North Korea is keen to attract tourists

North Korea has always been a secluded state and its leader Kin Jong-Un is keen to attract tourists. He wants to increase it from the present 100,000 annually to two million by 2020. It is an ambitious project but already several tourism zones have been created over the past few years towards achieving this objective.
There are traditional tours of state sites and monuments, and tourists can now choose to go for snowboarding, and would soon get an opportunity to put up in an underwater hotel.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 13 February 2017.

In view of secrecy surrounding the activities of North Korea, the tourist would have to accept that his movements will be restricted and he must follow the group and its itinerary and also follow the guide - each group is assigned two guides. Moreover, visitors must not show disrespect to the country's supreme leaders and take photographs of soldiers or military areas.
Tourists can see ox-drawn carts, people hitchhiking, cars that have been outfitted to run on coal emitting thick black smoke. Moreover, there are visits to architectural sites, skiing and hiking trips, and supermarkets and pubs in Pyongyang where visitors can meet and rub shoulders with locals.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Kim Jong-Un goes gaga over his latest toy – an underwater ballistic missile

North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un is on cloud nine with his latest toy – a underwater ballistic missile. His people have claimed to have successfully test-fired a submarine-based ballistic missile and is has been "developed on the personal initiative" of leader Kim Jong-Un.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 9 May 2015.
Reports indicate that Kim had personally overseen the test and has hailed the missile as a "world-level strategic weapon capable of striking and wiping out in any waters the hostile forces infringing upon (North Korea's) sovereignty and dignity".

The test was reportedly carried out by a submarine that dived to launch depth on the sounding of a combat alarm. After some time, the ballistic missile soared into the sky from underwater. No additional information has been released as to the size or range of the missile, neither the date when the test was carried out.
However, there was no immediate independent confirmation of the test. If true, it would certainly mark a major breakthrough for North Country’s missile program. It would, simultaneously, be treated as a violation of UN resolutions that prohibit Pyongyang from conducting ballistic missile tests.
In the opinion of experts, the development of a submarine-launched missile capability would move the North Korean nuclear threat to a newer level because it would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula.

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Kim Jong-Un executes 15 senior officials because they did not dance to his tunes

#KimJongUn #NorthKorea #Unhasu #orchestra #RiSolJu Kim Jong-Un, the leader of North Korea hates anyone who dares to defy his authority and will summarily issue execution orders – this year he has already executed 15 senior officials as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 29 April 2015.

Four of them were senior members of Pyongyang's famous Unhasu Orchestra, where Kim's wife, Ri Sol Ju, had been a singer before she married him in June 2012. The charges against them was spying and they were shot by firing squad. Then there was a vice minister executed for questioning state policy on forestry. Another official of a similar rank was executed in February because he opposed Kim's plans for a new building in the shape of a flower named after his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung.
These details have come out during a secret briefing to the South Korean parliament's intelligence committee. As he committee member has revealed – Kim Jong-Un does not accept excuses or reasoning and he believes in pushing through everything. If there is any objection, he feels it as a challenge to his authority and gives execution orders. In the four months of this year, 15 senior officials have reportedly been executed.
Incidentally, he is expected to travel to Moscow to attend an event marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe. It would be his first overseas trip after coming to power in 2011 following the death of his father.

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#harem #kimjongun #northkorea #freshfaces Kim Jong-Un, the 32-year-old dictator of North Korea is on the lookout for fresh faces to induct into his harem. It is a practice that had been started by his grandfather, North Korea's founding father, the 'Eternal President' Kim Il-sung.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 3 April 2015.

The tradition was subsequently carried forward by Kim Jong-il, the present leader’s father and had been kept on hold due to the three year mourning period. Kim Jong-il had died in December 2011 and the coast is now clear for Kim Jong-Un to select his very own ‘pleasure troupe’.
Kim Jong-Un is married to a former singer with whom he has a baby daughter and, even though his country is notorious for its allegedly widespread and horrific human rights abuses, his staff are busy scouring the countryside to select a band of fresh faces.
The number of new inductees would be 30 to 40 every year. They would serve as maids, singers, or dancers in case they pass the interview with the leader. The prettiest of them would be expected to become the leader's concubines. Once they reach their mid-20s, they would eventually be retired to become high ranking military or government officials.

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‘Be my guest for the 70th anniversary of end of WWII’, Putin tells Kim Jong-Un

#vladimirputin #kimjongun #victoryday #WWII #redsquare Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent invitations to 26 world leaders to attend Victory Day celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany and Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean is one of the invitees.
He would be making his first foreign trip since taking power three years ago as he accepts the invitation from Russia as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 17 March 2015.
North Korea has not officially commented, but the visit has been confirmed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. As per information, the leaders of China, Cuba, India, Mongolia, South Africa and Vietnam have confirmed their attendance.
The announcement has come soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin reappeared in public after suddenly disappearing for a 10-day period that led to speculations about his whereabouts.
The program is planned for May 9 and the highlight would be a military parade in the Red Square that would be overseen by President Putin. It is actually an annual event but it will be expanded this year to include 15,000 troops, cadets and Cossacks. This has been revealed by Russia's defense minister.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of the leaders who plans to stay away from the parade, but she will be visiting Moscow the next day for a separate ceremony with Putin.

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Pyongyang cannot prevent airdrop of ‘The Interview’ bomb

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A South Korean activist Park Sang-hak has decided to make it available to the people of North Korea. He plans to pass on the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy directly to the isolated country. His plan is to airdrop 100,000 DVDs and thumb drives containing the movie over North Korea as early as January.
These would be carried out clandestinely, the pace would pick up in March, when he expects wind direction to be more favorable.
He has revealed that the absolute leadership of North Korea would crumble if the idolization of leader Kim breaks down. Park wants to make the people of North Korea to become more aware of the world they live in. In order to accomplish the cinematic airdrop and pass on the message, he is expected to rope in the U.S. nonprofit the Human Rights Foundation which is an "organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies."
Of course, given the ground realities in North Korea, it is not known how effective this balloon-airdrop project would be. Many people in the country may not have access to a computer, however access to televisions and DVD players is believed to be more widespread. Hence, that could be used.

Sony releases ‘The Interview’ – movie-goers are delighted

#theinterview #kimjongun #christmasday Initial plans of Sony Pictures was to release ‘The Interview’, a spoof on the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, in over 3000 movie theaters – but, it finally was released in 300 movie houses on Christmas Day. And – the public have loved it and are delighted.
In the opinion of the critics and early viewers, while "The Interview" is certainly not a masterpiece, but due to the prelaunch attention it received due to threats from hackers, the movie has become an event.
Many movie halls have made special holiday arrangements for the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures had initially called off the release after major theater chains dropped the movie that was to have opened on as many as 3,000 screens.
But when President Barack Obama criticized the decision of Sony, its officials reconsidered and changed their minds and the movie became available on a variety of digital platforms like Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a separate Sony website.
It is reported that Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, has condemned the release and has remarked that it is "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader."
However, one spectator has suggested that as many people as possible should see it and the government should subsidize tickets. "The Interview" was not a great movie but, no one should go to see it expecting it to be a serious commentary on politics - it's fun.

Sony cancels release of The Interview - a film on North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un

#TheInterview #KimJongUn The film ‘The Interview’ is made by Sony and is one that mocks the regime of North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-Un. It was scheduled to be released in the United States on Christmas Day but, that has been put on hold.
The reason is that studio of Sony suffered a damaging cyber-attack and it had no other option but to pull out The Interview, because cinema chains across the US had backed away from showing the film.
The film depicts a plot to assassinate North Korean leader #KimJongUn and stars Seth Rogen and James Franco. As per reports, the group that claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack had made terrorist threats against US cinemas if they went ahead and showed the movie.
U S President Barack Obama has criticized this decision of Sony and remarked that he believed the studio had "made a mistake". He minced no words when he said that there cannot be a society in which some dictatorship someplace can start imposing censorship.
The decision of Sony has been criticized by celebrities and film makers as well.
Sony has clarified that it has only cancelled the Christmas Day release and is exploring alternatives to release the film on another platform and hopes that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so.
It seems the FBI is of the opinion that the hacking had been done by North Korea and has termed it as an act of state-sponsored "intimidation" but Pyongyang has denied it. Of course, a North Korean diplomat said that the film affected the image of their country.