Everything You Need to Know About Kim Jong-Il and North Korea

Last week, we had our Kim Jong-il and Kim Kardashian Round. Well, there is nothing interesting about Kim Kardashian, but there is plenty that’s interesting about Jong-il and his country. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Kim Jong-il looking at things. A blog that is exactly what it claims to be…pictures of the Supreme Leader looking at everything from circular saws to toilet paper.

• As for that question about Hennessee last week? Here’s a quick piece about how they aren’t all that upset to lose Kim Jong’s business.

• The Vice Guide to North Korea is a pretty fascinating look at just how weird traveling to North Korea is. Interesting documentary.

• Those of you who have followed this blog for a few years know that I have a special place in my heart for the Hotel Ryugyong, which was supposed to show off North Korea’s pride. But after the shell was built North Korea ran out of money, so they just had this building taller than the Comcast Center standing empty. This led to the strange looking building lurking over the city of Pyongyang like a vulture, what Esquire called the “Hotel of Doom”. But a few years ago, an Egyptian company bought it and started improvements and now it is supposed to be opening April.

• James Dresnock was an American soldier who defected to North Korea in 1962. Here he tells his story to 60 Minutes. Fascinating.

• Here is an article about Kim Jong-il’s golfing accomplishments. It also makes note of the fact that his favorite film was Caddyshack…undoubtedly a great film. You see, our similarities are so much more powerful than our differences.

• Here are some cool photos of North Korea from TIME Magazine.

• And a story in National Geographic about how hard it is to defect from North Korea.