Life in the Axis of Evil

Alas, it is all too often that when we think of North Korea we think of masses of soldiers, nuclear weapons and the Axis of Evil. On a good day, starving peasants and the ruthless suppression of dissent may enter the list.

But this is not all there is to life in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as one learns quickly when visiting the website of the official news service of the DPRK. Indeed the home page doesn't mention these matters at all.

Rather, we find the gentle and reassuring news that the cultivation of the sponge gourd is being encouraged. Yes, the sponge gourd whose "attractive fruits and thick vine emitting fragrance make the life emotional." Does this sound like a pursuit of a country bent on evil ?

Consider also that "[T]he sponge gourd plant is resistant blights and harmful inspects." It is not clear whether the writer refers to the kind of "harmful inspects" performed by international monitoring agencies on DPRK nuclear sites, but perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

In the meantime, visit the Korean Central News Agency of the DPRK, open your hearts and minds to a different view of this isolated land and

Stay Naked
jd