Here’s a Foreign Policy photoessay from 2009 (registration required) by a photographer whose speciality is still-Communist societies after the fall of the Soviet Union and most other Communist states. Here’s his latest, on an unabashedly Maoist town in China.
Category Archives: current events
Reparations and Remains
Japan Focus has a round-up of articles about current issues in Japan-Korea historical reconciliation. I’m particularly interested in the Ahn Jung-geung articles: I understand why he’s considered a hero in Korean history, though I do think there’s some oddity in the current push to raise his profile.
North Korean Pavilion at Shanghai Expo
We now have pictures and a brief description of the soon-to-be-open North Korean pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai. I don’t think it’s actually going to change many minds about North Korea….
Heir Apparent Appears
Kim Jong Il’s third son, Kim Jong Un, hasn’t been seen in public by the West in a decade or more, but Japan’s Mainichi Shinbun thinks they spotted him. More importantly, he’s starting to take the positions that Kim Jong Il did before he took over from Kim Il Sung. So, maybe.
South Korea’s Suicide Rate
The Washington Post reports on the relatively recent and dramatic rise. It’s worth noting that ‘stress’ is not usually considered a factor in suicide risk assessment, no matter how easy it would be for journalists if it were. Nor does the internet actually increase suicide risk, though the ‘contagion’ factor of famous cases might have some basis in actual science.
Cell Phones in North Korea?
NYTimes reports on new information project: smuggling Chinese-network cell phones into NK to interview locals
Gender Balance
This Economist article is mostly about China and India, but notes South Korea’s retreat from the brink of a gender imbalance disaster.
Shoe Theft and Shoe Loss in South Korea
NYTimes reports on the arrest of a man with 1700 pairs of (allegedly) stolen shoes, and the larger problem of shoe management in a society which often goes shoeless.
North Korean … economy?
North Korea has stopped using money. All transactions to be carried out by bank transfer and certified check.
North Korean Divine Rule?
Turns out there’s actually an interesting debate about whether North Korea has claimed supernatural powers for their leading family.