Andray Abrahamian

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What made North Korea decide to conduct its fifth nuclear test last Friday? No doubt because Pyongyang believed that China would allow Kim Jong Un to get away with it. Again.

After Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January, the UN Security Council signed off on the toughest UN sanctions against North Korea to date. Beijing, a permanent council member long frustrated by its neighbor and virtually its only trading partner, seemed to have signed off on a package of tough measures indeed.

Those sanctions included bans on key North Korean exports, though with a vaguely worded exception for “livelihood purposes.” The measures specifically targeted extractives like coal and iron ore, which North Korea  leans on heavily for revenues.…  Seguir leyendo »

Recent rumors about North Korean textbooks exhorting a young Kim Jong Un’s prowess as a driver and sailor have sparked a renewed cycle of blogs and articles musing on just how weird North Korea is. Why is their propaganda so odd, we ask. Do they believe it all?

When it comes to lionized feats of the leaders, there are two kinds of tales that we hear, as non-Koreans. The first are the “real’ legends, i.e. those actually propagated by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). These are usually quite incredible, but not unbelievable. So, for example, we’re told that the dynasty’s founder, Kim Il Sung, wrote patriotic slogans in beautiful calligraphy at age three and founded a proto-political party at age 13.…  Seguir leyendo »