Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
This story from Vice about labor camps in Siberia. The story is simple and fun to watch since that’s what Vice does, but in this case, nothing really happens except they show North Koreans who live outside of North Korea legitimately. The bad, if there is one, is that it got to CNN, but in the end, the story is about the lead in to where they’re going, which is Nowhere, Russia. The main points is they talk to two people who don’t let them shoot, but they do show a little of the area when one wanders off with his own camera. It looks like a homeless camp. We’re not sure if this is really a labor camp, but it’s something interesting.
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Searching for Kim Han Sol. The grandson of Kim Jong Il. The story takes you on a short journey in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina where the young man attends an international university. It seems like an odd place for a school that is supposed to be of decent caliber to exist, but it does. He’s 16 and has to deal with media. He has a handler and seems to be well protected. It reminds us of a similar story I once heard from a GR contributor who explained a similar “protection” of a large political figures daughter. From hiding her from media by circling her while they walked and from her own appointed handlers, from quieting down in the car when she received phone calls asking, “Where Are You!?” Other than that, Kim Han Sol is probably having a blast. The story is a fun one to read. (Asahi Shimbun – Kim Han Sol)
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Do they know it’s Christmas? North Korea hates Christians we suppose and the tree on Aegibong Hill that a Christian group puts up is nothing but problematic. North Koreans say they’ll fire upon this man made tree. Kim Jong Il probably has a Christmas tree in his palace with tons of elves. (Huffington Post – Xmas Tree)
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Japan going to North Korea for soccer. North Korea is a proud nation, we all know that and for this game, we’ll be sure to see well dressed fans that’ll probably be well fed beforehand cheering and doing the crazy crowd organized graphics. It’ll be the first time Japan Soccer will be in North Korea to play a game in 22 years and as the article mentions is a sign of how diplomatic relations are. Yes, Japan isn’t looked at kindly, and vice versa as well. Will soccer help? No. Will the world care, no. (Washington Post – Japan North Korea)
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“The North Korean survivors demanded that Tokyo apologize and pay compensation. Some in Tokyo worry that compensation would be diverted to the government in Pyongyang. North Korean survivors claim that more than 40,000 Koreans were killed in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Another 30,000 Koreans survived, and 2,000 returned to what became North Korea after the Korean peninsula was divided in 1948. Japan colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945.” I understand paying for being a colonizing jerk, or forcing Koreans to come to Japan and then get killed. But as I read this, it seemed to say, “pay for being bombed since Koreans died because of it.” Strange. Did Japan want to be atomic bombed? How about someone Else paying for it? A group of Japanese doctors have made their way to the North Korea to treat some survivors – 65+ years later! (Washington Post – Bombed)
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