Kim Jong Il: "Stop Filming My Country"

After reading that the two American journalists who were detained in North Korea on Tuesday have yet to be released, I wanted to post this vbs.tv series The Vice Guide to North Korea. Having grown up in the U.S. it is surreal to consider experiencing the structure and suppression that is evidently present in North Korea. This series is the best insider’s account of North Korea that I have seen.

The journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were detained after straying into North Korea across the Chinese border on a shallow portion of the Tumen River, which is often frozen into April. Two male counterparts reportedly escaped back to China and are being held there.

One can’t help but empathize with the people of North Korea and anyone else in their custody after viewing these clips. It is evident that the North Korean officials are very sensitive to how journalists portray their country. After the posting of this series I cannot imagine that they have warmed much to the notion of Free Press. All of the episodes are enlightening but perhaps the most amusing is episode 14, in which our guide belts out a karaoke rendition of the Sex Pistols Anarchy in the U.K. to a room of stunned handlers. It seemed downright ridiculous that this tune made it into a karaoke set of North Korean anthems but maybe it was just a case of reverse Engrish Funny lost in translation.