Kim Jong Un Looking at Things
February 1, 2012 5:19 PM Subscribe
His bodyguards are incredibly hands-on: holding his arms, holding his hand. Is that a cultural thing or what?
posted by asnider at 5:29 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by asnider at 5:29 PM on February 1, 2012
If this guy turns out to be a really nice bloke he'll totally settle the whole nature vs. nurture debate.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:31 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by cjorgensen at 5:31 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
The Welk - I love these. Reminds me of a funnier Letters to an Absent Father
posted by azarbayejani at 5:39 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by azarbayejani at 5:39 PM on February 1, 2012
If Kim Jong Un turns out to be a nice guy it won't be nature or nurture. My pick would be sunspots, followed closely by elves.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:40 PM on February 1, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:40 PM on February 1, 2012 [7 favorites]
Are you looking at me?
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 5:40 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 5:40 PM on February 1, 2012
Does anyone else think this should be Kim Jong Un eats things.
posted by Glibpaxman at 5:40 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Glibpaxman at 5:40 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
This one really strikes me. The wise older gentlemen to Un's left. I feel like he deserves to live in a better society.
posted by punkfloyd at 5:41 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by punkfloyd at 5:41 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Continuity of looking at things must be maintained! The essential functions of the DPRK are greater than any one Dear Leader, even one who invented bread, gunpowder and poetry and made the sun rise every morning through sheer force of will.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 5:41 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by strangely stunted trees at 5:41 PM on February 1, 2012
The longer you stare, the funnier it gets.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:42 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:42 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
For those that wish for a tumblr, of course there is one.
posted by mariusm at 5:43 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by mariusm at 5:43 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Does the Kim-Jong family actually endeavor to have ridiculous haircuts? Is it, like, a goal for them?
posted by Pecinpah at 5:45 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by Pecinpah at 5:45 PM on February 1, 2012
Undisclosed locations. Undated pictures. Yeah, that's Kim Jong Un alright.
posted by vidur at 5:48 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by vidur at 5:48 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
His hair looks like it came straight out of my high school year book. Many of the dudes had the asian late 90's version of the butt cut.
posted by danny the boy at 5:53 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by danny the boy at 5:53 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
It looks like those generals are keeping him on a pretty short leash.
posted by double block and bleed at 5:54 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by double block and bleed at 5:54 PM on February 1, 2012
"Does the Kim-Jong family actually endeavor to have ridiculous haircuts? Is it, like, a goal for them?"
yes, actually.
this gets overlooked in the whole "boy aren't dictators weird?" reaction, but it is critically important for the leader of a personality to have, you know, a distinctive personality.
and appearance. whatever the case they cannot look or act "normal" as their claim to power relies on beyond iconic. see Hitler or Stalin or Mussolini or Sadam or Ghaddafi or Mugabe or Kim Jong Il.
the shtick works. i don't know why it works beyond the need to look iconic and looking distinctive or odd being the most effective way to accomplish that, but it does apparently work.
posted by striatic at 5:56 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
yes, actually.
this gets overlooked in the whole "boy aren't dictators weird?" reaction, but it is critically important for the leader of a personality to have, you know, a distinctive personality.
and appearance. whatever the case they cannot look or act "normal" as their claim to power relies on beyond iconic. see Hitler or Stalin or Mussolini or Sadam or Ghaddafi or Mugabe or Kim Jong Il.
the shtick works. i don't know why it works beyond the need to look iconic and looking distinctive or odd being the most effective way to accomplish that, but it does apparently work.
posted by striatic at 5:56 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
This one really strikes me. The wise older gentlemen to Un's left. I feel like he deserves to live in a better society.
Well, we don't really know anything about him other then that he's a high ranking North Korean -- dude. He could be totally evil. We have no idea.
Anyway Kim Jong Un did have a western education. Apparently he actually is a big Starcraft fan.
Anyway who knows. Being surrounded by evil sycophants could probably make someone totally evil in practice. But maybe there's a chance this guy won't be a horrible person, we'll have to see.
posted by delmoi at 6:09 PM on February 1, 2012
Well, we don't really know anything about him other then that he's a high ranking North Korean -- dude. He could be totally evil. We have no idea.
Anyway Kim Jong Un did have a western education. Apparently he actually is a big Starcraft fan.
Anyway who knows. Being surrounded by evil sycophants could probably make someone totally evil in practice. But maybe there's a chance this guy won't be a horrible person, we'll have to see.
posted by delmoi at 6:09 PM on February 1, 2012
His bodyguards are incredibly hands-on: holding his arms, holding his hand. Is that a cultural thing or what?
I recall on a visit to Seoul, there were a lot of girls walking down the street hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm. And maybe some guy-girl pairs attached at the arm in some way. But I don't recall seeing that with two men. Or two men and one woman. Though I doubt any of those young shoppers were the supreme leader.
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:10 PM on February 1, 2012
I recall on a visit to Seoul, there were a lot of girls walking down the street hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm. And maybe some guy-girl pairs attached at the arm in some way. But I don't recall seeing that with two men. Or two men and one woman. Though I doubt any of those young shoppers were the supreme leader.
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:10 PM on February 1, 2012
This is the future of the United States, people, so take a good look. In the next election the Republicans will take the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Nothing will stop them from shrinking government while expanding the military. Eventually one man will control everything, using his powerful army.
Future histories will show that when we were worrying about European style socialism we opted for North Korean style dictatorship.
posted by twoleftfeet at 6:11 PM on February 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
Future histories will show that when we were worrying about European style socialism we opted for North Korean style dictatorship.
posted by twoleftfeet at 6:11 PM on February 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
He needs a good kick in the nuts.Dude imagine if you were installed as the leader of North Korea tomorrow. What exactly would you be doing, given the fact that, obviously the generals and whatnot underneath you can throw a coup and have you killed if you piss them off enough. How long do you think it would take you to make it a less evil place?
posted by delmoi at 6:38 PM on February 1, 2012
Dude imagine if you were installed as the leader of North Korea tomorrow. What exactly would you be doing, given the fact that, obviously the generals and whatnot underneath you can throw a coup and have you killed if you piss them off enough. How long do you think it would take you to make it a less evil place?
I guess I could decline to be installed dictator. Are you suggesting that Kim Jong Un secretly desires to make North Korea a less evil place? Are you further suggesting that he is not in need of a kick in the nuts?
posted by eugenen at 6:42 PM on February 1, 2012
I guess I could decline to be installed dictator. Are you suggesting that Kim Jong Un secretly desires to make North Korea a less evil place? Are you further suggesting that he is not in need of a kick in the nuts?
posted by eugenen at 6:42 PM on February 1, 2012
Man, I've certainly seen some things in my life I wish I could Un look at, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.
posted by lord_wolf at 7:23 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by lord_wolf at 7:23 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Does the Kim-Jong family actually endeavor to have ridiculous haircuts? Is it, like, a goal for them?
Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle.
Enjoy.
posted by Talez at 9:49 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle.
Enjoy.
posted by Talez at 9:49 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
What's on Major Tom's right leg here?
What, you've never seen a shin rocket before?
posted by asnider at 9:52 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
What, you've never seen a shin rocket before?
posted by asnider at 9:52 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
So chubby!
posted by ReeMonster at 10:00 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by ReeMonster at 10:00 PM on February 1, 2012
They even included a picture from the future!
A heavily sedated Kim Jong Un being led away to face an uncertain fate after the successful uprising.
posted by Triplanetary at 10:04 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
A heavily sedated Kim Jong Un being led away to face an uncertain fate after the successful uprising.
posted by Triplanetary at 10:04 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Yeah, he's not really *that* chubby, but, especially with those feast pictures, it is striking how much heavier he is than almost everyone else pictured.
Additionally, yeah, he seems to be awfully well-escorted at times.
posted by maryr at 10:21 PM on February 1, 2012
Additionally, yeah, he seems to be awfully well-escorted at times.
posted by maryr at 10:21 PM on February 1, 2012
I'm hoping Kim Jong Un goes on a diet and emerges as if from a cocoon as a beautiful man-child rather than his current pre-larval state.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:34 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:34 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Yeah, he's not really *that* chubby
I dunno, his face is kind of a sphere. They're not really supposed to be like that. It's odd to me how round his face is.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:36 PM on February 1, 2012
I dunno, his face is kind of a sphere. They're not really supposed to be like that. It's odd to me how round his face is.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:36 PM on February 1, 2012
I don't like the look of that fat little fucker one little bit. It looks like he's going to push all sorts of red buttons after breakfast when he's finished with his sausages and gets bored of Minecraft.
posted by jimmythefish at 10:44 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by jimmythefish at 10:44 PM on February 1, 2012
Can we get a sequel where he's looking at awesome things, like Obama does?
posted by NoraReed at 10:46 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by NoraReed at 10:46 PM on February 1, 2012
This morning on the bus I was reading 1984 and wondering if he has read it
posted by ghostbikes at 11:27 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by ghostbikes at 11:27 PM on February 1, 2012
His bodyguards are incredibly hands-on: holding his arms, holding his hand. Is that a cultural thing or what?
He is largely imitating the more gregarious manner of his grandfather Kim Il Sung. It's largely part of a plan to reinvigorate the nation during "This most prosperous year" 2012.
posted by AndrewKemendo at 3:54 AM on February 2, 2012
He is largely imitating the more gregarious manner of his grandfather Kim Il Sung. It's largely part of a plan to reinvigorate the nation during "This most prosperous year" 2012.
posted by AndrewKemendo at 3:54 AM on February 2, 2012
If I and my chums had known this guy in college, we would have fed him a lot of dangerous drugs, stripped him naked and set him loose in the woods in the middle of the night. Just to knock that damned blank look right off his doughy face.
I swear, it would've done him nothing but good.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:39 AM on February 2, 2012
I swear, it would've done him nothing but good.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:39 AM on February 2, 2012
Apparently he actually is a big Starcraft fan.
Oh. Oh, shit. World War III is going to start with the words "ZERG RUSH KEKEKE".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:46 AM on February 2, 2012 [3 favorites]
Oh. Oh, shit. World War III is going to start with the words "ZERG RUSH KEKEKE".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:46 AM on February 2, 2012 [3 favorites]
This one makes me think of Zoolander freaking out about the model of the Zoolander School for Kids Who Can't Read Good (and who want to learn how to do other things good too)....
What is this? A center for ANTS?!
posted by epersonae at 9:24 AM on February 2, 2012
What is this? A center for ANTS?!
posted by epersonae at 9:24 AM on February 2, 2012
I guess I could decline to be installed dictator.
Only if he felt suicidal.
I have no idea at all if he wants to improve North Korean's lot or if he's an entirely evil bastard. Born and brought up in the circumstances he was, it would be pretty hard for him not to be fairly warped. But it is true that even if he did, in fact, manage to develop some independent moral judgment and even if he does genuinely want to mitigate the plight of his people, his options for action at this point are incredibly constrained. He's essentially a figurehead. If he's a political genius he might eventually get to a point where he can start reshaping North Korea's political/economic system--but it will take years of long-game political maneuvering to get there.
posted by yoink at 11:32 AM on February 2, 2012
Only if he felt suicidal.
I have no idea at all if he wants to improve North Korean's lot or if he's an entirely evil bastard. Born and brought up in the circumstances he was, it would be pretty hard for him not to be fairly warped. But it is true that even if he did, in fact, manage to develop some independent moral judgment and even if he does genuinely want to mitigate the plight of his people, his options for action at this point are incredibly constrained. He's essentially a figurehead. If he's a political genius he might eventually get to a point where he can start reshaping North Korea's political/economic system--but it will take years of long-game political maneuvering to get there.
posted by yoink at 11:32 AM on February 2, 2012
Does the Kim-Jong family actually endeavor to have ridiculous haircuts?
Extremely quick primer on Korean names, because one of the million things that have been driving me to distraction these days has been the way that news media and just plain folks mangle them. I won't bother with the near-random romanization (other than to mention that according to the new standard romanization in South Korea, 'Un' would sound like 'Oon', but the correct vowel sound, romanized these days as 'eu' is a low, back schwa-like sound the nearest English equivalent is probably the 'euhhh' sound English speakers make when something makes them nauseous, further, the standard romanization of 정 in both 김정일 and 김정은, usually rendered as 'Jong' should actually be 'Jeong'), because that's a whole other clusterfuck.
So: 90+ percent of Koreans have names with 3 pieces, each of which is a single syllable. An example of that is the subject of this thread, The Great Snackmagnet, Kim Jong Eun. A very few have two-syllable names (their surname and a single-syllable given name), and ever fewer have a four syllable name.
The first is the family name. As elsewhere in NE Asia, the family name comes first, at least in part because the family is more important than the individual. (For what it's worth, 'Kim', the most common Korean surname -- think "Smith" -- is actually pronounced more like 'Gim'. Again, another can of worms best left unopened.)
In most families, siblings get a 'generation' name. For example, my wife, her two sisters and her brother all share their surname (of course -- and, as an aside, Korean wives do not take the surname of their spouse) and also share the 'generation name' Seok. So when it comes their names, they really only get one syllable of three in their name for their own identity.
Things get a bit weird here, because not only does Kim Jong Eun share a generation name with his brother Kim Jong Nam (정, usually written 'Jong', but more correctly 'Jeong', with a schwa sound), but they also share 'Jong' with Dad Kim Jong Il(deceased Comrade Bouffant) he shared 'Il' with his father, Grandad and dynasty founder Kim Il Sung.
There is quite possibly some significance there in the cross-generational sharing -- I've never seen it explained, myself -- but it is not all that common a thing.
One final note -- there is no 'zh' phoneme in Korean, so the proper pronunciation of 'Jong' uses the same 'j' as, in, say 'jump', more or less.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:19 PM on February 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
Extremely quick primer on Korean names, because one of the million things that have been driving me to distraction these days has been the way that news media and just plain folks mangle them. I won't bother with the near-random romanization (other than to mention that according to the new standard romanization in South Korea, 'Un' would sound like 'Oon', but the correct vowel sound, romanized these days as 'eu' is a low, back schwa-like sound the nearest English equivalent is probably the 'euhhh' sound English speakers make when something makes them nauseous, further, the standard romanization of 정 in both 김정일 and 김정은, usually rendered as 'Jong' should actually be 'Jeong'), because that's a whole other clusterfuck.
So: 90+ percent of Koreans have names with 3 pieces, each of which is a single syllable. An example of that is the subject of this thread, The Great Snackmagnet, Kim Jong Eun. A very few have two-syllable names (their surname and a single-syllable given name), and ever fewer have a four syllable name.
The first is the family name. As elsewhere in NE Asia, the family name comes first, at least in part because the family is more important than the individual. (For what it's worth, 'Kim', the most common Korean surname -- think "Smith" -- is actually pronounced more like 'Gim'. Again, another can of worms best left unopened.)
In most families, siblings get a 'generation' name. For example, my wife, her two sisters and her brother all share their surname (of course -- and, as an aside, Korean wives do not take the surname of their spouse) and also share the 'generation name' Seok. So when it comes their names, they really only get one syllable of three in their name for their own identity.
Things get a bit weird here, because not only does Kim Jong Eun share a generation name with his brother Kim Jong Nam (정, usually written 'Jong', but more correctly 'Jeong', with a schwa sound), but they also share 'Jong' with Dad Kim Jong Il(deceased Comrade Bouffant) he shared 'Il' with his father, Grandad and dynasty founder Kim Il Sung.
There is quite possibly some significance there in the cross-generational sharing -- I've never seen it explained, myself -- but it is not all that common a thing.
One final note -- there is no 'zh' phoneme in Korean, so the proper pronunciation of 'Jong' uses the same 'j' as, in, say 'jump', more or less.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:19 PM on February 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
Oh dear. My wife and her siblings' generation name is 'Kyeong'. That's what I get for posting before coffee in the morning. Oops.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:39 PM on February 2, 2012
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:39 PM on February 2, 2012
stavros - is it like the French 'u' at all? I'm crap with vowels sounds, but we were taught to pronounce that by pursing our lips as if we were saying "Ooooo" but to try to say "E". It comes out a little like "ew" (as in gross), but also a bit like "ooo" and like "u".
posted by maryr at 8:26 PM on February 3, 2012
posted by maryr at 8:26 PM on February 3, 2012
Nah, it's articulated low and back. Drawing the corners of your mouth back would help. Imagine making a neutral schwa sound (which lives mid (vertical) and front, more or less), but at the rear of the mouth and down at the bottom.
After all these years I'm still not so great at either making it or recognizing it in connected speech, though.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:42 AM on February 4, 2012
After all these years I'm still not so great at either making it or recognizing it in connected speech, though.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:42 AM on February 4, 2012
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posted by tumid dahlia at 5:22 PM on February 1, 2012