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 ›

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 ›

A group of young accordion players from Pyongyang's Kum Song School perform Take On Me by A-ha as part of a multi-genre project that opens next week at Barents Spektakel, an arts festival in Norway. Seriously, now. What would the Dear Leader think as he looks down on this from wherever he is now in socialist paradise? 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 ›

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All the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: The general manager of Koryo Tours Simon Cockerell talks about North Korea, there's some Tuesday night music happened at Yuyintang and Mao Livehouse, take a stroll on the Bund for Wednesday, or check out an art gallery for Thursday! Read on for all the details, or head on over to our calendar for more! more ›

Watch the documentary after the jump... more ›

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A few links to start off your day: China claims that all government agencies will be using legitimate software by the end of 2012. Uh-huh. If they're for real, Microsoft is going to have a pretty sweet year. In an Op-Ed for the NY Times, Georgetown professor Victor Cha predicts that China will move towards effectively adopting North Korea as a province to prevent any possibility of growing US influence. A piece by Damien Ma in the Atlantic this week covers the rise of social media in China, and whether or not it can become a force for making the government more open and accountable: more ›

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"I will change sorrow into strength and courage and remain faithful to respected Comrade Kim Jong Un," says the woman at the end of this video from Korean Central News Agency. more ›

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 ›

Rejoice, the miracle of goods to fill and warm the insides of your secure and well-fortified homes is here! The 2nd Pyongyang Consumer Goods Exhibition took place in the North Korean capital's Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 back in July, and displayed the wonder of "light-industry goods", including "clothes and shoes of various kinds", "a variety of foodstuffs and household goods", and "Korean silk cloth known as good for people’s health". more ›

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The South Korean government has asked China not to repatriate 35 North Korean refugees that were arrested in several cities last week. more ›

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AP's Alexa Olesen recently travelled to North Korea's Rason special economic zone where it's said any foreigner may now enter visa-free as long as their trips are booked through an approved travel agency. more ›

Anthony Tao, who writes over at the Heart of Beijing blog, has just returned to China from North Korea, and he has some amazing footage from this year's mass games. more ›

Everything about it screams BACKWARD, but it's still luxurious by North Korean standards. Over the weekend, 130 Chinese tourists and journalists boarded the 39-year-old Man Gyong Bong, a former cargo ship that's just been recently renovated and remade to become the DPRK's very first cruise ship. more ›

For North Korea's fledgling tourism economy, China represents the largest inbound market. This clip from a Japanese documentary gives you an eye-opening glimpse of what Chinese travellers are shown on their DPRK tours. more ›

Happy rainy weekend Shanghai! Obviously you should all be signed up and ready to head out of town tomorrow on the Shanghaiist Party Bus to Ocean MiDi Festival! But just in case you're stuck here all weekend, there should be at least a few things happening to keep you occupied (check out music over at our Midweek Music Preview.) We've got Chinese Valentine's Day stuff, Dwayne Wade's doing stuff, and the North Korean Art Troupe is in town! Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more. more ›

FINA continues this weekend and the swimming finally kicks off on Sunday! Phelps in the hizzouse. If swimming's not your bag, don't worry because there is plenty of other stuff going on around town to keep you occupied. Mesa & Manifesto is closing, TICT is throwing a beach party, and Dada's screening another North Korean film! Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more! more ›

Take a look at the Economist's illustration of the world's standing military personnel by country. China boasts the largest numbers at over 2.25 million. Surprisingly (maybe?) China ties with the US on air force size and its navy isn't far behind (worth noting that China's air force alone dwarfs the size of Britain's entire military). But as far as who is most "heavily militarized", measured by personnel per 1,000 population, the USA is three times more militarized than China, and North Korea blows everybody else out of the water. And does that big grey "other" section of the Russian military make anybody else nervous? more ›

In Pyongyang, streams of North Korean civilians and soldiers lay bouquets and bow three times before a statue of Kim Il Sung to mark the 17th anniversary of his death. Kim has been named the DPRK's "Eternal President", and massive celebrations are expected in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. more ›

Back in December 2009, authorities cracked down on a colossal drug operation in southwestern China, where they busted 85 people in connection to manufacturing and distributing methamphetamines across the nation. In their eight illegal production labs, the police found enough chemicals to manufacture up to 10 tons of crystal meth, which has a street value of 2.17 billion RMB ($318 million). more ›