리북 손만두: LeeBuk Son Mandu, North Korean Restaurant

LeeBuk Son Mandu is not your typical mandu place for many reasons. First and foremost, it's a North Korean style restaurant, which is what initially drew me to this place. However, that's not all. It also happens to be in a hanok located in the least likely of places to find a hanok, directly behind city hall. Completely surrounded on all sides by modern and semi-modern buildings, there is no way you could accidentally stumble upon this restaurant. There is practically a tunnel of alleyways which lead you to this restaurant. It's not hard to find though, just follow the signs for '리 (이) 북 손만두!

First turn of the alleyway, 

 Second turn of the alleyway,

Aha! Finally, we found the entrance!

As I mentioned, this restaurant is located in a hanok. They've put a roof over the madang (courtyard) to make more space, but other than this, many of the beautiful hanok features remain. 

Sinc the name of this restaurant contains the name '손만두' meaning homemade mandu, ordering the mandu went without without questioning, we actually went with the 만두국. However, after previewing some blogs on the Korean blogosphere, I saw that most people were actually raving about the Kimchi mari bap (김치마리밥). It is not the sort of mari, as in a roll, but as in the meaning of 말다 which means to put cooked rice into water. So, here, kimchi mari bap means rice in a bowl of water and kimchi. There is also a kimchi mari guksu which is the same but with noodles as well. Actually, I tried ordering it but the night we went they were all out, so I had to go with the kimchi mari bap.

Here's our table

 Ok, first the manduguk. Ok, I have to say I was a little dissapointed here. The mandu were great, don't get me wrong, but the soup was like water... sorry, peppery water. It's not just here that has disappointed me like this before, I've found that for some reason it's hard to get a manduguk with a decent, flavorful (meaning not pepper flavored) broth in this country. The best I've had was in Gangwondo at Namkyeong Siktang. If I were you, I'd skip the guk and just get the mandu. Or perhaps try the 뚝배기만두

But, as the bloggers would suggest, the real star of the evening was the kimchi mari bap. I had low expectations for this one, because, well, it's a bowl of kimchi and rice in ice water. it sounds pretty awful. However, this was surprisingly refreshing and delicious, and though you can't see it there is a surprisingly large amount of rice in the bottom of the bowl. The best way to describe the flavor of this is 고소해요, a word which doesn't directly translate to English, but means having the taste of sesame oil. It's a good thing though!

My friend who came with me wrote a blog post about this restaurant as well, but with many more selections as he came back two more times later without me. Check out his post here.

리북 손만두 Leebuk Son Mandu

17-13, Mugyo-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울 중구 무교로 17-13 (무교동)

Getting here is slightly tricky, but not too bad:

City Hall Station (Seoul Subway Line 1, 2), Exit 4.
Go straight 60m and turn right onto Sejong-daero 20-gil Road.
Go straight 150m and turn left at the 4-way Intersection.
Go 50m and turn left at the first corner.
Turn left onto the the small alleyway between 7-Eleven and Jeil Garden (제일가든).
Libuk Sonmandu (리북 손만두) is located at the end of the alley.
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/CU/CU_EN_8_1_4_4.jsp?cid=757746

View 리북 손만두 Leebuk Son Mandu in a larger map

평가옥: North Korean Restaurant in Seoul

After reading a blog post on "Bobby's Awesome Life", I was inspired to check out a North Korean restaurant recommended by him: 평가옥 (Pyeonggaok). This restaurant serves food in the style of 평안도 Pyeongan province of North Korea. For a geography reference, South Pyongan province is located just north of Pyeongyang (the capitol of the DPRK) and North Pyongan province is just north of that, reaching the border with North Korea (see the map below).

Since I've never had North Korean food, and since I'm always excited by the prospect of trying new foods, I sent out a facebook message asking if anyone would try it with me. I actually got two different responses, one from my coworker John, and one from Jo and Steve Miller (aka the Qi Ranger), and so, last week, I made two trips to Pyong Ga Ok and, over the two visits, got to try a fairly wide selection of what they have to offer.

When you enter the restaurant, there is nothing that looks particularly North Korean, the interior looks like any other restaurant you'd enter. The menu too looks basically familiar at the first glance, but upon further inspection you'll see a few new things. A stew cooked in a 뚝배기 (stone pot bowl) called 온반 (Onban), naengmyon called "평양냉면" (Pyongyang naengmyon), and some large dishes cooked in the center of the table filled with a variety of things I've never seen mixed together in South Korea such as mandu, noodles, and sea food. I was really curious about the big dishes for sharing, but they were quite expencive so we just stuck with the normal 식사 menu.

First were to come out was the banchan. Kimchi, radish kimchi, white kimchi and pickles. All were quite nice, though we couldn't find a big difference between the kimchi here and the kimchi we're used to eating.

On the first visit we ordered these mungbean pancakes. They were quite nice. Similar to bindaedeok, but a bit less greasy.

We also got one 닭고기 온반 and shared it between the two of us. Between this and the pancakes, it was quite enough for two people. The soup bowl is a bit bigger than your average kimchi jjigae bowl. The soup was quite nice, but the best part was the giant mandu (hiding under bubbles in the photo above) in the soup. We just wished there had been two, we had to split the mandu two ways. Fortunately, it was easily the size of two small mandu.

On the second trip, later in the week with Steve and Jo, I brought along the boyfriend as well to help us understand the menu a little better. The boyfriend ordered the same 온반 that John and I ordered earlier in the week and agreed it was quite worth it. Jo tried the 소고기 온반 and she really seemed to enjoy it. The meat was apparently pre-fried in batter and they even put some of that mungbean pancake into the soup, too! Certainly nothing I've seen before.

Steve went with the manduguk which I had steered away from thinking "I've had manduguk before", but when it came out, boy was I wrong. Typically manduguk in Seoul is served in a normal bowl, but this came out in 뚝배기 and was filled with chunks of meat and, again, huge mandu! I was a little jealous looking over at all his mandu...

I decided to order the 평양낸면 (Pyongyang naengmyon). Actually, naengmyon isn't my favorite food. It's one of those foods I will eat once every six months and not crave it again for another six months. But I decided to try it since it is basically the most famous North Korean dish in South Korea. If you ask a South Korean what they know about North Korean food, the first (and possibly only dish) they will name is this one. So, I figured I had to try it.

The noodles to me tasted softer. Usually when I eat typical naengmyon, I find myself struggling to cut the noodles with my teeth. These noodles seemed much softer, but perhaps it was just my imagination. I also really liked the 애호박 slices and beef thrown in. There was also half a boiled egg, but you can't see it in this photo.

As I was leaving I caught the mandu making table and snapped a photo. I'm still amazed by the size of these mandu! And they're all handmade too!

Pyong Ga Ok has six locations in and around Seoul, Samseong Station, Gangnam Station, Sincheon station, Yangjae-2-dong, Bundang Station and Gwanghwamun Station, where I ate. The Gwanghwamun location is just a short walk from exit 1 of Gwanghwamun Station. From Exit 1, cross the street and take the first left (across from exit 1). Walk down the street about 1-2 minutes and you will see the restaurant on the first floor of a building to your left. When I went, the building was under construction, but you could just make out the sign, written in the Chinese characters which are pronounced Pyong Ga Ok.

To read more about Pyongan cuisine, check out this fairly good wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_regional_cuisine#Pyongan_province

Below, you can see Steve's video about our meal: 

More Photos from North Korea

Yes, yes, I apologize to all of you who don't care about North Korea, I'm always astounded by photos coming out of there, although lately there doesn't seem to be any shortage of photos of the true hermit kingdom, especially from Pyongyang which is starting to look more and more like a modern city from the photos coming out these days. These latest photos come from an anonymous blog starring a little girl who looks to be about 2 years old named Nina. Check out the blog here: http://ninalookingatthings.wordpress.com/ if you like the photos here. 

You've never seen photos of North Korea quite like these....

A water park in Pyongyang?

I read a lot about North Korea. The country fascinates me because it may be the least globalized civilization on Earth. But, as you read stories from escapees, mixed in with the horror stories of the gulags and the food shortages, you do get a sense that people aren't completely clueless as to what's going on in the rest of the world. You also get the feeling that, while there may be no rice to eat, they aren't all quite as deprived as we imagine. For example, black market DVDs of Chinese and South Korean movies and dramas are supposed to be widespread, suggesting that people must have TVs and DVD players to watch them as well. And, of course, we hear of the disparity between life in Pyongyang vs the rest of the country, Pyongyang being a model city of modernity and success while the rest of the country is destitute. I stumbled across these photos from The Bobster's facebook, but they are the most real photos I have ever seen from the North. Take some time and look through them and you may really get a better sense for what life is like over the illusive border. I'll place a few photos here, taken from Buisness Insider to pique your interest because they really are worth seeing, but be sure to go to the actual websites at the end of this post to see the whole collection.

Just like Seoul... but different. 

Traffic in Hamhung...

True Korean innovation: Wood burning vehicles...

These photos were taken by Stephanie T. Kleine-Ahlbrandt, the China and North East Asia Project Director of the International Crisis Group (ICG). Please check the following links to see more amazing photos of the real Hermit Kingdom.

Ms. Kleine-Ahlbrandt's Personal Photo Page

Buisness Insider: North Korea Photos Provide a Glimpse into a Changing World

Do you want to fly Air Koryo?

I want to know what my readers think of this: Air Koryo's Facebook Fan Page

Air Koryo is the National airline of North Korea. The author of this page (who I'm not 100% convinced actually represents Air Koryo) is quite honest, but also extremely civil and makes the trolling South Korean insulters look pretty bad. They claim that while they are funded by the DPRK, they function independently.  And their English is... well.... pretty much perfect....

Great conversations happen here like:

• Dongmin Kim Republic Of Korean's(south korea) people think the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(north korea) is equal to the air koryo. Think that part is able to understand.
  

  July 27 at 7:23am ·
  
  

  Air Koryo Korean Airways (조선민항 | Корё Ханггонг) Sorry, I can't exactly understand what you mean by that.
  

  July 27 at 7:25am ·
• Air Koryo Korean Airways (조선민항 | Корё Ханггонг) Were you trying to explain to us that Air Koryo is a part of the DPRK Government? If so bingo! You're the winner. But honestly what's the actual point behind saying that?
  

  July 27 at 7:27am · 
  
  

  Air Koryo Korean Airways (조선민항 | Корё Ханггонг) ROK and DPRK are 100% separate nations with two ways of thinking. One does not impact on the other that often as you may think. Air Koryo is independent in how it operates and why it operates. It’s merely financed by the Government, as the Government doesn't utilize Air Koryo aircraft. Rather Air Koryo operates separate VIP configured airliners for the Government from separate air fields. There is minimal over lap except for national issues such as soccer teams and other sporting teams traveling abroad who will use a chartered flight or existing scheduled service.

  
  

  And this:
  

  
  
  

  • Gregori Quiros Hello Air Koryo, Air koryo have a internet page to the internet chek in??
    

    July 13 at 8:01am ·
    
    

    Air Koryo Korean Airways (조선민항 | Корё Ханггонг) You kidding right?
    

    July 13 at 8:27am
  • Gregori Quiros no !!!! its a good idea and a good solution to help the north korean tourism!
    

    July 13 at 12:03pm
    
    

    Air Koryo Korean Airways (조선민항 | Корё Ханггонг) There are many things to do before even looking at "Online check-in" such as actually creating a website. I think online check-in is just for the business traveler and the westerners which are a lower portion of the JS network.

So, do you want to fly Air Koryo now?

Welcome to Dongmakgol: Korean Movie Review

Another movie I saw last week was called Welcome to Dongmakgol or 웰컴 투 동막골. It is a comedy from 2005 that takes place during the Korean war. Dongmakgol is a village so high and isolated in the mountains that inhabitants rarely come down and the villagers have no idea that the Korean war is going on.

Their first visitor drops from the sky in an odd machine. A man with blond hair and blue eyes who can't speak a word of Korean. His plane inexplicably crashed, or was it caused by some kind of magic that protects the village? The town doctor, the only man who can read or speak any English, helps him and tries to talk to him. "How... are... you?" he asks, reading from an English text book. The American soldier is rather angered by this question as he's covered in bandages and has a number of broken bones. The doctor doesn't understand why he doesn't respond as the text book suggests: "Fine, thanks, and you?"

But, then, as they are attending to the American soldier, two South Korean soldiers wander into the village. They make small talk with the villagers and explain that there is a war going on. "With Japan? With China?" they ask. No... with Korea itself. The villagers are quite confused by this. The South Korean soldiers are busy explaining all the terrible things the North has done when three North Korean soldiers then walk into the village and the soldiers of both sides jump up and brace themselves for a stand off. The villagers look on rather amused, wondering what is so scary about the sticks they carry and the strange potato-shaped metal apparatuses in their hands. They face each other down for a whole day, no one moving, scared the other one would move first. Finally a grenade is accidentally thrown and the village's food store house is blown to bits.

The North Korean soldiers feel responsible (plus, they have no where to go as the allied forces are now regaining the South and they have been separated from the main army) so they offer to stay until they can fill the storehouse again. The South Korean soldiers don't want to look bad next to the North Koreans who have so generously offered to stay, and so they decide to stay, too. After a series of strange events, they start to befriend each other, and the American soldier, too. Something about the town just seems to have that effect on everyone.

I really love this movie. It reminds us that North Koreans and South Koreans are just humans after all. They are enemies because of what their governments have told them. In this little idyllic town of Dongmakgol, those problems between them cease to matter and the soldiers just become human beings again. Again, this, like Wedding Campaign, is an older movie and a bit off the radar now, but certainly worth hunting down and watching.

North Korea's Attack on the South

While you've probably heard by now, North Korea launched an attack on South Korean soil today. While not very close to Seoul (I'm not in any danger), it's still serious and it's going to have lasting effects in the coming weeks and months.

Here is an AP video describing the events and the current climate on the peninsula.



And the following is a link to a good BuisnessWeek article about the incident: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-23/n-korea-attack-on-south-kills-two-sets-homes-ablaze.html

Jimmy Carter arrives in the DPRK

Jimmy Carter has arrived in Pyongyang in order to negotiate for the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an English teacher from South Korea originally from Boston (only 10 minutes from my house incidentally) who crossed over the border into North Korea from China. He was sentenced in April to hard labor and a fine of $700,000 dollars.

This is the second former president of America who has had to rush in to save Americans who have made their way into North Korea. In my opinion, Gomes' case was the strangest of them all. While the others were high profile people, journalists and a Christian activists, Gomes was more or less a nobody, so to speak. I remember when I read initial reports about the incident, reports stated that he went in because he wanted to live there and looked up to the regime. Later, reports came out that he was very religious and was possibly trying to repeat Robert Park's mission to the DPRK. Unfortunately for this guy, people haven't put such a priority for getting him out of there since he is more or less a nobody. I'm interested to see how Carter's negotiations go to get him released.

While Carter is in town, he will be trying to ease the tensions between the North and South.

I recommend checking out the NYtimes article here about Carter's visit, and another article about the labor camps here from Newsweek.

Incidentally, I was horrified to read in the Newsweek article that in 1996 there was testimony to the existence of some American POWs that had been captured during the Korean war and were still alive. Meaning that there is a slight possibility that one or two of those guys could still be alive today, still in prison...

View of North Korea Shows How a Policy Spread Misery

Here's a great article in the New York Times discussing everyday life in North Korea. If you're interested in this topic, I highly recommend you read a book I reviewed a few months ago called Nothing to Envy.

View of North korea Shows How a Policy Spread Misery

World Cup: North Korea blunder gives it a built-in excuse for failure

I'll never understand North Korea.....

World Cup: North Korea blunder gives it a built-in excuse for failure

Another US citizen detained in North Korea

North Korean officials have reported that they now have a second American in their custody for illegally crossing over the border from China. The first is, of course, Robert Park, the Christian missionary who crossed the border and planned to get caught so that he could raise awareness of the human rights abuses, particularly against Christians in the country. (Of course, what he probably did, instead, was start a new persecution of what few Christians are left in the country after 50 years of communism..)

Now reports are starting to come forward about this second detainee. Supposedly, according to the Dong A Ilbo... (which is a South Korean news source, and we know how reliable those are...) this man crossed the border because he wanted to join the North Korean army and escape from the capitalist world.

Sounds like a nice plan. Good luck to him if that really was his real motivation for entering NK. He's definitely as far from capitalism as you can possibly get. I bet working in a labor prison camp for no money and hardly any food is just what he had in mind.

I'll keep following this story to see if a more plausible explanation arises.

Reuters Article
Bloomberg Article

The North strikes again..

After the South issued a statement last week stating that they were willing to make a preemptive strike against the North, if there were clear signs of a nuclear attack. There's little surprise here that the North jumped at the opportunity to say that the South was threatening war and has now decided to push the South into making a strike against the North and prove how serious that threat is.

Yesterday the North set up a "no-sail zone" along the western borderline. This "no-sail zone" stretches even into South Korean territory.

Yesterday at 9:05 am the North started firing a barrage of coastal artillery shells towards the Northern Limit Line.

Soon after the North fired at 9:05 a.m., South Korean marines on the island fired bullets as warning shots in the air toward the North instead of counterattacking. The North’s artillery shells landed in the North’s own waters, said Won Tae-jae, spokesman for the South’s Defense Ministry. Won also said that the North fired some 30 shells in two rounds from 9:05 until 10:16 a.m. The first round lasted for 20 minutes and was directed toward the upper no-sail zone and the second round began around 9:45 a.m. and aimed toward the other zone. Another round of shells was fired at 3:25 p.m. [1]

Since the shells didn't land in South Korean territory, the South had no reason to counterattack, following the rules of engagement. They fired warning shots into the air and warned them not to provoke an attack.

The North blames the South for this, claiming that they provoked them and declared war with their statements last week.

"Our revolutionary armed forces will regard the scenario for 'preemptive strike' which the south Korean puppet authorities adopted as a 'state policy' as an open declaration of war," its state KCNA news agency quoted a spokesman for the armed forces general staff as saying. [2]

Others see this as a way to rally the people with their government and hope they forget about their hyperinflation that is sweeping their nation. And of course warn the South that they are more than willing to attack at any time.

"North Korea is exercising a two-track policy of aggressively seeking economic cooperation and humanitarian aid on one hand while heightening military tension on the other," said Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University. [3]

As usual, the North flutters between showing signs of wanting to improve relations and ready to start a war. I'm almost getting sick of reporting it because it's the same old story, over and over again. North tries to provoke an attack. The South doesn't take the bait. Really, why would the South even want to attack the North unless it felt genuinely threatened? The South has nothing to gain from war with the North, except gaining a country full of impoverished, starving masses who are ill-equipped to adjust to the modern day South Korean world of capitalism and high competition.

Nothing To Envy, by Barbara Demick

About a week before leaving for Korea I was listening to NPR (god I miss NPR when I'm here) on the radio while driving somewhere. They were interviewing a woman who worked for the Los Angeles Times as a correspondent in Asia and she had just recently published a new book called Nothing to Envy, Ordinary Lives in North Korea. After hearing the interview, I hit Amazon.com almost immediately and bought the book, praying it would arrive before I left for Korea.

Fortunately it did, and I started reading while waiting for my plane. Now, those that follow this blog will know that I have a slight obsession with North Korea. I don't know what it is but something about this country fascinates me like no other. Normally I don't seek out documentaries to watch, or non-fiction books to read, but when it comes to North Korea, I am just simply fascinated.

Anyway, I was immediately sucked into this book. This oral history of 6 people's lives in North Korea was simply fascinating. The story begins many years ago, back when North Korea was a developed country, then she follows the progression of how it slowly slipped back, going from a developed country with "nothing to envy" to a desperately poor nation with crumbling infrastructure and masses starving. All of the people she focuses on in the book have made it to South Korea, one way or another. She follows their lives and how they go from loyal citizens to crossing the border and making their way to the "enemy", South Korea.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is even slightly interested in the topic. I guarantee you will be satisfied. I'm hoping Korean booksellers will pick up this book, but I have no idea about the availability of this book in Korea. Check out your local booksellers and ask them to order it for you or get it on Amazon now!

What would you do if....

I just read this article from the New York Times discussing the coach selection for the North Korean soccer team getting ready for 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I was surprised yesterday when a friend of mine who's really into soccer told me, not only did South Korea make it into the finals, but so did North Korea, for the first time since 1966.

North Korea has approached Phillipe Troussier, a French coach who coached Japan in the 2002 World cup, not to mention many other teams around the world.

Now, this is the question. What would you do if North Korea asked you to be their soccer coach? North Korea, the rouge nation who's plane was just searched in Thailand and was found to be carrying illicit weapons that they suspect were to be delivered to other rouge nations almost certainly for some sort of nefarious business. Who is under many sanctions by the UN for it's missile testing. Who has some of the worst human rights records in the world. Would it be wrong to accept the job?

There is an upside to this job, though. Well, besides the money, which I'm sure would be good. Not to mention the opportunity to coach a World Cup soccer team. But that's not what would be first on my list (probably because I am not a soccer coach). Can you imagine being able to get into North Korea and have a somewhat real experience with real North Koreans? Granted, he'd probably never see the other side of North Korea... the starvation, the prisons, the average people on the street. But, no one gets to see that.

If I were offered this job, I don't think I could turn it down for that reason only. Sure, some people may criticize me for accepting to work for one of the most "evil" countries (quoth Bush) on the planet. But how many people have gotten inside for real?? And I don't think Bill Clinton counts...

"What If" North Korea attacked...

I keep the news reel on the side of my blog to keep myself and others informed of events in the world news about Korea. Today this article from CBS showed up and I had to check it out. It described "what if" North Korea attacked. They presented it in such a manner that it would make the reader believe that if these present talks fail that war is almost imminent.

Is there something that I missed? Talks with North Korea have been failing for decades, but they haven't attacked yet. I'm not saying they will never attack (sometimes I get scared during thunder storms because I think they are bombs). But are the chances so high that we have to start discussing these points and making me scared again?

Whenever there is tension with North Korea I get a little nervous. I know the Koreans don't even bat an eyelid, but the thought of war, and accidentally getting caught in a war makes me really scared.

What do you think of this?


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Swine Flu in North Korea

According to this New York Times article, swine flu has hit North Korea and has already caused many deaths. The South is considering sending flu shots up to it's neighbor to help combat the illness.

I just want to know how swine flu got in anyway? And where the South Korean government would get these supposed swine flu shots, since here in Massachusetts we barely have enough to go around...

Anyway, I guess it goes to show that swine flu really is quite deadly if you don't get the proper treatment/ are unhealthy to start out with. Maybe the Spanish Influenza was just as deadly, but people didn't have Tamiflu and the were much more likely to be undernourished back in the early 20th century...

As usual, tensions with North Korea aren't even conversation worthy...

By now, most people must know that on Tuesday (11/10/09) there was a naval skirmish between the North and South along the disputed border region off the west coast of Korea. No one is talking about it. No one cares. I jumped in surprise as I read it that evening and said to my boyfriend, didn't you hear? There was a skirmish today between North and South. "Yea, I heard. So what?" was the only reply. "It's happened before". Ok, but it's been 7 years. Shouldn't this be at least conversation worthy? Nope. I mentioned this on a Facebook thread, and another Korean friend chimed in "Yea, so?". It's amazing how little the Koreans care about this topic. But, I am much less nervous about it than I would have been a year ago. Maybe few more years in this country, and I'll say "Yea, so?" too.

Hyundai Opens Peace Talks With North

The JoongAng Daily reported today that the Chairwoman of Hyundai Group, who has been in Pyeongyang for the past week, initially bargaining for the release of a worker who was being held hostage. After she negotiated for his release, she stayed longer, and evidently did what the South Korean government has failed to do for the past 6 months, which is to resume tourism to the North, and resume work at the Kaesong Industrial Complex where South Korean companies have production lines just over the border in Kaesong in the North.

Talks with North Korea have been hostile, to put it mildly, since last November. Why all of a sudden this change of heart on the part of the North? I just don't get Kim Jong Il. It's like he's bipolar. One day he's your friend, and the next day he's ready to nuke you. It's also strange to me that all the negotiations that have gone on recently, have gone on between civilians with the DPRK. First with Bill Clinton, now the chairwoman of Hyundai. All these negotiations don't amount to much if the actual governments can't come to an agreement.

Anyway, check out the article here.

US Jounalists releaced from North Korea

Bill Clinton made an unexpected trip to North Korea to apologize on behalf of the two American journalists who happened to work for Al Gore's Internet news channel. Fortunately, he was able to get them out of labor camp and back home to their families. Too bad he couldn't have negotiated for all the Japanese and South Koreans still being held hostage there too, but I guess we can't be too greedy. Head over to CNN to check out the full story.

In celebration of independence day....

The North decided to celebrate American Independence Day by firing 7 Scud missiles and one fizzleing out Taepdong-2 missile out over the East Sea (Sea of Japan). I guess they wanted to participate in the fireworks too...