If you read RedTea News (and you do — you’re doing it right now!), then you love wacky stories about North Korea. They’re usually our most popular posts. We even considered going all North Korea, all the time, but that territory is covered.
We’re not the only Western outlet that loves to hate North Korea. But it’s important to remember how sketchy some of the news coming out of the People’s Paradise can be. A lot of “news” about the North comes from professional anti-Communists in South Korea or Japan; and for those people, being right is often more important than being factual. North Korea is no innocent victim here; their policy of official secrecy (we don’t even know if boy dictator Kim Jong-un has a child or not) and of promoting blatant lies in their media (“we have a space program”) means that speculation and conjecture are often all we have to go on.
For instance: today, the mainstream media are all atwitter with a report that Kim is pissed off over an upcoming American comedy film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. The movie is called The Interview and hits theaters in October, and concerns a pair of hapless Americans sent to North Korea to assassinate Kim Jong-un.
According to these reports, an “unofficial spokesman” for the Northern regime criticized the film, and warned that Barack Obama should watch out — it is a known fact, according to the “spokesman,” that John F. Kennedy was assassinated by “the US military,” and Obama might be next. Charmingly, this gentleman seems to think that Barack Obama has something to do with which movies are released and what subject matter they contain.
When we first saw these stories it surprised us. Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, adored all American movies, and reportedly was thrilled when the South Park guys made savage fun of him in the movie Team America: World Police. Of course, it’s possible that Li’l Kimmy isn’t as sanguine about being mocked.
But is Kim Myong-chol, “executive director of the Centre for North Korea-US Peace and an unofficial spokesman for the regime in Pyongyang,” as FOX News describes him, really an unofficial spokesman for the regime in Pyongyang? What is an “unofficial spokesman” anyway? Can we declare ourselves “unofficial spokesmen” for Barack Obama, and get our opinions published in The Guardian?
According to the top-rated post on the discussion forum Reddit, Kim Myong-chol is a self-appointed DPRK enthusiast, a Japanese citizen of Korean descent, who has been labelled a “traitor” by the official pro-Pongyang group in Japan for being too “pro-American.” This is not a man with Kim Jong-un’s number in his iPhone; and he has no connection to the DPRK government or propaganda organs.
The truth is, the Kim regime has not yet made any comment about the film. But rest assured, if they do, we’ll let you know.
Meanwhile, as many as 70,000 Christians languish in North Korean prisons for the crime of their religion. So North Korea is hilarious, ha ha ha.
Sources: FOX News | Independent | Hollywood Reporter | /r/movies