The latest video (below) of North Korea to go viral is pretty much guaranteed to get you up on outta your chair.

Usually heard spilling out of a night club or into the ears of a teeny bopper Top-40 lover, LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" is juxtaposed in this video with scenes from military parades overseen by Kim Jong Il.

As the Youtube description states:

“Ain’t no party like a Pyongyang party, cause a Pyongyang party is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY.”

Every inch of the Hermit Kingdom, it seems, is saturated with propaganda.

Even primary school math textbooks, as North Korea scholar Andrei Lankov reports in the Korea Times.

For the purposes of his column, Lankov, who teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul, perused a Year Two math textbook for North Korean primary schools.

What he found constitutes another little window onto life in North Korea.

Here are a few examples of the book's highly politicized content:

• "American imperialist bastards" feature prominently. From a quiz on page 17: ``During the Fatherland Liberation War (North Korea’s official name for the Korean War) the brave uncles of Korean People’s Army killed 265 American imperialist bastards in the first battle. In the second battle they killed 70 more bastards than they had in the first battle. How many bastards did they kill in the second battle? How many American imperialist bastards did they kill all together?’
• South Koreans heroically spend their days and nights fighting these American imperialists. On page 138: ``South Korean boys, who are fighting against the American imperialist wolves and their henchmen, handed out 45 bundles of leaflets with 150 leaflets in each bundle. They also stuck 50 bundles with 50 leaflets in each bundle. How many leaflets were used?’
• But life in South Korea is also made up of great suffering. On page 47: `In one South Korean village which is suffering under the heels of the American imperialist wolf-like bastards, a flood destroyed 78 houses. The number of houses damaged was 15 more than the number destroyed. How many houses were damaged or destroyed in this South Korean village all together?’
• It is only in North Korea, where prosperity can be truly enjoyed by a happy populace. Also on page 47, immediately following the question about destroyed South Korean houses: `In the village where Yong-shik lives, they are building many new houses. 120 of these houses have 2 floors. The number of houses with 3 floors is 60 more than the number of houses with two floors. How many houses have been built in Yong-shik’s village?’

It's so hard to tell when North Korea means it.

Too often, when they say something — like, for instance, that they want to rejoin nuke talks or make friends with the South — they follow it up with the exact opposite behavior — walking out of nuke talks or firing things at the South.

Unreliable is a word that comes to mind.

So, when the North claimed there was unprecedented flood damage this summer, the international scene could be forgiven for having doubts.

Especially when the veracity of the North's claims were called into question after a photo was published that turned out to be doctored.

See for yourself:

But the general consensus seems to be that the damage is at least as bad as the North is saying.

Their official stats put the death toll at 30, with more than 15,800 people rendered homeless and 120,000 acres of farmland inundated.

And in the past, the United States and South Korea have made efforts to distinguish between political and humanitarian concerns when it comes to North Korea.

Now appears to be no exception.

Today, the United States announced it will send $900,000 in emergency aid.

According to The Washington Post:

The aid announced on Thursday will consist of medical supplies and won’t include food, said a State Department official who was not authorized to speak by name.

Even if the North is being forthright about the needs of its people, however, there is an argument to be made for withholding aid.

As GlobalPost's Bradley Martin wrote previously in "Does North Korea deserve aid?":

... over the years two things have become clear. First, donors are denied the ability to make sure the aid gets to needy civilians. Much of it in fact is siphoned off by officials who eat it themselves, supply it to the military or sell it to market traders.

What is really standing in the way of Korean unification?

Besides the constant threat of war and irreconciliable political differences, that is.

GlobalPost on North Korea: the drumbeats of war

Maybe the problem is that we just can't picture it.

The Augmented Reality Korean Unification Project seeks to change that (video below).

The project uses technology to digitally remove the demilitarized zone — both literally and figuratively — that stands between the two Koreas, returning the to its unaltered state before the country was divided.

GlobalPost in Siem Reap: North Korea's Idolatry, Inc.

By being able to see the area virtually at peace, the logic goes, it may be easier to muster the will to make it a reality.

As BoingBoing points out, this may be a tall order for one computer program, but it is still fascinating to present "alternate realities untouched by real history."

On the project's official website:

The public may view Korea as a unified country as it once was. The Korean Unification Project removes weapons, checkpoints, fortifications, barriers, walls, and all reminders of the ongoing conflict from the Korean landscape.

Viewers with supported mobile devices can see the DMZ replaced with nature as though it had never existed. This project tries to help the peace process by letting the Korean people see a unified Korea.