RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Watch out, David Copperfield, you’ve got a new competitor! Earlier this month, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un finally reappeared after mysteriously disappearing in early September. Although there was speculation about the reasons for his disappearance, we can all agree on one thing: the North Korean…
Category: North Korea
NORTH KOREA: Miracle on the 38th Parallel
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Miracles happen every day, and the Korean Peninsula’s latest political development proves this. How else can you explain the fact that North and South Korea appear to be discussing a return to peaceful negotiations? At the Asian Games’ closing ceremony earlier this month, North Korean officials…
NORTH KOREA: Human Rights Capital of the World?
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Certainly a country with the title “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” is all about freedom and equality…right? Earlier this year, the United Nations published a report on the state of human rights in North Korea. It found that the country has one of the worst human…
NORTH KOREA: Professional Wrestlers Tackle Isolation
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Could sports succeed where years of diplomacy have fallen flat? On the heels of Dennis Rodman’s visits to the Hermit Kingdom, an international group of wrestlers, including athletes from Japan and the US, journeyed to North Korea recently to compete in a match before thousands of…
NORTH KOREA: New Music Video Upsets Government
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – If North Korea’s reaction to The Interview has not made it clear that the Hermit Kingdom takes portrayals of its Supreme Leader very seriously, the country’s opinion of a new Chinese music video featuring Kim Jong-Un will. The video consists of various clips of people dancing,…
North Korea: New Movie Starring Seth Rogen and James Franco Sparks Controversy
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – This October, The Interview will give moviegoers a glimpse of what could happen if Seth Rogen and James Franco were hired by the CIA in an attempt to turn an interview with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Kong-un into an assassination attempt. Though it’s a comedy, not everyone…
NORTH KOREA: One Does not Simply Ignore a Collapsed Building
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – The recent collapse of an apartment building in North Korea may reveal how the Hermit Kingdom’s media works. A large apartment complex recently collapsed in Pyongyang, but the national media made no mention of the incident until five days after the fact. While nobody knows why the…
NORTH KOREA: The Grass is Greener in South Korea
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – The North Korean government may slowly be losing the battle for the hearts and minds of its people. How is this happening in a country where the government uses propaganda, political repression, and secrecy to control public opinion? It appears that many North Korean citizens have…
NORTH KOREA: U.N. Releases Report on Human Rights in North Korea
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – It’s now even safer to assume that North Korea is not the utopia its leaders would like the rest of the world to believe. Recently, the United Nations published the findings of an inquiry on the state of human rights in the country. The report contains…
NORTH KOREA: It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – In today’s world, connections are everything. Knowing the right people can get you job offers and admission into prestigious schools. Or it can get you a prison sentence in North Korea. Forty performers were arrested and imprisoned in North Korea just for knowing Jang Son Thaek,…
NORTH KOREA: That Time of the Year
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Nothing says “stop it” like a country threatening to nuke its neighbor for taking part in a military drill. This is how North Korea responded to this year’s Foal Eagle exercise, which is an annual military drill held in South Korea between its forces and those from…
NORTH KOREA: Squabble over Name-Calling an Obstacle to Progress
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Tension between North and South Korea is old news, but a recent offer by the North offers a ray of hope that it’s possible for relations to cool down. Earlier this week, North Korea proposed that the two countries tone down their usually confrontational language. If…
NORTH KOREA: Public Executions Perpetuate Rumors
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – These days, public executions are all the rage in North Korea. Over the summer, twelve musicians were sent to the firing squad for producing porn. More recently, seven North Korean cities held public executions on the same day, killing approximately 80 people. What were the charges? The people…
NORTH KOREA: First Lady Gone Wild?
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Rumors flew recently after several musicians in North Korea’s Unhasu Orchestra were executed for allegedly making porn. Because those killed reportedly included President Kim Jong-Un’s former girlfriend Hyon Song-wol, North Korea watchers said it may ultimately have tied back to the beloved leader’s current wife, Ri…
SOUTH KOREA: Overregulation of Technology Coming to an End?
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – South Korea enjoys some of the world’s most advanced technology. In addition, the country enoys nearly ubiquitous and extremely fast broadband. Still, one thing keeps South Korea from realizing its full online potential: Heavy-handed government regulation. This may be about to change. In South Korea, the…
NORTH KOREA: Did Porn put Popstar in Firing Line?
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – A dozen North Korean musicians faced a government firing squad last month for allegedly making and selling porn. That might have gone unnoticed by the world if one of them hadn’t been Hyon Song-wol, national chanteuse and hottie former girlfriend of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Conspiracy…