe have the capability to reach Hawaii and Alaska.
The email itself was not much brighter. Part of it read: "In light of concerns about North Korea missile tests, state and federal agencies are providing information about nuclear threats and what to do in the unlikely event of a nuclear attack and radiation emergency." At least students could be comforted by the word "unlikely."
The email "also told students and faculty to be aware of emergency sirens and to follow instructions on 'sheltering in place,'" says CBS News.
According to CBS:
The email comes amid heightened tensions between North Korea and the U.S. On Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said the army "must stand ready" in the face of continued provocations by the North Korean regime.
In July, Hawaii became the first state to announce a public campaign urging those living there to prepare for a nuclear attack...
Every time North Korea fires a missile, the regime gets one step closer to reaching the Hawaiian Islands...
Once launched, a nuclear missile from North Korea would take less than 20 minutes to hit Honolulu.
Image: Vreed Read the rest
Autumn is here. It's a fine season for pulling out your favorite sweaters, downing PSLs, and huddling in the corner fearing nuclear war.
With this comic, illustrator Jessica Robinson of Columbus, Ohio really captures our current "climate," doesn't she? Read the rest
President Donald Trump says the United States will apply new, additional sanctions on North Korea.
Dennis Rodman, two-time NBA All-Star and possibly the last man who can stop the North Korean nuclear threat, is offering President Donald Trump his diplomatic services to ease tensions.
During a Wednesday interview with “Good Morning Britain,” Rodman expressed his concern with Trump’s personality interfering with solutions between Washington and Pyongyang.
“Donald can be a little crazy sometimes,” said the former Celebrity Apprentice contestant, while also expressing his love for the president, according to Reuters.
Rodman, who admitted to skiing and singing karaoke with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, also says Trump needs to engage in dialogue with Kim.
Behold the video genius of In Misery Seek Root Beer. It's the best example of the "x over North Koreans marching" YouTube microgenre, mostly because the creator bothered to synchronic step and beat. But here's the original master:
North Korea has launched what is likely to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea's military.
Sixty years ago, North Korea and South Korea were one country. Jacob Laukaitis recently spent a week in each country and made a video of the differences he saw. His guide in South Korea was a man who escaped from North Korea. He told Jacob that only the most privileged North Koreans get to live in the capital of Pyongon. He paid human smugglers $30,000 to take him out of the county. He spent three years working on a farm in China to pay off the debt. Read the rest
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will delay a decision on whether to fire missiles at the U.S. territory of Guam as he waits to see what the United States does, the North's state media reported on Tuesday. United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson says any dialogue is all up to Kim.
The U.S. government today said that Americans will be prohibited from traveling to North Korea because of an elevated risk of "long-term detention" in the country, where an American student was jailed last year while traveling there, and later died.
