YES, I HAVE YOUR ROCKET PORN: We’re apparently pretty close to North Korea’s missile satellite launch, judging by these pictures taken by an AFP photographer, this Reuters report, and this AP report, which ironically contains no visible input from the Pyongyang Bureau. You’ve probably heard by now that North Korea is already doing suspicious things around its nuclear test site at Mt. Mantap. Last night, a friend asked me when we could expect that nuke test. In the past, it’s worked about like this: the U.N. resolution comes 3-4 weeks after the missile launch, and the nuke test comes anywhere from one to two months after the U.N. resolution.
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IS NOTHING SACRED? They can enrich uranium and build ballistic missiles, but they can’t make a decent Lego knockoff, and I’m sure the greater significance of that contrast isn’t lost on you.
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FOUR NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES who hid out in the South Korean Embassy in Beijing for four years have finally arrived in Seoul.
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HARD LANDING IN CHINA? I’m starting to see a steady stream of stories like this, and while I’m sure that would have a significant impact on North Korea, I’m not sure exactly what that impact would be. It might actually cause the Chinese government to seek refuge in extreme ideologies that are the refuge of two distinct groups during any recession: the angry poor, and the scoundrels who want to control them. That may explain why the Chinese government is purging the neo-Maoists out of the the government.