Avatar photoIt’s a Comb-Over!

Holy cow. Kim Jong Il’s famous pompadour is a comb-over! Well, now we are sure it is not a wig. My guess is that the photographer from Iran’s Mehr News Agency doesn’t get another visa to North Korea. The much bigger news, by the way, is Pollack’s other observation that the parade contains the first …

Avatar photoNorth Korea Debuts an IRBM

After a long wait, North Korea’s “Musudan” intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), a weapon with a reported range of 2,500 to 3,000 km, has made its first public appearance. Described as a copy of the Soviet R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile (a.k.a. RSM-25, a.k.a. SS-N-6, a.k.a. Serb), it has never been flight-tested in North Korea, as far …

Avatar photoAnother Kleine Brogel Bombspotting

So, I got a little note the other day from the Bombspotters: After we noticed our January filmed visit of Kleine Brogel airbase caused some interesting discussions, we have put some effort in a more extensive investigation. To our surprise we even were able to make a picture inside an aircraft shelter with WS3-installation. You …

Avatar photoPersistent Engagement and DPRK Transition

Paul Carroll sends along a very thoughtful note (also published on the Ploughshares website) about the perils of waiting for North Korea’s apparent leadership process to play out.  Don’t get to clever, Paul suggests, because you just might miss your best chance and not even know it: Transition or Transfer in North Korea? Asia watchers …