Lofty ambitions for space travel

This is one of the best bits of satire The Onion has produced in a while: Kim Jong Il Announces Plan To Bring Moon To North Korea. It is especially amusing if you are familiar with some of the actual governmental propaganda about Kim Jong Il. I once saw a North Korean press document claiming that their leader is ‘the most energetic man in history.’ He has a fondness for doctoring photos of Napoleon to include his own face, and North Korean songs claim that he can “dispel raging storms.”

My favourite quotes from the video:

• “A force of one million men will anchor [the moon] to a resplendent pedestal modeled on the Dear Leader’s perfect hand.”
• “We will study the moon once it is here to learn the effects of moon possession on national glory.”
• “The plan is perfect. We have already succeeded.”

The artwork is also an amusing impersonation of a classic propaganda style.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. Between 2005 and 2007 I completed an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. I worked for five years for the Canadian federal government, including completing the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and then completed a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2023. View all posts by Milan