One of the most meaningful things that I learned from the okaydave experience was how small the world really is. That picture above is a visual representation taken from Google Analytics of the top 500 places worldwide where people have visited the site (the larger dots indicate the greatest concentration of visitors). Hyderabad, India? 438 peeps. Insane. The large circle over Korea was really interesting, especially since my Korean friend Jinsoo swore to me that he only visited the site twice (the second time was probably a mistake while trying to reach okayplayer.com). And not surprisingly, all of those visits are from South Korea.
Ever since seeing those stats and reading recent headlines, I've been interested in learning more about North Korea. The Indiana Jones and James Bond in me is fascinated that such an isolated and secretive place is still out there in the world. Some of the images people have captured on hidden cameras are simultaneously amazing and haunting. Barbed wire fences on the shoreline. Starving children being ignored by adults with food. Empty blocks of apartments that look like ghost cities. It seems like everything belongs in a post-apocolyptic video game and calls for a V for Vendetta-style government overthrow. Anyway, I thought the photos and stories were interesting enough to share.
★ Photographs from North Korea
★ Discovery Channel Look at North Korea (Video, 45 min)
★ Children of the Secret State (Video, 45 min)
★ Shinhwa in North Korea (Video, 3 min)
Okay Samurai Multimedia is Dave Werner's personal site. I'm currently working at Minor Studios in San Francisco. Thanks for visiting! (more...)
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