Monday, December 21, 2009
News Don't Panic: Is Obama making progress toward long-term peace with North Korea?
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 3:33 PM
The website for North Korea's Korean Central News Agency isn't usually a repository of hope. The best one can usually expect from reading it is a guilty chuckle.
The rote totalitarian rigidity apparent in stories like "Every Korean Urged to Swim with Trend of Times in National Interests," "Kim Jong Il's Exploits For Party Building Praised" and "Colored Granite Made" would be hilarious if they were parody.
Unfortunately, these are actual news items – earnest propaganda from a delusional, paranoid dictatorship obsessed with getting respect from the outside world. It's bad enough these news stories exist at all. It's downright terrifying to think North Korean leaders clearly don't realize how completely insane their own propaganda makes them sound.
With that in mind, imagine my amazement at KCNA's sane-n-subdued report on the recent visit of U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth to North Korea's capital, Pyongyang:
"Through working and frank discussion the two sides deepened the mutual understanding, narrowed their differences and found not a few common points. They also reached a series of common understandings of the need to resume the six-party talks. ... Both sides agreed to continue to cooperate with each other in the future to narrow down the remaining differences."
Wha-wha-what? "Mutual understanding"? "Common points"? "Narrow down the remaining differences"?
What the heck is going on? I mean, KCNA seldom makes reference to the U.S. or its allies without including phrases like "imperialist aggressors" and "bellicose puppets." Did someone hack the KCNA server?
Actually, no.
Continue Reading "Don't Panic: Is Obama making progress toward long-term peace with North Korea?"
(Photo Illustration by Andisheh Nouraee)
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
Pittsburgh rallies for Brandon White; hate crime legislation to be introduced 1
More than 150 people braved cold temperatures to show support for 20-year-old attack victim
-
5 things today: Willie Nelson, Twyla Tharp
The whiskey river runs to Tabernacle, dance at Cobb Energy, and more
-
Most popular damn posts o' the week 5
A bad week in Pittsburgh
- More »
Author Archives
-
What can we learn from the 9/11 anniversary? 37
Ten years later, a TV terrorpalooza rings hollow
- More »
Comments (0)