얼마나 세계

A couple weeks ago, I was bored, and I ended up on North Korea's official website (http://www.korea-dpr.com/). It's kind of interesting, as far as propaganda goes. There's an in-depth biography of the "Great Leader," photo galleries of organized vacation groups - you can even register to go on one of these highly regulated 8 day trips, for just 2,350 euros (no cell phones or credit cards allowed).

But what intrigued me most was the Gift Shop section of the site. In it are any number of North Korean souvenirs. T-shirts, hats, laptop bags, beer steins, iPhone cases, greeting cards...you name it. It's all there, available for purchase. And the artwork is actually pretty cool. Propagandistic, colorful images invoking prosperity and strength. Like this one:

I actually purchased a baseball t-shirt, magnet and water bottle for myself. I'm sure I'm on some sort of government watchlist now, but whatever.

What struck me as most interesting, however, was that the gift shop is operated by CafePress. CafePress is an online retailer that sells all this junk - if you want t-shirts or ball caps with your company's logo on it, CafePress will print 'em up and sell 'em online, just like they've done for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. CafePress is an American company headquartered in San Mateo, CA.

And when I received my gift shop trinkets in the mail the other day, I looked at the bottom of the water bottle. Guess where it's made?

America.

I'm not really sure what to make of this strangely transparent commercial relationship that exists between the U.S. and the DPRK, considering all you hear in the media is that North Korea is our sworn enemy, ruled by a megalomaniacal madman. But I do know this: if I can buy a water bottle from North Korea, I should be able to buy a cigar from Cuba. I mean, come on already.