This blog offers selected features of alternative Asian TV segments, news stories, editorials, photos and more from Japan, Korea, India, China and many other Asian countries. This blog also includes some WTF Japanese, North Korean online videos, entertainment news, beautiful Chinese and Japanese models, and much more.
It is now being reported that there was a somewhat large Children's Day celebration at Pyongyang's Mangyongdae Amusement Park on June 2, 2013. This first-time event featured various games, dances and competitions. Children dressed up in traditional Korean clothes while playing together in musical groups and competing together in various playground games. Some children also shot arrows at a target that resembled an American soldier! This event also included children dressed up in cute replica military uniforms. And what Children's Day celebration would not be complete without a full-on miniature rocket launcher in a MILITARY PARADE!!! Check it out:
The Harlem Globetrotters shake hands with the North Koreans.
Just released earlier today by KCNA and URI Tours, here is exclusive footage of a recent scrimmage game between some members of the Harlem Globetrotters and a North Korean professional team. This took place when Dennis Rodman visited BFF Kim Jong Un back in March. This one hour and twenty minute plus game starts out somewhat tense but as play goes on the players relax more and just play a friendly practice game. The Harlem Globetrotters' players were Bull Bullard, Buckets Blakes and rookie sensation Moose Weekes. The Globetrotters were split amongst the North Korean players. So get some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the game which starts around 9:30:
In a long overdue change of format, CNN recently released a short documentary on homeless children in the DPRK entitled "Orphaned and Homeless in North Korea". This very short but powerful docudrama features two students who were abandoned by their parents many years ago in "The Hermit Kingdom". The first is Yoon Hee a 19-year-old escapee who found a foster home in South Korea. The other is an anonymous young man who feels fortunate to receive the South Korean government's support and education. Both are students at the Hangyeore School a special school for children and teenagers from North Korea.
Principal Gwok Jong Moon summarized the situation for many young escapees: "Although freedom was given to them in South Korea, severe [academic] competition, delayed development, educational disparity and discrimination makes it extremely difficult for them to adjust properly. So we provide those students education through special programs, emotional and psychological treatments, and social and cultural adaptation skills."
This documentary is only four and a half minutes in duration, but it is one of the first, or possibly the first feature released by CNN on this very important subject. Hopefully, there will be more like this released by more mass media entities in the near future. "Orphaned and Homeless in North Korea" was produced by Nick Scott and narrated by Jonathan Binder. It was translated by Jin Kang, Sindy Kang, Sarah Kim, Annie Sunin Lee and InHee Yoo.
Cohen, who is based in Hanoi, took the train into Pyongyang with the hope and ambition of capturing a more meaningful experience. Prior to departure, he cleverly worked out a deal where he would film and produce a five-minute promo video for the tour company in exchange for the unusual permission to film his complete tour of the Hermit Kingdom. Join Cohen and a group of other foreign tourists as they travel through Pyongyang, Mount Paektu, Chongjing and Wonsan in this very interesting and humorous one hour film:
To find out more about this movie and how Cohen made it, check out his post at The Word.
Now who doesn't love young, beautiful Asian women in uniforms AND high heels? This long-range photo was taken by Jacky Chen of Reuters when he saw the women from across the Yalu river in Dandong City, China. The women are patrolling on the other side of the Yalu river in Sunuiji, North Korea. In the below video we see one other DPRK female soldier named Kim Ok Yong threaten the USA with a nuclear missile strike!
While the Korean peninsula remains in a state of high alert, one of the DPRK's former top spies recently revealed many secrets about how the Hermit Kingdom operates and also about its 1987 bombing of Korean Air Flight 858. In this fascinating interview with ABC News, former femme fatale and super spy for North Korea, Kim Hyon Hui, who now lives in top-secret exile, tells about her past life as a killer secret agent for the DPRK.
It all started when she was recognized as a very intelligent and very beautiful high school student who spoke flawless Japanese. She was then chosen by the central party to attend North Korea's elite spy training school up in the remote mountains. She was forced to leave her family and friends with very short notice. Then they gave her a new identity and advanced training in martial arts, military weaponry and foreign languages. And then...
Here is a very shocking undercover video of the DPRK filmed by some freelance North Korean journalists working for Asiapress in December 2012 for Japanese TV. Below the video, we have provided an accurate English translation of the narrative. Viewer discretion is very strongly advised.
00:00 Close to the border with China, in Hyesan, Ryanggang province in this video filmed just last month there a lot of people waiting at a bus stop. Then a very crowded bus stops and the people try to get on it but they cannot as it is too jammed packed. Then the bus took off in order to shake off the people hanging onto the outside.
00:37 Then we see the market place of Hyesan. Here rice, meat and colorful shoes are being sold. It is said that there is a food shortage even though there is so much in the market. It appears to be a rich market supporting the residents' lifestyles. This is the way of living for these people in the countryside. These are the first favorable scenes that we have seen since Kim Jong Un became the leader of the DPRK.
01:17 However, looking closely we also see many homeless children or "Kochebi" with vacant looks sitting or walking around the market. And then we see a very young child lying on the ground in front of a white wall. It looks like the child has fallen. But the people walk by without looking and showing no surprise. Then the photographer says that this child has been dead for the past three days.
02:04 Then we go inside to meet some of the people from Hyesan. One young girl says that the number of homeless children in the market and at the train station is increasing. She also says that there are many people dying. So many that she can't count them.
02:19 Then we see an elementary school in Sinuiju, North Pyeongan province. The sign at the entrance to the school building says "Thank you beloved Dear Leader Kim Jong Un." And then on a sign in the central square of the city we see this slogan "Let's unconditionally carry out Comrade Kim Jong Un's orders very thoroughly." Here the aim is to increase the authority of the First Secretary Kim Jong Un.
02:58 And then in the square there are some older women selling food. "Grandmother what do you have?"
"Some vegetables and bread."
03:13 Then we took a brief look at some of the town's other activities. "For the wealthy who have been living a good lifestyle from long ago, things have become better. But for common people like us, things have gotten much worse."
03:33 "In the current trading system, clampdowns have increased in all aspects. Further government tightening is also restraining the movement of people. The flow of goods gets stopped on the road and that hurts business."
03:49 And here at Sinuiju train station many people are importing goods from China to Pyongyang. People are walking one after another towards the station but these policemen are controlling the movement of the people and the goods. 04:05 "HEY YOU! GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF HERE!" yelled a station employee wearing a red arm band. These officials are controlling the traffic of citizens and supplies.
04:35 In North Korea there is not enough electricity so often the schedule of the railways gets disrupted. Because of that problem the government has ordered that the movement of people and goods to be strictly controlled.
04:51 Here is news video journalist Ishimaru Jiro who has obtained a series of videos of the DPRK. "The majority of people in North Korea now are involved in trading activities so that they can keep eating. With all of these strict regulations, business gets slowed down and, in short, cash decreases. There is a lot of rice and other goods available in the markets, but without money, no one can buy them."
"In summary, people who do not have access to food cannot continue living."
05:19 In the current system there is a gap widening between the people who don't have and the people that have government power. 05:29 Here is a look at one day on the outskirts of Sinuiju. "What are you throwing away?" asks the photographer. "Grains of rice are falling," the old woman says. In the rice fields, there are some other people looking for grains of rice. This is another look at the widening gap between the residents. In the end, another old woman complains of not finding anything.
05:54 Arrests are severe and everyone's lifestyle is agonizing. What can this youngster in his 20s do? The only thing they (the government) are good at is making people suffer.
06:12 There is a common question of who are these "Kochebi" wandering the streets?
06:15 In the morning we saw another homeless child. He was wearing an adult-sized jacket and dragging a bag. He stood still and stared into the camera when next to the photographer. The photographer then gave him an ice candy and told him not to say anything about his camera. Then the photographer asked him "At your house, are both your father and mother gone?" He answered "Yes".
06:52 The widening gap between people in North Korea. Where will all of this end up going to?
UPDATE: 3-20-13 The situation in the DPRK is now being reported by independent and underground news networks as very critical and at least one food riot was averted in one major city. Watch for updates in the comments section.
Released yesterday, here is North Korea's Moranbong Band performing an instrumental version of "Without A Break" in celebration of the Democratic People's Republic of Best Korea's recent satellite launch. It is said that this song commemorates the "bravery and fortitude of the country’s military". This robust and epic performance was broadcast on KCNA TV. The Moranbong Band is an attractive, all-female and very talented group that made its debut performance earlier this year in July. When watching this video, look closely at the on-stage video screen and you can see the entire world explode into a ball of fire at 4:18!!! WTF?!?!?! O.O
An American space expert said North Korea has succeeded in launching a satellite into space.
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said late Tuesday from Cambridge, Massachusetts, that the three-stage Unha-3 rocket launched early Wednesday morning delivered the satellite into orbit and constituted "a perfect success for North Korea."
Continued...
Most likely, today's surprise launch went something like this:
Three film producers from Belgium (Anja Daelemans), the United Kingdom (Nick Bonner) and North Korea (Ryom Mi Hwa) came together last year and created a romantic comedy movie entitled "Comrade Kim Goes Flying." This film is a heartfelt story of a young North Korean woman seeking her childhood dream of becoming a trapeze artist. This international collaboration involved movie actor training for some performers of the Pyongyang Circus and includes some other well-known movie stars in the DPRK. Unlike most male-dominated, state run stories of success, this North Korean comic drama explores the individual quest of a young heroine striving for self-fulfillment in a unique North Korean setting. The two main characters in the movie Han Jong Sim as Comrade Kim Yong Mi and Pak Chung Guk as Pak Jang Phil, are two young professional circus athletes who went through an accelerated acting class for this motion picture. Below is the official movie trailer:
LONDON (AP) — He says he was one of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's favorite propaganda artists, singing the praises of the Dear Leader in dozens of poems. But these days Jang Jin-sung says he prefers to tell the truth about North Korea.
The former state poet, who defected to South Korea in 2004, now writes to tell the world about what he calls the brutality of everyday life in the North.
"North Korea has nuclear programs, but South Korea has the media," said Jang, who is in London for a global poetry festival involving poets from countries competing in the July 27 to Aug. 12 London Olympics. "Truth is the strongest weapon." Continued...
According to the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group, businessmen in China and other countries can now legally purchase a young North Korean bride for a mere $50,000! North Korean authorities have recently started to promote these “transnational marriages” between North Korean beauties and elite businessmen of foreign firms to attract foreign investment into North Korea. Previously, such marriages were against the law in the DPRK.
Now they are encouraged. After the foreigner pays the equivalent of US$50,000 to the DPRK Authorities then the Supreme Leader's government will select a young North Korean bride for the foreigner to wed. It seems like a kind of "official" human trafficking system within the North Korean government. South Korean experts have called this new offering a "honey trap" that shows just how desperately poor the Kim regime is now.
But wait there's more! After the foreigner and his new bride are married, the foreigner is then granted the right to do business in North Korea. If no business or no investment is made, then the foreign exec will be required to pay an additional US $1 million.
Most likely, not so many will go for this new deal. But in case any potential buyers want to know more, here is a good sneak peek preview of what to look forward to with North Korea's cheerleader squad known as The Army of Beauties:
Recently discovered in a garage sale in Berlin, here is a very rare and interesting postcard from Pyongyang, North Korea in 1989. At that time, the "Eternal Leader" Kim Il Sung was in charge and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union had just begun. This left North Korea completely on it's own and economic difficulties increased as Kim refused to do any kind of reform. Oddly enough, this postcard is anti-nuclear with the slogan "Do Not Spoil the Blue Sky!" prominently featured against the background of a mushroom cloud. It wasn't until 1994 when the DPRK started nuclear power research and production. The rainbow and white doves also indicate some kind of desire for peace and the multicolored hands show some hope for unity. Most likely the regime was really afraid of being attacked and/or nuked by South Korea at that time.
Traveling to Hermit Kingdom is already bizarre enough, but when we heard that North Korea would be celebrating the
100 year anniversary of the Great Leader & eternal president, Kim Il-sung, there was no way to let such an epic birthday
party slip through our hands. Laurence Keefe, Kirill Korobkov and I flew over to Pyongyang for two days to witness the
madness. While skateboarding within the DPRK was our main intention, it was overshadowed by the celebrations & the
'no sliding' anywhere rule. The three minute clip portrays a small insight into North Korea from the 15th of April 2012.
As previously mentioned in our article on The 100th Birthday of Kim Il Sung in North Korea, this week features the annual Kimilsungia Flower Show in Pyongyang, North Korea. In the above photo a young woman seats a baby on a balcony railing for a photo in front of the "Kimilsungia" flower display. Photo by David Guttenfelder / AP.
Pyongyang, North Korea April 15 (KCNA) Today the entire world witnessed and exuberantly celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung the eternal president and immortal father of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
This grand and esteemed occasion is also being commemorated this week by the annual Mass Games performance and the Kimilsungia flower show. Also an extra special child prodigy classic guitar exhibition will be featured with over 1,000 child prodigy guitarists playing many world-famous and classical works composed by the victorious general himself for a consecutive 48 hours without sleep and synchronized all together! This year's Mass Games will also include many gymnastic and supreme truth socialist expositions featuring one hundred thousand synchronized acrobats all performing inside the May Day Stadium - the world’s largest stadium ever built. This grand extravaganza also features over 50,000 perfectly synchronized sign flipper comrades that will present added color and imagery to this world famous and truly spectacular display of the Juche idea in the worker's paradise.
Below is a magnificent video of Friday the 13th's celebratory performances from the first day of the April Spring Friendship Art Festival (ASFAF). This festival features many talented, high level Asian singers, musicians, clowns and circus performers from inside Best Korea and other countries:
This very special day of worldwide celebration and pageantry of the eternal supreme commander's 100th birthday was also marked by the world's greatest ever fireworks display as seen below in this exclusive Reuters news video:
"You must visit us
We have luxury bus
Many new sites to see
No more scary times.
Now just for recreation
You very safe
Four star everything
Must come now
Just for recreation."
April 15th 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder and eternal President Kim Il Sung. The occasion will be marked by Mass Games performance, the Kimilsungia flower show, child prodigy classic guitar exposition where 1,500 synchronized child guitarists will play classical works composed by the great leader for an entire 48 hours. 2012 Mass Games will also include two hour gymnastic and socialist realism extravaganzas featuring 100,000 synchronized gymnasts inside the world's largest stadium and will be performed every evening except Sundays. Streaming access to portions of all of these events will be provided through the Punch! ipad application and was made possible through an unprecedented creative visionary collaboration between a sovereign nation and an American technology company.
Contact North Korea Tours for more information on this new travel campaign.
"North Korea is best Korea. This is the peoples song. This "group", a-ha, stole it from poor struggling North Korean peasants, who have sung it for the last 1000 years. It was suppressed by the imperial powers and just recently perfected."
Could the same be true about Cyndi Lauper and her hit song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun?" After all it is well known that both A-ha and Cyndi Lauper have never performed live in Best Korea! Coincidence? And don't forget North Korea's world-wide smash hit Fucking USA. Many viewers still write in asking about that video. The mystery continues.
Anyway, here's wishing all the beautiful North Korean female soldiers a very happy International Women's Day!
Perhaps one of the best documentaries on North Korea, here is Kimjongilia - The Movie . This full-length film gives us an in-depth look at the inhumane concentration camps, the brainwashing of the people, the arrests and murders of so many relatives, and the harrowing tales of escape as told by many defectors from the D.P.R.K. "Kimjongilia - The Movie " exposes the tragedy of one of the world's worst human rights disasters - North Korea.
In this very educational demonstration video, Photoshop Project Manager Brian O'Neal Hughes shows us some tips on touching up publicity photos for the recent Great Leader's state funeral. He also reveals some other previously unknown secrets. Check it out:
