Arcade Games Arrive in North Korea

Changes in the DPRK are slow to come but there are a few small glimmers of hope that the despotic regime will be slightly less despotic under leader Kim Jong-un: namely, reports of an arcade in Pyongyang are discordant with images the regime has painted of itself in the past. Under Kim Jong-il, the current leader’s father, the nation was known for nuclear weapons and biblical-levels of poverty and famine. With an arcade gaming center, a waterpark, a cruise ship ,neon lights on the buildings, and open tourism for Americans, is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea finally coming into the modern world? While they are just testing the waters now, it can only be hoped that the nation sees real political and social reform soon as its people have suffered long enough under the current regime. Still, it is heartwarming to see such a deprived people enjoying themselves doing something that most of us in the modern world take for granted.