North Korea not even gloating about Japan’s earthquake
Over at Wired, Spencer Ackerman points out that North Korea’s official state media, which rare misses an opportunity to indulge in anti-Japanese schadenfreude, has been remarkably subdued and even somewhat respectful in its coverage of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Japan. There was this basically factual account of the damage so far and even a ...
Over at Wired, Spencer Ackerman points out that North Korea's official state media, which rare misses an opportunity to indulge in anti-Japanese schadenfreude, has been remarkably subdued and even somewhat respectful in its coverage of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Japan. There was this basically factual account of the damage so far and even a statement of sympathy from the country's Red Cross:
Over at Wired, Spencer Ackerman points out that North Korea’s official state media, which rare misses an opportunity to indulge in anti-Japanese schadenfreude, has been remarkably subdued and even somewhat respectful in its coverage of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Japan. There was this basically factual account of the damage so far and even a statement of sympathy from the country’s Red Cross:
Upon hearing the sad news that the northeastern part of your country was hit by unprecedented earthquake and tsunami that claimed huge casualties and material losses, I extend deep sympathy and consolation to you and, through you, to the victims and their families on behalf of the DPRK Red Cross Society.
It is my hope that the living of the victims will come to normal as early as possible thanks to the positive efforts of your society.
Unsurprisingly, the coverage doesn’t address the interesting question of what risk North Korea’s own nascent nuclear program poses.
Iran, which has a history of devastating earthquakes, has been quick to dispell fears about the risks from its controversial Bushehr reactor:
"All safety rules and regulations and the highest standards have been applied to the Bushehr (nuclear) power plant," Ahmadinejad told Spanish state television TVE.
Russia’s foreign minister also chimed in to claim that the Russian-built facility is built to withstand quakes:
"(The Bushehr) project meets all safety requirements both in as far as technology and seismic stability are concerned," minister Sergei Lavrov told a meeting of the G8 foreign ministers in Paris.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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