Five Best Friday Columns
Max Fisher on Chuck Hagel, Roger Cohen on oil, Simon Jenkins on North Korea, Jeffrey Goldberg on Australia, and Palav Babaria on Obamacare.
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North Korea's state-run news agency announced on Wednesday that its mysterious American captive, Kenneth Bae, has begun his 15-year sentence at a "special prison," which has Korea watchers scratching their heads. And if Pyongyang is trying to parlay Bae's imprisonment into political gain after all, it's a pretty spectacular move.
Max Fisher on Chuck Hagel, Roger Cohen on oil, Simon Jenkins on North Korea, Jeffrey Goldberg on Australia, and Palav Babaria on Obamacare.
Michael Bloomberg on the fiscal cliff, Ezra Klein on conservative fiscal policies, Amy Davidson on Antonin Scalia, Michael Mazza on North Korea, and Xu Zhiyong on Tibet.
In the past few days a North Korean rocket launch and a giant asteroid both caught America by surprise — and obviously this means the end of the world is nigh.
North Korea finally rocketed its satellite into space early Wednesday — only to watch it go "tumbling out of control," as U.S. officials are saying Wednesday night. That's not only another embarrassment for a country that's looking to launch a nuclear missile — it's a possible safety hazard.
The headlines all say that North Korea's successful missile launch today brings them one step closer to a nuclear missile, but there are plenty — plenty — more steps to take before they get there.
If you're looking for some good news out of this whole diplomatic nightmare, may we introduce you to the over-enthusiastic North Korean newswoman who first announced it?
After weeks of warnings and several stops and starts, North Korea launched its long range rocket on Tuesday night. It crashed into the waters off the Philipines just a few moments later.
There are indications out of North Korea that the long range rocket they've been planning to send into space is being dismantled due to technical problems, which explains the decision to push back the launch by at least a week.
That rocket launch North Korea was preparing for may not happen after all. Apparently North Korean scientists are considering delaying the rocket launch, scheduled for some time between December 10 and December 22, "for some reasons."
The world knows so little about the inner workings of the North Korean regime that the appearance of Kim Jong-Il's former sushi chef at a press conference held here at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan — well, it was bound to get scrutinized for shreds of new information.
Scattered reports from South Korea say that its neighbors north of the 38th parallel have finished assembling a long-range rocket and are enthusiastically prepping the launch pad.
North Korea has reportedly begun to set up the first stage of a rocket they plan to launch later this month, even though their closest "allies" are advising them against the stunt.
With his first year in power coming to a close, it's time for Kim Jong-Un to show off his strength as a leader, and what better way to do that than by blasting a giant rocket into the heavens?
"Archaeologists of the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences have recently reconfirmed a lair of the unicorn rode by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryo Kingdom." reports the — wait. Stop. UNICORNS?
A South Korean newspaper is claiming that a group of U.S. officials took an undercover trip to Pyongyang back in August, the second "secret" diplomatic meeting they've allegedly held in North Korea this year.
If techies think Microsoft's new Surface tablet is just an iPad knock off, wait until they see North Korea's.
North Koreans are a mystery. And that's perhaps why whenever we see brief glimpses of their wacky roller coasters or their version of "Gangnam Style," we immediately add those details to our still-developing profiles of these mystery people. We're still digesting the news today that North Koreans really love Gone with the Wind.
Kim Han-sol is the 17-year-old Millennial grandson of Kim Jong-Il and judging from this video interview he managed to turn out pretty normal. Han-sol was interviewed by former United Nations Under-Secretary General Elisabeth Rehn for a Finnish television station.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Despite Kim Jong Un's triumphant calls for prosperity and reports of progress from diplomats in Pyongyang, everyday North Koreans still say that every day is a struggle.
Nobody knows what's in the head of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, but if his government's recent exterior design flourishes mean anything, Communist decor is not his cup of tea.
North Korea finally broke its silence on the U.S. agreement to allow South Korea to produce missiles capable of targeting all of North Korea and the announcement is vintage Pyongyang.
South Korea can now produce missiles that can reach all of North Korea as part of a new deal with Washington that's a response to the North's own growing weapons stockpile.
It's a building that captures the essence of North Korea's regime: Flamboyant, unserviceable, and stagnating.
In what could be the most drastic change to North Korea society since the nation's founding, the government has announced new rules that would give farmers some small bit of ownership over the crops they grow.
North Korea may be vowing to reduce South Korea to ashes in "three or four minutes" but that doesn't mean it can't pay homage to South Korea's most beloved export, i.e., global pop sensation PSY.
North Korea really does want international aid to help its people recover from a summer of storms capped by a devastating typhoon, but it just can't bring itself to accept what rival South Korea is offering.
During Kim Jong-Un's reign, he has given his people the right to fill their bellies with pizza and allowed women the right to wear pants in public unpunished. On Monday, he marked a new milestone: the first time Pyongyang has accepted help from Seoul.
North Korea and Iran are now best friends, and they're going to help each other with a wide variety of science and technology projects because they have "common enemies."
The report by a United Nations watchdog on Friday that North Korea had made "significant progress" on a new nuclear reactor apparently delighted North Korea, which boasted it would expand its nuclear capabilities "far beyond US imagination."
Kim Jong-Un has reportedly requested a formal state visit to Beijing, but his Chinese neighbors may not thrilled by the idea of North Korea's leader crashing on their couch.
Thanks to an apparent mix-up on Iran's part, a tantalizing story started circulating on Tuesday night that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un would be taking his first state visit to Tehran this weekend, but South Korean media reported on Wednesday that it wasn't true.
Ezra Klein on Obama launching Ryan to the top, Karl Rove on GOP's Medicare advantage, Charles K. Armstrong on change in North Korea, Victor Davis Hanson on the culture divide in California, and Dana Milbank on the Democrats getting dirty.
There's news this morning that would make the late Kim Jong-Il smile. Experts say that North Korea is about two weeks away from being able to test out nukes, while his daughter-in-law has adopted Kim's taste for fancy things by toting a handbag worth 16 times the monthly wage of the average North Korean.
If you're the editor of a free commuter newspaper that few outside Australia have probably heard of, what's the best course of action when the world's most repressive regime picks a fight with you? As one private citizen from Alaska might say, "Don't retreat, RELOAD!"
In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda, we survey the Olympics coverage from propaganda outlets around the world.
In today's tour of state-sponsored media: Chinese media combat drug doping rumors, North Korea's Olympic coverage gets meta and Hong Kong parents have a bone to pick with Beijing.
When North Korean state media released this delightful photo of newly(ish?)-wed Kim Jong Un on a roller coaster ride, discerning viewers wondered at the identity of the white guy grinning a few rows ahead of him, and at long last Mother Jones magazine has sussed it out: He is Barnaby Jones, a British diplomat at the embassy in Pyongyang
In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda, an Iranian truck driver gets her close up, a stamp dealer explains how he became an accidental propagandist for North Korea and Russia Today panders to a key Kremlin ally.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
As if every inch of the London Olympics weren't already awash in corporate advertising, a British chain of opticians has found a new marketing opportunity: London Olympics gaffes.
The actual news coming from Kim Jong-Un's visit to a new amusement park in Pyongyang was that he made public his wife of three years, but let's not ignore the other interesting part of the story: North Korea has a new amusement park—and it looks like fun!
Koreans on both side of the DMZ are still trying to unravel the mystery of Kim Jong-Un's new bride, including why they apparently got in married in 2009, but didn't bother to tell anyone.
Two, have apparently become Un. But just who, exactly, the Supreme Leader of North Korea married is sort of a mystery.
It appears Kim Jong-un's consolidation of power this week was far more turbulent than outsiders were led to believe. How much more turbulent remains subject to dispute.
In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda: North Koreans dance for their Supreme Commander, the war on women comes to Zimbabwe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issues his vaguest threat yet. We begin in Pyongyang.
Is the ouster of North Korea's military leader a sign of more purges to come?
After firing the guy who was running North Korea's military on Monday, Korean State television is reporting that rather than interview a whole new slate of candidates to replace the departed general, Kin Jong-un found a perfectly suitable replacement: himself.
In today's tour of state-sponsored propaganda: A Chinese propagandist hits the mark, North Korea misidentifies its own foreign minister and press freedoms dwindle in Egypt.
It's not just international dictator gossip that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his mystery lady seem more and more like a married couple. Analysts are scrutinizing the public appearances for signs for how the young Kim's emerging leadership style will veer away from his father's.
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