Monday, October 09, 2006

North Korean Nuclear Test

I've been diligently restricting Wordhoard content to medievalism these days, but given how many people asked me about the North Korean nuclear test before it happened, I expect to be deluged with questions now.

Fortunately, if you want to know what the South Koreans think about all this, you don't need me as your intermediary; most (all?) major newspapers in Korea publish an English version, with varying quality of translation.

Here, then is a list of links I put together for a Korean-themed composition class we did as part of a US State Department program a few years ago. The page suffers a bit from link rot, but I think all the links to English-language versions of major dailies still work. For those of you who, like me, are great lovers of Stalinist rhetoric, I strongly recommend reading the (North) Korean Central News Agency for a feeling of nostalgia for Soviet propoganda with its over-the-top tropes and references to such songs as (I'm not kidding) "The Leader Has Come," and "He Has Come to Ryongnam Hill Again," as well as such groups as "Youth Group for the Study of the Juche Idea," "Protectors of Arts for the Century," and "Down-with-Imperialism Union." No word yet from the "Up-with Imperialism Union."

We now return to our regularly scheduled medievalist programming.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8:04 PM

    "The DPRK's nuclear test does not contradict the September 19 joint statement under which it committed itself to dismantle nuclear weapons and abandon the existing nuclear program. On the contrary, it constitutes a positive measure for its implementation."

    You've got to be kidding me. Ministry of Truth indeed.

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