Three Chinese fishing boats were allegedly seized by a North Korean ship in Chinese waters last week. The unidentified hijackers are demanding a ransom of RMB1.2 million. If that sum is not handed over by the end of today, they threatened to "dispose" of the captives. more ›

Via AFP: "The world's tallest lego tower with more than 50,000 bricks stands in front of Seoul's Olympic Stadium. The lego tower measuring 31.9 meters took five days to build and broke the previous record set in France at 31.6 meters." more ›

17,450 "health tonic" and "stamina booster" pills smuggled from China and confiscated by South Korean customs officials have been found to be made from aborted foetuses and stillborn babies. While no sicknesses have been reported yet by those who ate the pills, Korean doctors are warning that super-bacteria, germs and viruses have been detected in them and could cause health problems. China's Ministry of Health said that an investigation has been launched but it found no conclusive proof that the pills were made in China. more ›

Korean folk song Arirang as performed by North Korea's National Symphony Orchestra. more ›

About 100 North Koreans living in the border city of Dandong in Liaoning province gathered last Thursday to celebrate their identity. [Euronews] more ›

North Korea unveils giant statues of its former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il amid the communist state suffering major blow as its long-range rocket fails. [Euronews] more ›

In a major embarassment to North Korea and the country's new leader, Kim Jong-un (also known as Üter Zörker), their controversial rocket launch has not exactly gone to plan. The Glorious Nation briefly managed to get it's rocket up, but only for one underwhelming minute before it plunged back down again, shamefully failing enter into orbit. No words of comfort were offered to orbit, who has always been insecure about the size of her curvature and may or may not believe she was responsible. Instead, North Korea slumped into an icy silence lasting for hours, before finally admitting to the world what had happened. more ›

Things are looking rather festive up north in the DPRK, despite the ongoing furore over a rocket launch that the United States and allies say is a ballistic missile test in violation of a United Nations ban. The Spring Friendship Art Festival opened yesterday in Pyongyang to to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea. The Choson Sinbo, a DPRK-owned paper published in Japan, said the festival, which runs till April 19, would bring together about 800 artists from 23 countries. International delegations have been made to visit the supposed birthplace of the Eternal President at Mangyongdae to be "briefed on the glorious and revolutionary history of Kim Il Sung". Also read the KCNA report of the festival here. more ›

2,000 couples from 54 countries take part in a mass wedding in Gapyeong, South Korea organised by the Unification Church (better known as the Moonies) and presided over by Sun Myung Moon who they believe to be the Messiah and Second Coming of Christ. more ›

“The ardent yearning for leader Kim Jong Il has inspired us to make fresh innovations in the project. We have been devoting all our efforts to finishing the project in time, even under the strained situation caused by the Lee Myung Bak regime of south Korea.” more ›

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The first bronze statue of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been unveiled in Pyongyang as part of celebrations marking what would have been his 70th birthday this week. [AP] more ›

Last Friday, rumours that Kim Jong-un was assassinated at the Beijing embassy began on Weibo, hopped over to Twitter, then went around the world. The "Great Successor", as it turns out, is still alive and kicking, and the rumours were actually sparked by his daddy's 70th birthday celebrations (even though he's pickled kimchi now). more ›

That little belly dancing skirt stretched around her diaper is just too adorable/bizarre. more ›

Jende Huang writes on Sino-NK about the illicit trade in crystal meth between North Korea and China. Curiously, China doesn't seem to be too keen in reprimanding the DPRK for the production and export of meth, or bingdu (冰毒) in Chinese. more ›

Watched that video of the five young North Korean accordionists' rendition of A-ha's Take On Me and still haven't had enough? Now, here's a North Korean group named Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble performing Modern Talking's Brother Louie! more ›

Remember that video of the five young North Korean accordionists' rendition of A-ha's Take On Me? It's totally gone viral since we showed it to you last Friday (watch it if you haven't!). Evan Ramstad, the Wall Street Journal's Seoul correspondent, caught up with Morten Traavik, the artist behind the performance that will soon open at Barents Spektakel, an international arts fest in Norway. He writes of Traavik's long labour of love in making the project happen: more ›

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo has translated some very interesting comments by Kim Jong-nam -- the eldest son, and at one point, the presumed successor of the late Kim Jong-il -- made to Yoji Komi, an editor at the Tokyo Shimbun daily, in private emails sent between 2004 and 2011. In the emails, Kim reveals he has never met his half-brother Kim Jong-un, that his regime will not last very long, and that the "Great Successor" once went to Japan on a fake passport. He also admitted to being "protected" by the Chinese government: more ›

Raw footage from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA): The Associated Press opens its latest full news bureau in Pyongyang located inside the KCNA headquarters. more ›

This one is for you ladies (and for some of you men)... more ›

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Watch the documentary after the jump... more ›

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James T. Areddy of the Wall Street Journal paid a visit to some of Shanghai's most popular North Korean restaurants following news of the demise of the "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il. Here's what he found more ›

Kim Jong Il, Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, passed away Saturday of exhaustion brought on by a sudden illness, according to the Korean Central News Agency. more ›

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Just as Europe is hoping for China to be its sugar daddy financial savior, tourism industries throughout the Asia Pacific region are bending over backwards to court Chinese tourists and the revenue boost they represent. We thought a special round-up on the subject was in order. more ›

South Korea's embattled Lee Myung Bak administration has named former ambassador to Russia Lee Kyu-hyung new ambassador to China, the third in as many years. more ›

On Saturday, Seoul was covered in a blanket of yellow dust for more than two hours, and the whole nation put under the first yellow dust alert of the year. The dust has been found to be radioactive, but it isn't coming from Fukushima, it's coming from China. more ›