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Kim Jong Un emojis parody Kim Kardashian's app on iTunes

Ben Gillin also included an icon of basketball player Dennis Rodman, who has visited North Korea more than once.

By Elizabeth Shim
A Houston-based web designer has created a set of emojis that poke fun at the Kim Jong Un regime, while mocking Kim Kardashian’s set of Internet icons. Image courtesy of kimunji.online
A Houston-based web designer has created a set of emojis that poke fun at the Kim Jong Un regime, while mocking Kim Kardashian’s set of Internet icons. Image courtesy of kimunji.online

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HOUSTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- A Houston-based web designer has created a set of emojis that poke fun at the Kim Jong Un regime, while mocking Kim Kardashian's set of Internet icons that include the reality TV star's breasts and buttocks.

Designer Ben Gillin said he made the "Kimunji" series as a parody of the "terrible" Kimoji series – Kardashian's web icons available for purchase, the BBC reported.

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"Kim Jong Un is obviously a terrible person, but in some respects what the Kimoji app is doing to society is also terrible," Gillin said.

Gillin added he hoped the series would get people talking about North Korea, but leaned more toward targeting the blatant commercialism of the Kardashian enterprise – her emoticons include drawings of her voluptuous body parts, and the app was a bestseller on iTunes in 2015.

Gillin said Kardashian's content "blew his mind," adding, "I imagine little kids using it. It's ending up in their hands, advancing their minds in certain ways."

The tipping point for Gillin occurred when he heard Kardashian was releasing an update to her app, around the same time Pyongyang announced it had launched a satellite on a long-range rocket in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

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The designer said he spent four hours creating the Kimunji series, which include a crying Kim Jong Un, and separate icons of father Kim Jong Il and North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

Gillin also included an icon of basketball player Dennis Rodman, who has visited North Korea more than once. South Korean news service Newsis reported Rodman became notorious after singing "Happy Birthday" to Kim on his special day.

"In no way do I want to downplay the human rights violations in North Korea – that's super serious and oftentimes overlooked," Gillin said.

"But if my joke makes people look at it in a serious fashion, or look at it at all, then at least they've looked at it."

The Kimunji icons are free for public use.

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