By SHELTON BUMGARNER
Marmot’s Hole Guest Blogger
As I can attest, the DPRK cheer leading squad of whom this post talks about is truly one of the most “mesmerizing” things I’ve ever seen. When I saw them at the Asian Athletics Championship in Incheon, I couldn’t help but think, “Holy smokes, what is THAT!” Funny the translation of the Japanese article should use the word “mesmerizing,” ’cause I used it, too.
…Everything was done together and in perfect sync. It was simply mesmerizing. It was so complex and yet so effortless in its perfection that it was pure entertainment. It was only more amazing seen from a distance. There was actually some sort of over-arching creative flair. The group of about 80 dots were dressed in white, while their leader was a red dot. Soon, the performance grew more complex with flashes of blue and red filling the white dots. It looked like a video game that you simply could not keep your eyes off of. Or maybe something from the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. You could almost hear that creepy music from the film, which led to the spaceship going nuts, drifting through the air between you and them. What they heck are they going to do next? I thought.
The point of the translated Japanese article is that the squad was recently seen sporting the Nike swoosh on their caps.
But while the beauty and seamless coordination of Kim’s cheesy cheerleaders remained as mesmerizing as ever for those who saw them at the Asian Athletics Championship in Inchon, South Korea, they’ve also got many baffled because all 100 or so of the stunners supporting Pyongyang’s punters were wearing identical red caps with a prominent Nike swoosh on them.
[...]
So, if they’re real, how did the cheerleaders, coming as they do from such an impoverished country, get their hands on the pricey millinery? Atsushi Miyagawa, a dealer in North Korean merchandise, has some ideas.
“I’ve visited North Korea many times and can say that there are probably not even 100 authentic Nike caps in the entire country. Inchon is trying to create a sister-city relationship with Pyongyang, so I’d say people from Inchon have given the caps out as gifts symbolizing friendship,” Miyagawa says. “I know for sure that South Koreans paid for the transport and accommodation costs for the cheerleaders attending the meet.”
Be sure to read the rest on your own.
2 Comments
The Mainichi’s WaiWai section is typically brilliant–that Ryan Connell character seems to have cut his teeth at one of the English tabloids.
“Kim’s cheesy cheerleaders have showed up at a number of sporting events in recent years, attracting considerable media attention for their stunning looks and precise movements packed with more corn than country Iowa.” Dead on.
It did go on a bit about the Nike logo, but what else can you say about the nork fembots except that they’re like a cross between “The Stepford Wives” and “Dawn of the Living Dead”?
The best thing that could happen is someone take a bazooka and blow the wretches out of their seats. I think a only big round of laughs around the world will make South Korea wake up to this idiocy.