(Newser)
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If you think North Korea harbors a not-so-secret desire to obliterate the US—while backed by a Michael Jackson song—you'd be sort of correct. The country's official website uploaded a truly bizarre YouTube video on Saturday in which a slumbering man dreams... More »
(Newser)
–
If you think North Korea harbors a not-so-secret desire to obliterate the US—while backed by a Michael Jackson song—you'd be sort of correct. The country's official website uploaded a truly bizarre YouTube video on Saturday in which a slumbering man dreams of a rocket blasting a space shuttle into orbit; as it circles the globe, the dreamer can see what's happening on Earth. At one point, the American flag appears, followed by images of a New York-esque city (the AFP spots what appears to be the Empire State Building) being bombed and burning, before the shuttle zooms out and into a shower of sparkles. Yes, seriously. And yes, the whole thing is set to an instrumental version of "We Are the World."
The AFP translates some of the many captions that appear, including "It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself" and the dreamer concluding his vision will "surely come true." In other North Korea news:
- The nuke watch continues, and South Korea's UN ambassador says the test draws nigh. The AP reports that Kim Sook yesterday said it "seems to be imminent," a determination based on the observation that there are "very busy activities" taking place at the Punggye-ri test site.
- Should that test occur, we might have a tough time determining whether a plutonium or uranium device was detonated, reports the New York Times. In order to figure that out, the xenon gases spawned by the explosion must be analyzed, but the prime window for doing so closes about 20 hours following detonation—and the underground nature of the test means it could take as many as four days for the gases to reach the surface. As a former Los Alamos lab director explains, "You have to be very lucky." One "lucky" possibility? "In trying to demonstrate a test at a higher level ... they may produce fissures that allow radioactive seepage."
- One other possibility: North Korea may be planning two nuke tests.
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