North Korea

The major topic concerning voters was economics and Park claims that her victory will help rebuild Korea’s economy. She has promised to redistribute wealth and reform conglomerates - ones that her father created. The leader also plans on opening a dialogue with North Korea. “Peace bought with extravagant gifts is a false peace,” she said. “True peace is achieved through trust-building efforts on the foundation of a strong deterrent.”

Anthropologists and linguists no doubt are having a field day trying to chronicle and dissect how, in the early autumn of 2012, “Gangnam Style” became an American idiomatic expression. It stands for something along the lines of a brash, flamboyant way of doing things, clownishness, or an act of in-your-face spoofing that is both original and entertaining. A recently set-up Wikipedia page showcases “Gangnam Style” as the most watched Youtube video of the year. It has garnered 425 million hits and counting since July, and has spun off countless other videos. Among them: North Korea’s own version to spoof a South Korean presidential candidate, and the “Mitt Romney Style” spoof video.

From New America Media: North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, has died, according to media reports from the isolated communist nation, leaving the peninsula and the East Asia region on bated breath as regional powers digest the news. The North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced Monday morning (Korea time) that Kim had died of an “acute myocardial infarction, which triggered a heart attack” while on a train carrying him on one of his frequent field tours. He was 69.

From New America Media and Korea Times: Brand new apartments, theaters and parks are popping up as has, apparently, a new department store hawking Chanel and Armani. Sidewalks are bustling with activity and, at last, the final touches are being applied to the exterior of a massive showpiece hotel. This is clearly not the Pyongyang of old.