Word: pyongyang
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...artists in North Korea, self-expression is a dangerously foreign notion. Their mission is to toil as salaried functionaries in dictator Kim Jong Il's propaganda machine. They work in studios that turn out government-commissioned works in government-approved styles. The most famous studio is Mansudae in Pyongyang, a huge enterprise employing hundreds of artists, but studios are also maintained by regional and municipal authorities-and even the state railroad company. The artists work regular hours, are expected to produce a stipulated quota of works, and are sometimes enlisted in "speed-war" contests that test their ability to pump...
...come from a singular collection amassed by Dutch philatelist Wim van der Bijl and his associate Ronald de Groen. As a stamp dealer participating in international fairs, the Utrecht-based Van der Bijl befriended a North Korean dealer who later switched from stamps to art. On a visit to Pyongyang in early 2003, Van der Bijl's contact offered him some souvenir landscapes from around Asia, but the Dutchman turned them down, expressing interest instead in the propaganda posters he had seen around the city. "But I was told those were not for export," recalls Van der Bijl. The next...
...former U.S. Army sergeant accused of deserting to the Stalinist state in 1965, and their daughters MIKA, 21, and BELINDA, 18; in Jakarta. Soga, who was kidnapped so she could teach Japanese to North Korean spies, hadn't seen her husband or daughters since October 2002, when Pyongyang let her and four other abductees return to Japan. When the family arrived at a Jakarta luxury hotel swarming with journalists, Jenkins, who has lived in North Korea for four decades, simply said he was "very happy." The North Carolina native has refused an offer to live in Japan for fear...
...Kelly's proposal did show some early promise: it marks a significant softening of the Bush Administration's demand that Pyongyang completely and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear programs before receiving benefits. But Pyongyang countered by demanding more aid for fewer concessions. As the U.S. official put it: "They want to offer as little as possible for the highest possible price...
...reason for the impasse is that both sides stand to gain by holding out until after November's U.S. presidential election. Pyongyang hopes to win a sweeter deal from John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee who favors bilateral talks with the North. And the Bush Administration believes re-election would give it a freer hand to deal firmly with the North, possibly through tougher sanctions. Until then, though, Bush needs to appear open to negotiation so that allies and domestic voters alike will not carp that war is his primary tool of foreign policy. "It seems both sides...