P'YŎNGYANGOLOGY AT ITS FINEST

Who is the mystery woman at Kim Jong Un's side? A sister? Wife? Mistress of the moment?

What do we make of the appearance of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Mickey Mouse et al at a Kim Jong Un-attended performance? A subtle sign of warming toward the U.S.? Or were the panda bear costumes (taken by some as a sign of respect/affection for China) all at the cleaners? I will go out on a limb and directly address the last line of the Telegraph article:

"It was unclear whether the Disney characters were officially licensed."

I'm going to guess that they weren't.

P'YŎNGYANG SPRING?

if one looks at women now being allowed to wear pants and an increased availability of pizza and choco pies, perhaps.

On the other hand...

The ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong Il’s sudden death in December of last year brought a tighter grip across the border. Going even further, Kim Jong Un ordered a “guilt by association” system, which is a collective execution system which aims to terminate the entire family of anyone who has attempted defection. Also, 20,000 additional soldiers were dispatched along the border region to tighten security in the area. Immediate execution of anyone caught attempting to defect was ordered as well. On December 31st, 3 men crossing the river in Hyesan, Yanggang province were executed by firing squad and a couple in their 40s attempting defection in Hoiryoung, Hamkyung Buk-do were executed as well.