The Kim Jong Il diet plan

What do you do when you’re an international pariah dependent on foreign food aid to feed a starving population? Why, develop a "special noodle" that delays feelings of hunger, of course! Choson Shinbo, a pro-Pyongyang Japanese newspaper, reports that Kim Jong Il’s new noodles, which pack more protein and fat than normal noodles, will be ...

What do you do when you're an international pariah dependent on foreign food aid to feed a starving population? Why, develop a "special noodle" that delays feelings of hunger, of course!

What do you do when you’re an international pariah dependent on foreign food aid to feed a starving population? Why, develop a "special noodle" that delays feelings of hunger, of course!

Choson Shinbo, a pro-Pyongyang Japanese newspaper, reports that Kim Jong Il’s new noodles, which pack more protein and fat than normal noodles, will be available soon:

When you consume ordinary noodles (made from wheat or corn), you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger," it said on its website.

While it’s nice to see North Korean scientists working on something other than nuclear weapons, a "special noodle" alone isn’t going to solve the country’s food crisis. It is fitting that, instead of tackling the root causes of the food shortage, the country instead found a superficial means to delay hunger.

To delve further into the mind of North Korea’s Dear Leader, check out
"The Secret History of Kim Jong Il" in FP‘s Sept./Oct. issue, as well as the accompanying photo essay: "Inside the World of Kim Jong Il." (The former requires a subscription and the latter is free.)

Patrick Fitzgerald is a researcher at Foreign Policy.

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