An image released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows several imposing hovercrafts approaching a snowy beach, while armed and battle-ready soldiers dash toward the shore. Writing for the Atlantic, Alan Taylor points out that the image was almost certainly Photoshopped:
"At least two, possibly three hovercraft appear to have been pasted into the scene of a military exercise, reportedly taking place on North Korea's east coast on March 25, 2013. Two hovercraft crashing through the surf, nearest to the photographer, appear to be just a single hovercraft, with a digital twin copied and pasted nearby. Two of the more distant craft appear to be digital twins as well. A third vehicle in the scene has some of the hallmarks of digital pasting, including color mismatch, a slight halo, and soft edges."
The original caption of the photo reads:
"This picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 26, 2013 and taken on March 25, 2013 shows the landing and anti-landing drills of KPA Large Combined Units 324 and 287 and KPA Navy Combined Unit 597 at an undisclosed location on North Korea's east coast."
Taylor contacted the AFP, who distributed the image from KCNA, and they have since removed the image because of possible digital tampering. So perhaps North Korea is neither as battle-ready nor as digitally proficient as they might have wished.
[The Atlantic, image via the Atlantic via KCNA/KNS/AFP/Getty]