Kim Jong Un Bans Sarcasm in North Korea

From Vanity Fair, where there is more:

Kim Jong Un just can’t take a joke.  The last time the North Korean dictator found himself on the receiving end of some gentle ribbing, as the subject of James Franco and Seth Rogen’s assassination comedy The Interview, Kim’s repressive regime allegedly hacked Sony Pictures, apparently in retaliation.  Now, the absolutist leader is taking his hostility toward humor to a farcical new extreme, banning all sarcasm throughout the Hermit Kingdom in an attempt to crack down on dissent and quash any further laughs at his expense.

The Independent reports that North Korean party officials held several mass meetings across the country in an attempt to warn citizens that criticizing the state via indirect, ironic statements such as “This is all America’s fault” would be illegal and “unacceptable.”  And the consequences for disobeying are particularly unfunny: according to the nonprofit group Liberty in North Korea, any criticism of the government—including, apparently, the North Korean version of “Thanks, Obama”—“is enough to make you and your family ‘disappear’ from society and end up in a political prison camp.”

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