RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Last month, a “biological weapons expert” known only as Lee allegedly defected from his native North Korea to Finland. Yonhap News states that he “held a data storage device with 15 gigabytes of information on human experiments” which may prove the existence of North Korea’s alleged…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Pesticide Plant or Weapons Warehouse?
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Look out, Lady Gaga! Kim Jong-un’s poker face may be harder to read than your own. As debates over the actual extent of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities continue, Kim Jong-un asserts that his regime has advanced their nuclear weapons technology. The North Korean government has even…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Can’t Read Kim’s Poker Face
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES- Only in North Korea would a national leader claim to have climbed the highest mountain in the country, take a picture (in which he looks neither tired nor properly equipped to accomplish such a task), and then describe such an accomplishment as if he just had a…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Published earlier this month, Paul Fischer’s “A Kim Jong-il Production” explores the late North Korean president’s zeal for film and his attempts to make his country’s film industry the best in the world. After the controversy surrounding the release of “The Interview,” Fischer’s book could not…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Like Father, Like Son?TOM PLATE WRITES IN HIS SYNDICATED COLUMN – In its latest angry shout-out, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea looks to be emerging as something of a computer wonk, the teen crashing and trashing a Hollywood movie-studio’s Christmas Day launch-party plans, embarrassing its movie execs by hacking into and spamming…
Full Article HOLLYWOOD: ATTACK OF THE NORTH KOREAN ALIENS!
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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: The Amazing Disappearing Dictator!
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,…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: New Music Video Upsets Government
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…
Full Article North Korea: New Movie Starring Seth Rogen and James Franco Sparks ControversyRYAN 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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: One Does not Simply Ignore a Collapsed BuildingRYAN 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,…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You KnowRYAN 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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Squabble over Name-Calling an Obstacle to ProgressRYAN 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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Public Executions Perpetuate RumorsRYAN 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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: First Lady Gone Wild?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…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Did Porn put Popstar in Firing Line?RYAN LIPPERT WRITES -Simple lack of Internet access is one of the biggest obstacles to solving some of North Korea’s myriad woes. The hermit state has a computer network of its own, but citizens can only access those sites the government has OK’d. Further, the nation’s computers are designed to…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: One Click from the Internet