North Korea Imitates South Park
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un lashed out at officials of an amusement park for neglecting to take proper care of the facility’s grounds and rides, the North’s state media said Wednesday in an apparent move to highlight the leader’s concern for his people.
North Korean media, including the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said Kim inspected the Mangyongdae Funfair in Pyongyang and scolded officials there after discovering flaws throughout the park. [….]
According to the news reports, Kim Jong-un noticed a damaged path in front of a Viking ride and called it “pathetic,” while also pointing out flaws in the park’s gardens and a roller coaster, the condition of paint on rides and the safety of a water park.
The Associated Press has exclusive video.
From the episode summary for “Cartmanland,” season 5, episode 6:
Cartman’s grandmother dies (which Cartman treats as nothing more than an inconvenience to his weekend plans) and he inherits her life savings of one million dollars because the rest of the family would likely have spent the money on crack. Cartman decides to buy an amusement park, fulfilling his dreams not only of having a park all to himself without having to wait in lines, but also for the pleasure of telling other people that they can’t come to it, presenting it as a reference to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! [….]
Cartman decides to hire a security guard to keep trespassers out, especially Stan and Kyle. Cartman believes the guard will accept a few free rides a day as payment, but the guard insists on a cash salary. Cartman is unable to pay after spending all his inheritance to buy the park, so the guard advises him to let a couple of people in a day, for a fee, which should pay for the salary. Cartman also believes from the guard’s advice that he should not be inconvenienced by a few customers in the large park, so he sets off the rest of the day to enjoy the rides. Much to his dismay, the customers form a line to one of the rides that he wants to ride. More expenses begin to pile up for maintenance, refreshments, utilities and such to keep the park intact.
Are we going to see North Korean clowns or carnies lined up against a wall and shot?
Oh, I’m pretty sure you won’t see that.
I don’t exactly disagree with Joshua, but I still see reasons to hope. Not that I expect a world of change from North Korea, but isn’t the substance (as in literal content) of the policy statements released at the amusement park media event worth discussing? Un did two things that day that smack of populism. Populism in North Korea? This is weird and new, no?
http://cha0scentral.com/drupal/jaded
As depicted on SP, Cartman is a sociopath.
Kim Jong-un has a chance to change direction when/if he has a firm grip on power, but his father was quite possibly a sociopath like Cartman.
Where are they now? The criticized managers, I mean. Inquiring minds want to know, please, AP.