It’s So Funny Isn’t So Funny

Stern, serious, socialist North Korea has carved out a spot in TV history for having one of the world’s longest running comedy shows, despite it being mostly devoid of jokes for the decades it has been on the air.

The show now called “It’s So Funny” is meant to uplift the morale of troops and extol propaganda about the virtues of serving under “The General” Kim Jong-il. Laughter is optional — unless the soldiers in the audience are ordered to do so.

The format of the show is usually a conversation between a man and a woman in military uniform, who sometimes sing, dance and try a little slapstick, but mostly avoid telling one-liners.

“Often, it is really hard to find the humor,” said a South Korean official who monitors the North’s official broadcasts.

“This type of show has been on since almost the beginning of the state’s official programing (in the 1970s),” he said.

The latest version that came out in the past week extolled the virtue of beans, while avoiding any flatulence humor.

It opened with the man soldier saying to the woman soldier he feels better and looks more handsome because he has been taking medicine made from beans.

Korean Beauty Promises No More Sexy Photos

South Korea’s pin-up pool player Cha Yu-ram has insisted she has no plans to switch to a career in modelling despite publishing a book of racy photos this year.

The cue-wielding beauty has won international titles this year, proving there is substance behind the style, and has vowed to deliver at next year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou.

“I had a photo shoot for a sexy photo album this summer but promise my fans I won’t go into the entertainment business,” Cha told South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo.

“I want to be recognised for my pool skills, not for my looks. I think my (time) is about to begin. Look out for me (in Guangzhou).”

Cha shot to fame by winning a major women’s nine-ball competition in South Korea in 2003, although she suffered a loss of form at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

While references to former Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova — who brought glamour to her sport but failed to win a singles title — are unwelcome, Cha’s early years were spent whacking balls over a net on her father’s orders.

“I ended up quitting tennis after three years,” said Cha, whose tennis ‘career’ ended when she was 11. “When I really got into (pool) I was playing it 10 hours a day minimum.”

North Korean Designer Jeans Hit The Shelves

Designer jeans labeled “Made in North Korea” will go on sale this Friday at a trendy department store in the Swedish capital, marking a first foray into Western fashion for the reclusive communist state.

The jeans, marketed under the “Noko” brand, carry a price tag of 1,500 Swedish crowns ($215) and will share shelf space at Stockholm’s PUB store with brands such as Guess and Levi’s.

Noko’s founders told Reuters they had spent over a year trying to gain access to factory operators in North Korea, and struggled with poor communications and an unfamiliar approach to doing business once inside the country.

“There is a political gap, there is a mental gap, and there is an economic gap,” said Jacob Astrom, one of three Swedish advertising executives behind the project. “All contacts with the country are difficult and remain so to this day.”

The idea for the project was born out of curiosity for North Korea, which has grown increasingly isolated in recent years under Western criticism of its human rights record and nuclear ambitions.

“The reason we did this was to come closer to a country that was very difficult to get into contact with,” Astrom said.

North Korea, a country better known for its reclusive nature than fashionable clothes, rarely allows outsiders within its borders and has virtually no trade or diplomatic relations with most Western countries. Sweden, one of only seven countries to have an embassy in North Korea, is an exception.

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Woman Passes Driver’s Exam On 950th Try

A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver’s license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time.

The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test.

Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers’ license agency in Jeonju, 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of Seoul.

Police said Cha took the test hundreds of times, but had no specific total. Local media said she took the test 950 times.

Now she must pass a driving test before getting her license, Choi said.

Repeated calls to Cha seeking comment went unanswered. She told the Korea Times newspaper she needed the license for her vegetable-selling business.

Bird On The Plane! Flight Delayed

A South Korean passenger jet was grounded just before taking off so that crew members could catch a sparrow that was flying around in the cabin, airline officials said.

“The bird got in through an open airplane door and was spotted during boarding,” said Cho Hyung-chul, a spokesman for Korean Air Line. The passengers on the flight were asked to leave the plane as the airline tried to prevent the bird from taking the domestic flight.

“The bird was captured and set free,” Cho said.

The flight’s 123 passengers were put on board a different plane and sent on their journey, which was delayed for nearly three hours, the airline said.

Birds are a growing problem for the global airline industry, with an increasing number of planes getting damaged after hitting flocks of birds.

Sleeping And Eating – The French Top The Charts

True to their reputation as leisure-loving gourmets, the French spend more time sleeping and eating than anyone else among the world’s wealthy nations, according to a new study.

The average French person sleeps almost nine hours every night, more than an hour longer than the average Japanese and Korean, who sleep the least in a survey of 18 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Despite their siesta habit, Spaniards rank only third in the poll after Americans, who sleep more than 8.5 hours.

And while more and more French people grab a bite at fast-food chains these days or wolf down a sandwich at their desk, they still spend more than two hours a day eating.

That means their meals are twice as long as those of the average Mexican, who dedicates just over an hour a day to food, the OECD’s “Society at a Glance” report on work, health and leisure in Asia, Europe and North and South America found.

The Japanese, scrimping on sleep and burdened with long commutes and working hours, still manage to spend close to two hours a day eating and drinking, placing them third behind New Zealanders.

The Japanese like to spend what remains of their scarce free time watching television or listening to the radio. This takes up 47 percent of leisure time in Japan.

Turks, on the other hand, spend more than a third of their leisure time entertaining friends.

The survey showed that the split between work and leisure time within certain countries is striking.

“Italian men have nearly 80 minutes a day of leisure more than women. Much of the additional work of Italian women is apparently spent cleaning the house,” the OECD said in a statement.

The OECD has 30 members. The survey covers only the countries for which appropriate figures were available.

South Korean Ship Saves North Korean Ship From Pirates

A South Korean navy warship has rescued a North Korean freighter by driving away a pirate ship chasing it off Somalia.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the 4,500-ton-class South Korean warship sent a Lynx helicopter to assist the North Korean vessel after receiving a distress call that it was being chased by the pirate ship.

The statement said the pirate ship gave up chasing the North Korean ship and sped away shortly after snipers aboard the helicopter prepared to fire warning shots at it.

It said the North Korean ship later sent a thank you message to the South Korean ship.

Relations between the two Koreas have badly frayed since a conservative government in Seoul took power last year.