Nordkorea - bisarrt, fascinerande, sjukt

"When I saw that I secured the first place in the competition, the first thing I thought was that I made beloved Great Leader Kim Jong-Un happy and I just want to see him as soon as possible," she said through an interpreter. "As for my family, I just meet them again once I'm in North Korea, so I have nothing special to say."

In her spare time, Rim said she listens to patriotic music about North Korea's leaders.

Nordkoreas första guldmedaljör vid OS i Rio, tyngdlyfterskan Rim Jong Sim, säger att hennes första tanke efter segern var hur glad hennes älskade Führer nu måtte bli.

While fewer South Koreans eat dog meat these days, North Korea is still promoting it as a traditional "stamina food" ― especially during summer.

Since late June, North Korean media outlets have produced multiple stories about the health benefits of dishes made with dog meat.

Tongil Voice, a radio broadcaster, assessed dog stew as the "finest medicine" in a report on Aug. 6.

"There's an old saying that even a slice of dangogi can be good medicine during the dog days," it said. North Korea calls dog meat "dangogi," which literally means sweet meat.
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The Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS), also a radio network, introduced culinary competitions in Pyongyang last month in which contestants made stew, broiled dishes and other recipes using dog meat.

"The contest showed a part of our excellent traditions and customs," the KCBS proclaimed. "It also took place in a timely manner considering we've been improving our living and culinary culture in line with our goal of building a highly-civilized socialist state."
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Citing an encyclopedic text of medicines written during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), DPRK Today, a propaganda outlet on YouTube, proclaimed in June that dog meat has more vitamins than chicken, pork, beef and duck and is also good for the intestines and stomach.

It also claimed that a dog should be beaten to death and that its fur should be removed before being scorched for better taste. This practice of butchery has been controversial in South Korea and has led to protests from animal activists inside and outside the country.

A senior diplomat from the North Korean embassy in London has defected in the first case of its kind since official ties were established and the embassy opened 13 years ago.

Thae Yong Ho, who vanished earlier this month with his wife and children, was based at North Korea’s suburban embassy in Ealing, west London.

Seoul’s unification ministry confirmed on Wednesday he had recently defected to South Korea with his family.

Thae is the highest-level North Korean official to have defected to South Korea, Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman at the unification ministry, told a news conference.

He was “sick and tired of the Kim Jong-un regime”, yearned for a liberal and democratic country and was worried about his children’s future, Jeong said.

Jeong suggested that the case showed that disillusionment among North Korea’s ruling class was widespread, with the regime weakening and at “breaking point”.

One of five officials at the embassy in addition to the ambassador, Thae’s job was to keep track of North Korean defectors living in London. He was also tasked with rebutting UK criticism of his country’s human rights record, South Korean media reported.

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The defection is a coup for British and other western intelligence agencies. John Nilsson-Wright, the head of the Asia programme at Chatham House, said the diplomat could have useful insider information on Kim Jong-un’s secretive regime.

Intelligence agencies would want to question Thae about Kim’s leadership, the stability of his regime and the fate of senior members of the previous government, some of whom have been purged and executed.

“They would want insight into the last three or four years since he took over,” Nillson-Wright said.
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Defecting from North Korea is risky. The regime usually exacts revenge on relatives and friends at home. It has also been known to pursue defectors abroad and, if it finds them, to “mete out draconian punishment”, Nillson-Wright said.