The North Korean Roller Coaster Rider Mystery Is Solved

Atlantic ^ | 8/1/12 | Eric Randall

[TigerLikesRooster]

The North Korean Roller Coaster Rider Mystery Is Solved

North Korean State Media

Eric Randall Aug 1, 2012

When North Korean state media released this delightful photo of newly(ish?)-wed Kim Jong Un on a roller coaster ride, discerning viewers wondered at the identity of the white guy grinning a few rows ahead of him, and at long last Mother Jones magazine has sussed it out: He is Barnaby Jones, a minor Herman Melville character, a minor '70s television detective, a British diplomat at the embassy in Pyongyang. Though Barnaby Jones didn't give Mother Jones (no relation) an interview, the Embassy did explain itself, saying the regime invited diplomats to the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground opening, where the photo was taken. The statement sounds pretty classically diplomatic:

[TigerLikesRooster]

I hope Barnaby fella is not the one who thinks the Potemkin Village, full of Potemkin people, where he lives is a real thing. They have no more access to the reality of NK than any others. However, since they live there, they tend to think they know better.

[cripplecreek]

People's Pleasure Ground

I think I went to school with her.

[SpaceBar]

I hate to be nitpicky, but you can save a lot of bandwidth for yourself and others by saving your raster images in a better format than bmp. I converted your image to jpeg and it went from about 700k to about 72k, roughly 1/10’th the size.

[the invisib1e hand]

Would it really be advisable to go on a roller coaster ride at the invitation of an oppressive dictator?

[CondorFlight]

It seems like the regime may be trying to put on a new face—showing the leader with his “wife”, and going on a roller coast, and wearing a western-style suit instead of the jump-suits which Kim Jung-Il always used to wear, or a military uniform.

Hopefully these may mean the start of even more liberalization...

[TigerLikesRooster]

That was what the source article has. FR does not allow uploading of data files from my PC’s as far as I know.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

Rungna Peoples Pleasure Ground? I think I spent about $500 there one night down in Tampa.

[AmericanInTokyo]

The “Kid” wears elevator shoes (black, shiny, zip up, adding three to four inches in height), just like Dad did. Heck they might even be his old man’s shoes themselves, just buffed up somewhat to save costs.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Just see and think how they smile, and yet the jackass "Supreme Commander" sitting a few feet behind the UK chargé d'affaires, also smiling ear to ear, has citizens judged as "enemies of the state" actually bayoneted to death for DPRK special forces training purposes up near Korean concentration camps, or has errant DPRK generals and others who celebrated too soon such as had wine or sang karaoke during late Dad Chia Pet's mourning period, put out on N. Korean hillsides and at a distance mortar-ed to death for troop training, fun and internal terror and intimidation. How lovely. (Kim Jong Un's exact orders: I want them obliterated so that even a lock of hair of them is not left behind.""

Can you imagine the outrage in the international diplomatic community if a British embassy official was seen having fun at an amusement park during Apartheid in South Africa with some of its senior white leaders like President P.W. Botha? The worldwide media, UN, and every NGO in the world would be apoplectic, riots in London, and British rock stars would write a protest song about it.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Official: Charge d' affairs Barnaby Jones.

Embassy details, for protest:

Ambassador: Karen Suzanne Wolstenholme (neé Vivian) Address: British Embassy Pyongyang Munsu-dong Diplomatic Compound Pyongyang Democratic People's Republic of Korea British Embassy Switchboard: +850 2 381 7980 Phone: (0) 2 382 7980 - Local dialling International dialing for out of hours emergencies From Outside DPRK: Office +850 2 381 7980 00 850 191 250 7980 From Inside DPRK: 191 250 7980 Fax: +850 2 381 7985 International dialling Website: http://ukindprk.fco.gov.uk/en/

[Mom MD]

Would it really be advisable to go on a roller coaster built in N Korea??

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yeah, I saw that, too. Must be quite a strain on his ankles to hold up his weight while he is on the shoes.

The whole photo-ops of him at the amusement park(he went there several times, each of which was reported on state media) have some Mari Antoinette flavor. Things are worse than last year, and people are going through harder time. Less food, higher price. On the other hand, he is touring around the amusement park, directing his minions on how to improve it. He forced his old (not so healthy) auntie Kyonghee to ride the roller coaster. I am sure she was half-dead afterward. On another occasion, he was enjoying a Disney concert. If you are one of old guards in party or military, this whole thing would make you sick, even if you are in Jang Sung-taek's faction.

Screws are loose in N. Korea.

[the invisib1e hand]

Would it really be advisable to go on a roller coaster built in N Korea??

Course not! Shoot, I thought they were at 6 Flags.