Open Sources

So North Koreans also find South Korean dramas to be dull and formulaic? We have more in common than I’d ever suspected:

“In South Hamgyong Province, only a few households are able to capture TV signals, but reception is quite good in Hwanghae or South Pyongan provinces,” Kim said. “People there look forward to the evenings when dramas are broadcast.” He said North Koreans also enjoy watching news and current events programs as well and power their TVs with their car batteries during power outages.

Another defector surnamed Yoo (40), who used to sell DVDs in the North and came to South Korea late last year, said North Koreans have grown tired of South Korean TV soaps with their stereotypical plots. “Nowadays, ‘Rambo 4,’ ‘007 Casino Royale,’ and other American action films or TV dramas like ‘Prison Break’ are popular,” she added. [….]

North Koreans also prefer American movies to Korean ones. “Practically everyone knows ‘Titanic.'” The movie classic “Gone with the Wind” is popular among upper-class North Koreans in Pyongyang, while young people enjoy action films. “DVDs of American movies or TV dramas fetched the highest prices,” she said. “But now USBs with American TV programs are more popular than DVDs.”

Even the North Koreans are becoming discriminating consumers. What is this world coming to? Eventually, I suspect it’s coming to better things than “Bulgasari,” “The Flower Girl,” and “Sea of Blood.”

Tremble, Commies! Ban Ki Moon urges North Korea to show restraint, and almost 20 years too late, the U.N. wants to inspect North Korea’s uranium enrichment facility. I refer, of course, to the one that Dick Cheney made up after Agreed Framework I successfully ended the North Korean nuclear threat for all time, just because he hates peace.

The latest dispatch from Good Friends is up.