Nuclear cartoon fun (2)
Another Redian cartoon from a couple of days ago. In this one, Kim Jong-il kicks the nuclear football to George Bush, saying, “take this.” Bush, in turn, passes it on to the UN, who expresses bewilderment.
Some of the cartoonist’s comments below are actually funnier than the cartoon itself. He notes how odd it is that even after the nuclear test the US is refusing to recognise North Korea as a nuclear state. His final sentence is almost poetic in its construction. Rough translation: “The US-centred nuclear order seems to be that if you don’t have nukes but the US says you do, then you do, whereas if you do have nukes but the US says you don’t, then you don’t.”
A cartoon from yesterday’s Hankyoreh (SK’s left of centre mainstream newspaper).
Bush sits in the Oval Office while outside the US press and pundits (I like the way this particular cartoonist always represents them with fountain pens behind their ears) criticise his policy failure over the North Korean nuclear issue. Meanwhile, Bush is reading the South Korean press (like, hello!) who are unanimously agreed that this situation is the fault of the Roh Moo-hyun’s government. Bush expresses his thanks to Korea’s rightwing press saying “At least I’ve got you guys!”
Interesting here how the Hankyoreh is using this issue to have a go at the rest of the South Korean press, meaning basically the three rightwing papers: Chosun Ilbo, Joongang Ilbo and Donga Ilbo. The broader point here is that while the nuclear test has been something of a disaster for Bush and the Neocons in Washington, it has been a boon for the hard right in both South Korea and Japan.
