NY Times columnist’s dispatch from N. Korea is like an audition for DPRK state media

**Written by Doug Powers

After the inauguration of Donald Trump, the New York Times updated its slogan to “The truth is more important now than ever.” That slogan apparently gets suspended if somebody from the paper is in North Korea — at that point, just parrot DPRK propaganda:

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on Friday echoed North Korean propaganda that says droves of its citizens are signing up to join the military after President Donald Trump’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly last week.

Kristof wrote on Instagram that “every kid” at a high school in North Korea “supposedly signed up to join the army after the Trump speech to the U.N,” referring to Trump’s address on Sept. 19 when he said the U.S. will “totally destroy North Korea” if forced to defend itself or its allies.

It depends on what your definition of “signed up” is. From the Daily Mail in 2014:

Mandatory service in the country’s 1.19-million-strong military already stands at 10 years, and is the longest conscription period in the world.

Also, in North Korea, there are amusement parks and lots of pizza (for friendly visitors only — a certain journalist might have earned an extra slice this week if he can wrestle it away from Kim Jong-un).

**Written by Doug Powers

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