Stories from Quick Reads and North Korea
The stories of Koreans in Kyrgyzstan who converted to Islam
Their conversion is partly the result of the re-Islamization of Kyrgyzstan, which started in 1991, after Kyrgyzstan gained independence.
Korea: English, Borrowed Words, Konglish
Words adopted from another language, or ‘borrowed words’ permeate the Korean language. R. Elgin wrote an informative post about how borrowed English words are being used in Korea compared to loanwords in other countries; many English words are, instead of being completely or partially naturalized, phonetically rendered into Korean, often...
North Korea: When It Will Collapse?
Although South Korea seems to be plugging unification with North Korea, experts are a little hesitant about projecting North Korea's imminent collapse. NKnews.org published a nice post on the chance of the dictatorial regime's disintegration, concluding that ‘Pyongyang's belated economic reforms make ‘middle-run’ scenarios more likely’.
NASA's New Photo of North Korea
Any international readers interested in North Korea would probably come across at least once this famous photo of Korean peninsula from NASA demonstrating a stark difference in the light emission of two Koreas at nighttime. NASA finally updated a new satellite image and it is ‘even more dramatic than the monochrome NASA satellite image of...
Ethnic North Korean Schools in Japan Face Ever-Hostile Situation
‘Koreans living in Japan‘ is a vague word glueing very different groups together under the same umbrella term. Based on their affiliation to North/South Korea and the timing of diaspora (whether it happened before/after the Japanese imperial rule during the World War 2 ear), each sub-group goes by a different name,...
VIDEO: UN Report on Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea
Horrible stories about North Korea is nothing new. But this may be one of the most extensive reports worth-reading on the country's abysmal human rights condition. A new report by a UN Commission of Inquiry reveals unspeakable crimes against humanity carried out by the North Korean regime against its own...
North Korea Rips Off Mac OS X
North Korea has released its own operating system, Red Star Linux, which remarkably resembles Apple's Mac OS X. One tech writer calls it ‘basically a Linux distro skinned to look like OS X‘ and if you want to check yourself, visit North Korea Tech blog who explains in detail with many...
BBC's North Korean Broadcast Plan Hit a Snag
It is not the first time BBC's ambitious plan to reach out to one of the world's most reclusive countries has been thwarted. Back in June 2013, BBC World Service’ plan to air programmes in North Korea was curbed by government cuts to its budget. This time, BBC has concluded...
Users Jeer at North Korean Death-by-Dog Story
A major US media outlet, NBC made one of the most sensational international reports which claimed the North Korean young dictator might have had his uncle devoured by 120 ravenous dogs. Unsurprisingly, the report went viral online, but was later found out to be a confusion caused by social media satire....
Kim Jong-Un Found in Hong Kong?
North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un has an impersonator in Hong Kong. Hong Wrong interviewed the Australian Hong Konger, ‘Howard’, who had performed Kim Jong-un for an Israeli burger chain. Howard likes to wander around in Lan Kwai Fong and takes picture with passer-by so don't be surprise to run...
North Korean Tablet Debuts on eBay, But Under Suspicion of Pirating Angry Birds
North Korea’s recently-launched Android-based tablet, Samjiyon appeared on eBay, listed by a Canadian account with a shipping location of Yanji in China. North Korea Tech blog also reports that the worlds's one of the best-selling applications, Angry Birds, was included on the tablet without proper permissions from the game maker.
Underwear Bombardment on North Korea?
A Swedish underwear brand launched a ridiculous Ad campaign entitled ‘Weapons of the Mass Seduction’ that pledges to drop 450 pairs of free underwear to the country voted the most in the poll on Oct 31 by an airdrop. North Korea, so far, was placed on top by garnering over 5,500 votes and news has...
Korea: Lauching High-Tech Blimps at the Border
South Korean Defense reportedly plans to launch military-purpose high-tech blimps at the disputed maritime border with North Korea next month. Tech blogger Martyn Williams explains in detail.
North Korea Gets 3D Movies
North Korea Tech wrote about a recent report that North Korean capital Pyongyang newly hosted a movie theater capable of showing 3D movies. The blogger also explains about North Korean leadership's deep interest in motion pictures.
100 Million Signature Campaign for Resolution of Japan's ‘Sex Slaves’ Issues
The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan has launched a new campaign to gather 100 million signatures. Their online petition, in eight different languages, calls on Japanese government to offer an official apology and legal reparations to the victims and asks the international community to join their cause....
Charges Dropped for South Korean Indicted for Retweeting North Korean Messages
Park Jeong-geun, a photographer/activist who was sentenced to 10 months jail term for satirically re-tweeting messages from a North Korean official account, was found not guilty [ko]. A flurry of tweets congratulating him were sent to Park's Twitter account (@seouldecadence), who tweeted after the verdict [ko] that there is a chance the prosecutor may...
Suspicions Arose Over North Korean Defector-Turned-Lawmaker
During a parliamentary hearing on the spy agency election interference scandal, Cho Myung-chul, a ruling party lawmaker famous for being the first North Korean defector to take a senior government post in South Korea, went under fire for making snide and offensive remarks discriminating against people from certain province. More criticisms mount as...
An Extensive Review of North Korea's Latest Tablet Computer
The love of tablet computer is universal, and North Korea, one of the world's most reclusive countries, is no exception to this tech trend. North Korea Tech blog wrote a detailed review of the country's latest tablet model based on information he gleaned via extensive email exchanges, phone calls and...
An Undeniably Racist Song, ‘Asian Girlz’ Sparks Controversy
Packed with Asian stereotypes and fetishes, song ‘Asian Girlz’ by ‘Day Above Ground’ has invited controversy and angry comments. Blogger Angry Asian Man typed down the entire lyrics to comment [if they have not] ‘run out of stereotypical Oriental stuff to list off, the song would have gone on for another ten minutes”. The...
South Korea Suspects North Korea Was Behind June Hacking Attack
South Korean investigators suspect North Korea has carried out a series of cyber attacks on June 25 that temporarily hobbled the presidential office websites and major media sites, pointing out the fact that an IP address used in the attack matched one used by North Korea in previous cases. North...
Hacker Attacks on South and North Korea
Hacker collective Anonymous previously announced they will attack North Korean sites on June 25. But it took an unexpected turn as several major South Korean sites, including the website of South Korea's presidential office and those of media organizations, have been temporarily suspended. North Korea Tech explains in detail.
