North Korean Army Gains R-E-S-P-E-C-T...Aretha Style!

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is reported to have found a rousing way of boosting morale among his troops - by giving them karaoke machines.

North Korea has one of the world's largest manned armies, but levels of training, discipline and equipment are reported to be low.

"I plan to send more song-accompanying machines to the People's Armed Forces," Kim Jong-il was quoted as saying by the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Workers Party of Korea, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.

He told a meeting of military commanders that "the atmosphere changed completely" among troops when they started to sing along to the tunes on the machine. He also noted that soldiers and officers competed with each other to get the highest scores.

Kim keeps track of the number of karaoke machines sent out to each troop division by writing it down in a notebook, according to the Rodong Sinmun. Let's hope he doesn't lose that notebook in Karaoke Bar!