December 2011
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Yankees Hats Are Everywhere, Even North Korea →
Interesting blog entry in the New York Times on Yankees hats abroad.
And now, remarkably, in a video posted to YouTube, a North Korean youngster can be seen wearing a Yankees knit hat, with the telltale NY logo, as he takes part in the orchestrated mourning for Kim Jong-il, the country’s cultish leader, who died on Dec. 17.
Is there a moral to all this, some larger point? Probably not, except...
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Kangwon Province Take Lead in Producing Organic...
Micronutrients are elements that essential to plants in small amounts as they play a vital role in plant tissues, growth, and metabolic cycles. These include zinc, iron, manganese, zinc, boron, copper, molybdenum, and chlorine (Lichfouse, et al., 2011). In contrast, macronutrients, including nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, are needed in large amounts and are often form the...
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North Korea versus the United States: Who are the... →
Of all the poorly written and poorly research articles that have appeared out of the wood work following recent events in North Korea, this has got to be one of the worst.
There seems to be a tendency among many writers, especially left-leaning ones, to see the DPRK as the last bastion of anti-(neo-liberalism, imperialism, globalization…choose your poison) in the world and a victim of...
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Kim's Last Gift to NKorea: Loads of Fish →
Fisheries seems to be the story of the day in North Korea.
The people of North Korea’s capital have received a special gift from recently deceased leader Kim Jong Il: loads and loads of fish.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency has reported that Kim was concerned about the supply of fish in Pyongyang, and had looked into the matter the day before he died. North...
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Crabs offer lifeline for North’s economy →
Worries about the sustainability of North Korean crab fisheries. North Korean marine products have high demand in China and South Korea via Chinese traders.
North Korean exports of crabs are thriving, a rare bright spot for the beleaguered economy. But they are also a measure of how backwards it remains. Chinese traders complain of constant delays and broken contracts, and warn that the North...
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Abandoned Fake Disneyland in China
its-pagan-poetry:
‘A decade ago, work began on a Disneyland rip-off amusement park near the Great Wall of China outside Beijing. As per many development projects in China, disputes over property prices between government officials and local farmers caused the construction of Wonderland to grind to a halt, and it’s been sitting half-built and falling into ruin ever since. Reuters just posted some...
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N.Korea: A Normal Economy Could Cope by Importing... →
I worry this commonly put forward solution to the DPRK’s food problems by Haggard and Noland (2008) is overly simplistic, and needs more depth to be a formula for successful reform and addressing transition in the short-term. Definitely a step in the right direction, but given the relatively large size, structure, current state of the agrarian sector in North Korea, the on the ground...
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Soviet propaganda landscaping →
clubjacobin:
Soviet landscape design — planting trees in patterns that could only be seen from the air, to celebrate important events or anniversaries (looks like mostly Lenin’s birthdays and anniversaries of the founding of the USSR). I can’t tell how old these photos are so I don’t know if these are still visible or for how much longer they’ll remain that way.
I’ve seen similar photos from...
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Land in Bloom
A “propagandized history of plant breeding” and attack on Mendelian genetics. Ridiculous. I’ll still read it though because I love Soviet literature.
packaging03:
Land in Bloom A celebration of Soviet agricultural science, using literary techniques to bring the main characters to life. A propagandized history of plant breeding. This entertaining work won 1949 Stalin prize....
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Bukharin's Court Statement →
The road not taken…
missaleksandranikolayevnapetrova:
Translation of Bukharin’s final plea before the Moscow court, March 12 1938.
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Korea stands strong: Kim Jong-Il in context →
This response is to the full articles on Fightbacknews.org
Even if the United States is the major threat to the DPRK today (and it probably isn’t), the day reunification occurs the biggest threat to the North Korean people will come from its neighbors. Caught between two China and South Korea, two powerful economies which often put a higher priority on economic figures than human welfare,...
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The Sound of the General’s Footprints (장군님...
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The inevitability of Kim revisionism by Andrei... →
In light of the event of the past week, this article is a must read. Andrei Lankov discusses the possibility that the good name of the Kim family in the eyes of the North Korean people may outlast their rule over the country. Living in a world where it can be cool to wear Maoist clothing and slogans and major international financial deals are being backed with currency affixed with his Mao’s...
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Not for the faint-hearted — buying N.Korea debt →
I like this. In more opinion, there needs to be more discussion of economic risk with regards to North Korea, especially at the household level, and it’s implications for reform. Even in the most-planned of economies (and perhaps even more so) local/household decision making processes and responses to risk can have unexpected influence on the success of government policy and/or reform. There...
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‘Barbecue Diplomacy,’ North Korea and the United... →
Interesting articles from the New York Times on Robert Egan, a restaurant owner in New Jersey, who over the years has developed an unlikely relationship with North Korean diplomats.
He said American officials should seize upon the death as a diplomatic opportunity. Embassies should be opened. Trading partnerships should be explored.
“Now is the time, right now, to develop relations,” he said.
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