North Korea poster: a conversation piece, at least?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

For travel junkies, there’s a new poster that could be equivalent to putting commemorative plates on display in your home. Show your zest for hitting the road – and how it pervades your entire life – by turning your walls into a shrine to exploring new places. Start with the latest offering from North Korea, and you’ll guarantee the conversation will turn to travel the next time you have guests in your home.

North Korea has just released a new propaganda poster, celebrating the sinking of a South Korean navy ship … despite having denied being responsible for it. Forty-six people died in the event.

Of course, this poster probably wasn’t intended for mass distribution, which means you could struggle to get your hands on it. The only reason word of its existence has leaked outside the country, it seems, is because a Chinese businessman visiting North Korea photographed it. Featured in the photo, according to Radio Free Asia, is “a helmeted North Korean sailor smashing a ship in two” with the words “We will smash you with a single blow if you attack!”
Radio Free Asia adds:

The businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that high-ranking North Korean traders he dealt with “expressed self-esteem in relation to North Korea’s military strength” and told him, “regardless of U.N. sanctions, we [North Koreans have] never stopped reacting.”

“It’s hard to understand how high-ranking officials can adamantly deny North Korea’s responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan while propaganda posters showing a ship being broken in half by a fist are in circulation,” he said.

Of course, there is a chance that this is an old propaganda poster, created originally in 2002 following a naval clash between the two Koreas. Either way, it’s a must-have or the committed traveler – far better than the sketch of your family by a near-homeless “artist” in Montmartre.

[Photo via RFA, Via Gawker, Business Insider]

Tea-leaf picking: Summer fun in North Korea

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you can get into North Korea … and if you can manage to set your own itinerary … visit the Kangryong Unjong Tea Plantation of the DPRK (i.e., Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). It’s tea-leaf picking season, and now’s the time to get in on the action, in theory, at least. In fact, notes the Korea Central News Agency, “The tea leaves picking is at its height in the plantation.” Great news!

I’m not sure how this activity works, but I’m guessing it bears at least some resemblance to apple-picking in New England, though with a hell of a lot more repression oversight.

Act now, because you won’t be the only person picking tea leaves. The KCNA reports: “The workers there are harvesting tea leaves every day much more than their daily plan while drying them in good time by operating the drying facilities in full capacity.” Hurry up, before all the leaves are gone!

[photo by giladr via Flickr]

Pittsburgh restaurant features ‘conflict cuisine’

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Most American travelers will never set foot in Iran, but at least now if they make it to Pittsburgh, they can enjoy some of the country’s delicious cuisine. It’s the idea behind a new take-out restaurant called Conflict Kitchen, a new eatery that’s attempting to feature cuisine from countries the United States is in conflict with.

Conflict Kitchen might serve food, but it’s hardly your normal carry-out joint. The project, which was started by artist Jon Rubin, will regularly shift themes to feature a different “conflict country” and promote cross-cultural understanding. The first four months are devoted to a collaboration with Pittsburgh’s Iranian community. In addition to delicious food like the Kubideh Sandwich, Conflict Kitchen also plans to host events, performances and discussion surrounding this much discussed Middle Eastern country. Though there’s been no announcement on the project’s website, chances are good that other “rogue states” like North Korea, Venezuela and Afghanistan will get similar treatment.

The Conflict Kitchen project raises an interesting question. Who are we demonizing when we disagree with a country’s politics? Is it the government of that country? Or is it also the people who live there, many of whom have nothing to do with the policies we dislike? Perhaps by traveling and through projects like Conflict Kitchen we can learn to better differentiate between the two.

Explore the Tuman Triangle

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you’re going to travel all the way across the Pacific, you want to make your trip to Asia worth it. The latest package from Koryo Tours is designed to do this, exposing you to three countries, three cultures and three time zones in one shot. From June 30 to July 10, 2010, a small group (only 20 spots are available) will be able to explore the “Tuman” Triangle.”

From Beijing, you’ll head out for Yanji in northeastern China, your gateway to North Korea. Across the river, you’ll visit the Rajin-Sonbong free trade zone before crossing into the North Korean city of Chongin and the nearby Chilbo mountains. Your next stop is Russia, to which you’ll travel by train, followed by a boat trip to Vladivostok. Finally, the trip ends with a flight back to Beijing, which you’ll tour your for a while (details are available at Koryo Tours).

Need to experience a new side of Asia? This is the way to do it: three unique cultures in one amazing trip.

A priest, a rabbi, and… Kim Jong-il?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

If you’re like me, you probably don’t associate North Korea with comedy. But after reading the jokes below, told by North Korean defectors to Radio Free Asia, well… you still won’t. The jokes, most of which lampoon Kim Jong-il and the North Korean police state, bring to mind a North Korean Yakov Smirnoff.

Here are a few of the North Korean knee-slappers (more here):

Chang Man Yong works on a collective farm in North Korea. He goes fishing, gets lucky, and brings a fish home. Happy about his catch, he tells his wife: “Look what I’ve got. Shall we eat fried fish today?”



The wife says: “We’ve got no cooking oil!”



“Shall we stew it, then?”



“We’ve got no pot!”



“Shall we grill it?”



“We’ve got no firewood!”



Chang Man Yong gets angry, goes back to the river, and throws the fish back into the water.

The fish, happy to have had such a narrow escape, sticks its head out of the water and cheerfully yells: “Long live General Kim Jong-il!”

Ba-dum ching!

Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin are having a summit meeting in Moscow.

During a break, they’re bored, and they decide to take a bet to see whose bodyguards are more loyal.



Putin is on the 20th floor and calls on his bodyguard Ivan, opens the window, and says: “Ivan, jump!”



Sobbing, Ivan says: “Mr. President, how can you ask me to do that? I have a wife and child waiting for me at home”



Putin sheds a tear himself, apologises to Ivan, and sends him away.



Next, it’s Kim Jong Il’s turn. He calls his bodyguard Lee Myung Man and yells: “Lee Myung Man, jump!”



Not hesitating for a split second, Lee Myung Man is just about to jump out the window.

Putin grabs Lee Myung Man to prevent him from jumping and says: “Are you out of your mind? If you jump out this window, you’ll die! This is the 20th floor!”

Nevertheless, Lee Myung Man is still struggling, trying to escape Putin’s embrace and jump out the window: “Mr. Putin, please let me go! I have a wife and child at home!”

Alright, I’ll admit that wasn’t bad. And finally…

An Englishman, a Frenchman, and a North Korean are having a chat. The Englishman says: “I feel happiest when I’m at home, my wool pants on, sitting in front of the fireplace.”



The Frenchman, a ladies’ man, says: “You English people are so conventional. I feel happiest when I go to a Mediterranean beach with a beautiful blonde-haired woman, and we do what we’ve got to do on the way back.”



The North Korean man says: “In the middle of the night, the secret police knock on the door, shouting: Kang Sung-Mee, you’re under arrest! And I say, Kang Sung-Mee doesn’t live here, but right next door! That’s when we’re happiest!”

Ha! I just love secret police jokes!