Yes kids, it is must read material time again, and NKEconWatch delivers. Andrei Lankov wrote a piece in Asian Times about the current happenings in North Korea. Now as all North Korea watchers I know, know, Lankov is one of the few North Korea watchers who can be called the closest to an expert one can get. This goes along …

Walter sent me this via E-Mail quite some time ago, and I think it is time to post it. Not only because it is interesting, but because I like this kind of thing. Enjoy!
With a degenerating itinerary our group of seven veterans of the DPRK lobbied the guides to take us to Pyongyang’s Italian Restaurant, opened in April 2009 with …

(Hat Tip: Walter) I think it is about time to post another oddity. I have been looking for information on this Italian Food Restaurant in Pyongyang, and it seems somebody has the goods. Enjoy the pics first, then see the commentary after. (Original set here)

A big thank you to Walter for the E-mail containing some really neat pictures and DPRK footage. There are so many pictures and goodies, I do not know where to begin to comment on some of them. After this posting, they will be added to the “North Korea in Pictures” section. Again, I appreciate the resources. Enjoy!
Oh, and I cannot …

Alright, first things first. I found out from North Korean Economy Watch the name is Kim Jong Eun, not Kim Jong Un. This is important to know, and the correction is well-taken. The author of the post is rightfully reluctant to post things about the succession, because, (again rightfully so) is filled with speculation.
The song of Kim Jong Eun has …

It is most likely most DPRK watchers know of Lankov’s work, and this PDF is probably no exception. This paper argues North Korea’s Stalinist style regime is falling apart, which is probably dead on. This also agrees with the bottom-up process of marketization, futile attempts at reforms, and a people more interested in survival rather than ideology. While it is …

I was looking up the status of North Korea’s debt, and to see how others rate the state. Then I ran into an interesting article about North Korean Debt Certificates. This thing is probably worth contemplating. As most North Korea watchers know, North Korea’s debt defaulted quite a while ago, and some of the debt was written off. Of course, …

It appears the Ryugyong Hotel is making some progress, at least on the outside. When construction resumed sometime last year, I almost fell out of my chair. I could not believe such a project would ever resume with the many serious problems this thing obviously has. So I open Google News this morning, and see the picture on the right; …

Some details are starting to emerge about how Euna Lee and Laura Ling crossed the border. According to Bloomberg:
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — Two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea and released after a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton said soldiers from the communist nation “violently dragged” them back across the border from China.
[...]
“We tried with all our might …

One of the last hard-line communist-based societies on the planet, North Korea steadfastly holds on to power despite the zombie like status of the economy and unsure status of the regime’s hold on power. For about a decade or so, predictions of the regime’s collapse have been discussed, and for a while, there was a good chance with the famine …