Tag Archives: kim jong-il

Official North Korea website gets Kim Jong Il’s name wrong

5:03pm Thu May 17th

The official website of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea may not be the most-visited sites on the internet — but they might at least put enough effort in to get their former leader’s name right.

On the page featuring biographies of recently-deceased dictator Kim Jong Il and his father Kim Il Sung, both have been christened Kim Il Sung. But while the poor web editor is carted off for some, erm, re-education, we can at least click through to learn about how their former leader:

“… worked out powerful ideological and theoretical weapon for the Korean revolution by giving scientific and theoretical answers to the ideological problems arising in the revolution and construction.”

Answers on a postcard, please.

Kim Jong-il’s spurned older son wrote anti-nuclear poetry

9:28am Wed December 21st

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With all the drama surrounding the installation of youngster Kim Jong-un as leader of North Korea, his spurned older siblings are likely to feel somewhat overlooked. But perhaps we can look to poetry to explain why his second (older) son Kim Jong-chol was passed over for inheritance of the famous platform shoes.

Writing under the pseudonym Chol Pak, Jong-chol is reported to have penned a poem about his “ideal world” that contains some remarkably off-message sentiments about nuclear weapons (Scrapbook has edited out the bits about Jean Claude Van-Damme):

“If I had my ideal world I would not allow weapons and atom bombs any more … Everybody would be happy: no more war, no more dying, no more crying … Only in my ideal world can the people have freedom and live very happily.”

Kim Jong-Il determined Jong-chol “too feminine” to take over as The Great Leader.

North Korean social media comedy

1:24pm Fri August 20th

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Many readers will be aware that Twitter, having captured the pop culture zeitgeist some time ago, now finds itself a tool of international diplomacy. The @uriminzok account is run by North Korean propaganda agency “The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea”. As we played truant during GCSE Korean, Scrapbook bored quickly of impenetrable Facebook notes but a whole world of video comedy seems to have escaped our notice.

According to the New York Times, clips on the Uriminzok YouTube channel call Hillary Clinton a “minister in a skirt”, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates a “war maniac” and the South Korean defence minister a “servile dog” patted by “its American master”. The account keeps sympathisers on a diet of official news reports, scary singing children and videos about decrepit 1970s trains. Our favourite clip, however, is a jaunty dance number entitled 우리는 조국의 수호자 행복의 창조자-. According to Google Translate this means “We are happy, the creator of the guardians of the country”:

Though it makes for charming viewing, one wonders whether this militaristic prancing might cause concern for diminutive communist dictator:

Have the choreographers of Pyongyang Fallen under the corrupting influence of West Side Story?

Hat-tip: Rory Cellan-Jones

Bill's comedy holiday snaps

1:13pm Wed August 5th

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A former president’s unofficial holiday to the Korean peninsula has generated some highly amusing snaps. Front row below (from left to right) William Jefferson Clinton (6 feet 1 inches) and Kim Jong-Il (5 feet 3 inches):

The camera angle makes it difficult to see if the Dear Leader is wearing his platform shoes again. But as North Korea settles into its status as a nuclear power this picture raises grave concerns to the international community, namely:

What the hell is with that carpet?
What the hell is with that wallpaper?

Was Jong-Il exchanging interior design tips with Saddam? Those looking for further amusement need look no further than the comedy-s*** website of North Korea’s official news agency, where the proud hosts have dedicated an entire section to Bill’s visit:

With headlines such as ‘Bill Clinton Arrives Here’ and ‘Bill Clinton Leaves Here’ Scrapbook can only wonder whether Liberal Democrat blogger Irfan Ahmed has been moonlighting for the DPRK?

Tag Archives: kim jong-il

Official North Korea website gets Kim Jong Il’s name wrong

Kim Jong-il’s spurned older son wrote anti-nuclear poetry

North Korean social media comedy

Bill's comedy holiday snaps

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