Seoul calls them “defectors,” but North Korea accuses the South of kidnapping a dozen waitresses and insists on their return.
The late North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il was the film fan. Director Lynn Lee got permission to film behind the scenes of the most cut-off film industry in the world.
Relationships between North Korea and the United States may have thawed dramatically on Wednesday with the U.S. State Department and North Korea's state-run media announcing a suspension of nuclear enrichment in exchange for U.S. food aid.
From American Democracy, to UFO controversies, from Arab Spring to African farm land, the most clicked on stories of 2011 on PRI.org touch on most of the major themes in the news in the past year.
The World's Mary Kay Magistad reflects on the power of silence after watching the broadcast of the memorial service for North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il.
The World's Jason Strother reports on how military conscripts in the South are following the events in Pyongyang with particular interest.
Kim Il-sung was a revered figure in North Korea through his death and even today. His son, on the other hand, Kim Jong-il was less loved, despite the enormous outpouring of grief seen recently. Many defectors say the country seems to be trying to link the young successor with his popular grandfather.