North Korean Porn

 Is There Porn in North Korea?

With a big hat tip to The Marmot’s Hole, and after long delay, here is an interesting article published in the Joongang Ilbo in August.

Keeping in mind the reconciliation mode that the North-South relationship has entered, we examined the current situation. Does North Korea have pornography and adult products? Numerous reports we heard said the answer is “yes”. Truly, how could there not be adult products in a place where humans live.

This matches the transition to the rule of Chairman Kim Jong-il, known to be a lover of mass media and erotica, from the repressive regime of Kim Il-sung.

As soon as the transition had been made sexy magazines and books began to appear, led by ‘은밀한 이야기’, which collected sexy stories and dirty books. In the mid-1990s ‘피죽도 못 먹은 것 같은’ secretly filmed North Korean dancers dancing nude or in bikinis, but the unfunny truth is that that and other adult products were seized by authorities as soon as they were disseminated.

The price of renting it is just 1,000 won in our currency, but for ordinary people, not authorities, to view it that price would require them to give up eating and drinking. Even so, a person may desperately save up enough money for it beginning as a middle school student, desiring the satisfaction of basic instincts even in the face of starvation.

The North Korea-produced adult film ‘공화국 비화’ (“The Degradation of the Republic”), depicting pretty girls and, of course, female warriors being repeatedly violated, was smuggled out and translated into Japanese by North Korean refugees hired to do so.

It was sold in Japan for 2,650 yen, but with the explanation that “this is not being sold for the arousal of interest but distributed solely as research material.” Of course near the Chinese border the distribution of pornography is in the open.

North Korea is a nation where the doors of the Kaesong Industrial Park were shuttered and prison sentences handed out after the discovery that photographs showing foreign models in their underwear were being placed into packages of women’s underwear. Sex crimes including rape, and normal sexual relationships, are rampant, but the lack of sex education leads to unsafe abortions performed by surgery or via pills handed free of charge by hospitals.

Ordinary people are often forced into prostitution to have enough to eat. On the outskirts of major cities, minbak guest houses are turning into red-light districts and despite the banning of prostitution a shockingly large number of women are doing it in order to eat. They charge 5,000 won in our currency per night including sleeping time.

Foreign media criticize not only the neglect of the average person but the dumbfounding taboos on sex despite the cheap availability of erotica and adult products. This is because of the cheap members-only clubs and restuarants frequented by the authorities.

Though imagining itself to be pure, North Korean sexual culture is highly depraved because of its opposition to freedom. It is easy to imagine that if reunification occurs the starving North Koreans and the culturally diverse South Koreans will be unable to get along.

Lee Eung-jun’s well-received novel ‘국가의 사생활’ (“The Life of the Nation”) was the first to depict North Korea-born women as whores and authorities as pimps. But do we, as the author says, have to meet that way? We want to see the true, not the fake with subtitles. That is one reason the desire for reunification may be too much.

The Building with Funky Mesh Armor - Korean Art Center

Seoul's Kukje Art Centre

 
The Kukje Art Center in Seoul, South Korea is the latest awe-inspiring creating by New York-based SO-IL. The gallery is a concrete cube situated in the historic urban fabric of Sogyeok-dong, which is being populated by a series of low-rise boutique retail outlets and coffee shops. The structure is wrapped in a funky mesh armor that diffuses sunlight and softens the building's edges. Designed by Front Inc and prefabricated in China, the unique facade ensures the gallery sits in harmony with the neighborhood's character.

Comprised of thousands of small steel rings that together form a pliable envelope, the mesh facade wraps easily around the building, giving it an almost ethereal disguise that is altogether more interesting than concrete. But it also creates interesting shadow and diffuses excess solar gain. A massive space, the art center would exact a high energy load if it weren’t for certain interventions.

Given space restraints, SO-IL buried two of the gallery’s three levels underground and installed perimeter skylights that permit daylighting to penetrate deep into the interior, beyond the street level gallery, to cut down on energy requirements. And finally, circulation is kept to the edge of the building to maintain the clear span art space’s distinct geometry.

Korean Actress Show Boobs At Red Carpet

Actress Oh In Hye talks about her controversial red carpet dress at the ’16th BIFF’

Actress Oh In Hye became an overnight sensation after she walked down the red carpet in a daring orange dress at the ‘16th Busan International Film Festival‘ yesterday. The dress blew her name up in the media, and it was all people could talk about for the entire day after.

To clear up any misunderstandings, Oh In Hye sat down with reporters and discussed her feelings on the entire ordeal.

When told, “The dress you wore became a hot issue in the media,” she replied, “I still don’t feel it.  It was my first time on the red carpet so I was just so surprised to see the reactions.  All of my friends began calling me, telling me not to feel down with the hate.  Although there were positive replies, there were also some bad ones.  I merely went to the event hoping to get caught on camera, but I think the situation blew up into something out of my control.  There were some who criticized me for going overboard, but what I want to make clear is that I didn’t seek the attention purposely.”

When asked on why she chose the dress, Oh In Hye replied, “Doesn’t everyone dream of attending a film festival?  It was my first time, so I didn’t know what dress to wear.  An unni I know from my movie recommended a wedding shop store in Seoul, so I rented a dress from there.  I didn’t have much to choose from to begin with, so I just chose that dress.  It also didn’t fit me so I had to personally tailor the shoulder part and length.  I don’t have a stylist.  The dress was worn by Baek Ji Young six years ago.”

She continued, “I don’t have experience with these events so I didn’t know what amount of exposure was appropriate or not.  I just wore whatever they gave me.  The dress was so old that a lot of it needed tailoring.”

Concluding the interview, she stated, “I’m really self conscious and get hurt easily.  When I saw that I was the most searched figure online, I was worried about tomorrow.  My parents knew that I had been going through a hard time and just told me to not focus on the hateful replies and just overcome it as a life experience.”

Joke From North Korea

 Hackers attack North Korean news website

SEOUL (AFP) - Activist hackers appeared to have infiltrated North Korea's official news website and its accompanying Twitter and Flickr feeds, posting unflattering images of leader Kim Jong-Un.
The China-based website of Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the North's state media, was inaccessible and its companion feeds attacked and defaced.
On Twitter, the Uriminzokkiri account's profile photo was changed to one of a couple dancing the Tango, and a series of tweets read "Hacked" and "Tango Down".
The male dancer was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask -- a trademark of the "Anonymous" hacktivist group.
The website's Flickr page showed a number of images, including one which simply read "We Are Anonymous" and a mock-up "Wanted" poster featuring Kim with a pig's nose and ears and a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his chest.
Uriminzokkiri is best known for posting propaganda videos excoriating the United States and including images like the White House framed in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle sight.
Thursday's attack came amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula with Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington engaged in a bout of high-stakes brinkmanship.
It also followed a major cyber attack that crashed the computer networks at South Korean TV broadcasters and banks last month and was widely blamed on North Korean hackers.

North Korea Launched A Missile !

Japanese city accidentally tweets North Korean missile launch

Residents in the Japanese city of Yokohama came in for a shock earlier today after city officials mistakenly posted a tweet stating that North Korea had launched a missile. According to ABC News, the city posted the tweet around noon local time, exclaiming "North Korea has launched a missile," sharing it with @yokohama_saigai's 40,000 followers for around 20 minutes.

""North Korea has launched a missile.""

Receiving worried calls from local followers, the city deleted its tweet and was forced to admit its mistake. Correcting its error with a new tweet, the city has seen its apology receive over 3,000 retweets in the past eight hours. Following the announcement that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had authorized a nuclear attack against the US last week, tensions have been raised in Washington and across the globe. South Korean news agencies have confirmed that North Korea could launch a mid-range ballistic missile "at any time."

US and South Korean intelligence suggests the missile has a range of 3,500 kilometers and is capable of reaching the US territory of Guam. However, the Pentagon has already announced plans to deploy an advanced missile defense system in the country, in a "precautionary" attempt to safeguard its interests in the region. Despite Yokohama's Twitter mistake, Japan is on high alert and has readied Patriot missiles in Tokyo to safeguard citizens from a potential North Korean attack. It has also deployed destroyers loaded with interceptor missiles, joining US and South Korean ships in the Sea of Japan.

Volcanic Rock House in The Mineral Residence

Planning korea: the mineral residence on jeju island

The newest addition to planning korea's airest city-berjaya jeju resort on the rapidly developing jeju island is 'the mineral', a residence/event venue
that echoes the natural shape of the crystal clusters that form on the local volcanic rock. the structure is located on the southern coast of the island
in the gotjawal forest, and has broken ground on march 7th, to be completed by september of 2014. a central courtyard with a 10-meter wide rectangular
pool that extends out towards the sea is the anchor around which a crescent-shape structure houses the patinated metal mineral pods. four separate
entrances and the modular-like construction allows the complex to be joined into a single volume or subdivided into smaller residential units. a rooftop
garden vertically extends the ground-scape creating an ideal environment from which to view the night sky or the forest canopy.

North Korean Fashion Style

Polka-dot dresses the rage in N. Korea: survey
   

Polka-dot dresses and manual threshing machines were among the hottest consumer products in North Korea last year, according to an annual list compiled by a research analyst in South Korea.

The arrival of the boldly-patterned dresses in the top 10 list was down to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's wife, Ri Sol-Ju, who was seen wearing them to public functions on state television.

"Young North Korean women are keenly interested in the first lady's fashion style and try to follow her example" Dong Yong-Seung, a senior research fellow at the Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul, told AFP on Tuesday.

Dong has been compiling a top 10 chart of consumer items in North Korea since 2010, basing her findings on interviews with North Korean defectors and Chinese traders on the Sino-North Korean border.

The fact that manual threshing machines made the list spoke of the prevalence of electricity cuts in the countryside, Dong said.

The Cutest Signatures of K-Pop Artists

5. Himchan 'B.A.P'

Kim Him Chan (Hangul: 김힘찬; born April 19, 1990), known mononymously as Himchan, is a South Korean rapper, dancer, singer and multi instrumentalist, best known for being a member of a South Korean boy band, B.A.P as well as being the face of the group .

B.A.P (Korean: 비에이피; an acronym for Best Absolute Perfect) is a six-member hip-hop South Korean boy band formed in 2012 under the management of TS Entertainment. The group consists of Bang Yong Guk, Kim Himchan, Daehyun, Youngjae, Jong Up, and Zelo. On January 26, 2012, B.A.P made their recording debut with the single "Warrior", followed by the release of their debut EP, Warrior in February 2012. Later in the year, B.A.P's performance on October 28 in Changwon, South Korea, was considered by the Grammy Awards to be one of the best moments of 2012.

 4. Heechul 'Super Junior'

Kim Hee-chul (Hangul: 김희철; Hanja: 金希澈) was born on 10 July 1983, mononymouly credited as Heechul. He is a South Korean singer, actor, and presenter. He is a member of South Korean boy band Super Junior and its subgroup, Super Junior-T. On 1 September 2011, Heechul enlisted for his mandatory military service. He is serving as a public service worker for 23 months, after undergoing four weeks of basic training at the Nonsan military camp in Chungcheongnam-do Province

Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어; Syupeo Junieo) is a popular South Korean idol group. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak. Super Junior originally debuted with twelve members, consisting of leader Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kibum. Kyuhyun joined the group in 2006.

Known as the "Kings of the Hallyu Wave", Super Junior launched into international recognition following the release of their best-selling single "Sorry, Sorry" in 2009, the title song of their most critically successful album Sorry, Sorry and was the best-selling K-pop artist for three years in a row.

Over the years, they have been divided into smaller subgroups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and hosting.
In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has earned fourteen music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, sixteen from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003. In 2012 they were nominated for "Best Asian Act" in MTV Europe Music Awards showing one more time their popularity around world.

In December 2009, Hankyung departed from the group after filing a lawsuit against their agency SM Entertainment. Hankyung subsequently won the lawsuit in December 2010, though his departure from Super Junior was not made official until September 27, 2011, when S.M. Entertainment finally released a statement to that effect. Heechul enlisted for his mandatory military service on September 1, 2011. Kangin was absent from the group for their fourth and fifth album promotions, but completed his service in April 2012, and rejoined the group for their sixth album in mid 2012, however, the absent three members are considered as part of the group regardless. Leeteuk enlisted for his mandatory military service on October 30, 2012. As of 2012, Super Junior has nine active members: Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun.

3. Park Bom '2NE1'

Park Bom (Korean: 박봄) (born March 24, 1984), is a South Korean idol singer. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she eventually moved to the United States where she learned English. She is currently a member and main vocalist of girl-group 2NE1 which is signed to YG Entertainment.

Starting in 2006, Park recorded with labelmates Big Bang, Lexy, Masta Wu and starred with Lee Hyori in her CF, "Anystar" as a co-actress. Later in 2008, she starred as the lead actress in Kim Ji Eun's music video, "Tell Me Once More". In 2009, she debuted with 2NE1 as the main vocalist.

Up until now, Park has released two solo singles, namely "You and I" and "Don't Cry". "You and I" and "Don't Cry" reached number one on the Gaon Chart, the national music chart of Korea. "You and I" also won "Best Digital Single" the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2010.

2NE1 (Korean: 투애니원; pronounced To Anyone or Twenty One) is a four-member South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The band consists of CL, Minzy, Dara, and Bom. The name 2NE1 combines the phrases "21st century" and "new evolution" (NE).

First appearing in "Lollipop", a commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Electronics, 2NE1's debut single "Fire" was released on May 6, 2009. Since then, the group has released two extended plays, 2NE1 and 2NE1 2nd Mini Album, and one studio album, To Anyone. Their first EP, 2NE1 spawned the number-one single "I Don't Care", which won them the "Song of the Year" award at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Their follow-up singles, such as "Go Away", "Lonely" and "I Am The Best" were similarly successful, with "I Am the Best" winning 2NE1 their second "Song of the Year" award in 2011.

2NE1 officially debuted in Japan in September 2011 with a mini album titled NOLZA, which contained re-made versions of the Korean songs featured on the group's 2nd Mini Album. Since then, the group has released one studio album, Collection, and two physical singles in Japan. 2NE1 are set to debut in the United States in 2013, with work on the group's debut English studio album beginning in 2010 with producer will.i.am. In 2012, The New York Times named 2NE1's performance at the Prudential Center in New Jersey as one of the "Best Concerts of 2012". As of 2013, the band has 400 million video views on YouTube.

 4. Soohyun 'U-Kiss'

Shin Soohyun (Korean: 신수현, born March 11, 1989) is a South Korean idol singer, best known as the leader and main vocalist of seven-member boy band, U-KISS formed by NH Media in 2008. Bandmates include Kiseop, Eli, AJ, Hoon, Kevin and Dongho.

U-KISS (Korean: 유키스, Japanese: ユーキス) is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. Their name is an acronym, standing for Ubiquitous Korean International idol Super Star. The group consists of Soohyun, Kiseop, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Hoon and AJ (the latter two joining the group in 2011). Their breakthrough hit was Man Man Ha Ni (2009) from their EP ContiUKiss. They released their first full-length album Only One on February 3, 2010. In September 2011, U-Kiss released their second full-length album, Neverland. They made their formal debut in Japan in 2011 with the release of the single "Tick Tack". The second single is entitled "Forbidden Love" while their first Japanese full-length album was A Shared Dream (2012). Since their debut, the group has released three full-length albums, seven extended plays and various singles. The group also participated in various TV reality shows and films.

5. Taeyeon 'SNSD'

Kim Tae-yeon (born March 9, 1989) is a South Korean idol singer, TV presenter, dancer, actress and promotional model. She is the main vocalist and leader of Korean girl group Girls' Generation.

In 2012, Taeyeon ranked #42 on 'The 23rd Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Faces'.

Girls' Generation (Korean: 소녀시대; Sonyuh Shidae) is a South Korean girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. They are also referred to as SoShi (소시) or SNSD, both abbreviated forms of the group's Korean name, and are known in Japan as Shoujo Jidai. The nine member group consists of Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun.

The group gained attention at the beginning of their career with songs such as "Into the New World" and "Kissing You" but it was not until 2009 when they gained significant popularity with their hit single "Gee", which would be named as South Korea's "Song of the Decade". The group solidified their place in the Korean music industry with follow-up singles "Tell Me Your Wish", "Run Devil Run", and "Oh!" from late 2009 to early 2010. In 2011, after a series of activities in Japan, the group returned to the Korean music scene with "The Boys", which was released in three languages: Korean, Japanese, and for the first time, English. Till the end of 2012, the group has sold over 100,000 copies for each of their six Korean studio album releases, totaling over 4.4 million albums and 30 million digital singles along with their EPs, singles and releases in other languages. In 2010 alone, the group sold more than 11,730,000 albums and singles collectively. The group's immense popularity in their native South Korea has earned them titles "The Nation's Singers" and "The Nation's Girl Group". The Sisa Journal named the group as the most influential entertainers for the years 2011 and 2012, making them the first female idol group in history to make the list. They have also been listed as #1 on the Top Female Singer's list for 4 consecutive years in a row (sans 2nd half of 2011 at #2) on the Leespiar Popularity Survey in Korea. Asia Today placed the group at forty-four on the 50 Korean Power Leaders list in 2011. Forbes also revealed the group were most powerful entertainers in South Korea for the year of 2011.

The group began a foray into the Japanese music scene in late 2010 under Nayutawave Records, with Japanese remakes of their 2009 Korean hits "Genie" and "Gee". The group's debut Japanese album, Girls' Generation, released in June 2011, is currently the highest selling album in Japan by a Korean group in Oricon history. It was certified "Million" by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, which made them the second Korean artist to earn such an achievement in Japan since label mate BoA's "Best of Soul" in 2005. The group returned to the Japanese music scene in June 2012 with single "Paparazzi", followed by two other single albums, "Oh! / All My Love Is For You" and "Flower Power", concluded by their second full length Japanese album, Girls' Generation II ~Girls & Peace~.

In April 2012, the group formed Girls' Generation-TTS (known simply as "TaeTiSeo"), their first sub-unit composed of members Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. The subgroup's debut EP, Twinkle, peaked at #126 on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest charting K-Pop album on the chart thus far.

In January 2013, the group came back to the Korean scene with the fourth Korean studio album (sixth overall) I Got a Boy, which immediately became a domestic and global hit, receiving an all-kill on Korean charts and debuting at #1 on Billboard "World Albums" chart. The release of this album was followed by a series of live performances. The group will also embark on their second Japan Arena Tour in Febrary, 2013