Who are trying to take over our beautiful fatherland.
With guns that I make with my own hands
I will shoot them. BANG, BANG, BANG. —
From Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
A song taught in music class to first graders in North Korea.
I would like just to save a dying man. —
Shin Dong-hyuk
The only known person born inside a North Korean prison camp to have escaped (and survive).
U.N. forces fighting in the streets of Seoul during September, 1950.
This day in history:
The crew of the USS Pueblo (82 in all) are released from North Korea after spending almost one year in captivity. The ship was boarded and captured by the North Korean military after they claimed it had strayed into their territorial waters, something the USA denied.
During their time in prison the crewmen were starved and beaten. In early photos taken by North Koreans, many of them slyly gave the middle finger to the camera.
The North Koreans didn’t know what the men were doing until they read an article in Time Magazine describing its meaning, leading to even harsher treatment of the crew.
The USS Pueblo still remains in Pyongyang to this day, where it is used as a propaganda tool for the North Korean government. It is also still a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy
December 23, 1968 - 43 years ago today.
“His helmet, rifle and ammunition belt mark spot where an unidentified U.S. soldier was killed in battle on the Korean front on June 24, 1951.”
Kim Il-sung talking to Korean farmers.
Pyongyang - October, 1945.
The first photos of Kim Jong-il lying in state.
So far only North/South Korean media are reporting images.
“North Korea’s successor Kim Jong-un mourned the death of his father Kim Jong-il on Tuesday as the isolated country showed the leader’s body in the first public ceremony of the grieving period.”
A comparison of nighttime light usage between North and South Korea as seen from space.
The dot inside North Korea is Pyongyang.
Camp 22, the largest of North Korea’s concentration camps, as seen from Google Maps.
It it estimated that around 50,000 political prisoners are held within the camp. Prisoners inside include children and entire families.
Former prisoners have spoken of (among other things) the existence of gas chambers for human experimentation, forced abortions, rape, executions, and extreme malnutrition within the camp.
Coordinates: 42°34’29”N, 129°53’3”E
