Best Korea vs. South Korea

[Asclepias]

It would almost seem as though someone in the broadcast industry is trying to provoke North Korea into a war.

South Korea says it exchanged fire with North Korea at border
South Korea evacuation after shelling on western border
South Korea orders border evacuations as North declares readiness for war following exchange of fire

Youre pretty naive.

Then explain to me, Einstein, why are they negotiating for the past few days?

Who said anything about negotiating Einstein? I said you were naive.

 

[Ame®icano]

It would almost seem as though someone in the broadcast industry is trying to provoke North Korea into a war.

South Korea says it exchanged fire with North Korea at border
South Korea evacuation after shelling on western border
South Korea orders border evacuations as North declares readiness for war following exchange of fire

Youre pretty naive.

Then explain to me, Einstein, why are they negotiating for the past few days?

Who said anything about negotiating Einstein? I said you were naive.

You're pretty retarded.

 

[Asclepias]

It would almost seem as though someone in the broadcast industry is trying to provoke North Korea into a war.

South Korea says it exchanged fire with North Korea at border
South Korea evacuation after shelling on western border
South Korea orders border evacuations as North declares readiness for war following exchange of fire

Youre pretty naive.

Then explain to me, Einstein, why are they negotiating for the past few days?

Who said anything about negotiating Einstein? I said you were naive.

You're pretty retarded.

I agree you are retarded in addition to being naive.

 

[waltky]

Money for food goin' to military spending...

North Korea bureaucrats facing food shortage, defector says
March 31, 2016 - Food and other items are becoming scarce in the wake of sanctions.

Core members of North Korea's bureaucracy could be facing critical food shortages in the wake of new sanctions, and some are reaching out to defectors for assistance. A North Korean defector in the South with the surname Kim told Radio Free Asia that an acquaintance in North Korea's State Security Department had called him at his South Korean phone number "numerous times" requesting help. "I don't know how he came across my phone number, but he requested I help him several times," the defector said.

Kim, who is from the North Korean city of Musan, said the security official had helped him three years ago by lowering a criminal sentence, and the two had lived out a "symbiotic relationship" in the authoritarian society, Yonhap reported. The defector added state officials in North Korea typically receive food rations well after retirement, and the official's unusual move to reach out to the outside world for help "while losing his face" could mean the latest sanctions on North Korea are having a major impact.

Another source, an ethnic Korean in China, told RFA that he has recently been receiving more phone calls from relatives, telling him "life is difficult." The source, who remained unidentified, said he was told the price of rice in the gray markets of Chongjin, a North Korean border city, has risen dramatically in recent weeks, along with everyday items available for purchase.

The source did not say whether the gray market fluctuations were the result of sanctions. Radio Free Asia said the food situation is expected to get tougher as sanctions are implemented more thoroughly.

North Korea bureaucrats facing food shortage, defector says​

See also:

North Korea underreporting defense spending, analyst says
March 31, 2016 -- There's more to North Korea's latest budget than meets the eye, and the country could be hiding military expenditures, South Korean analysts said Thursday.

The annual budget unveiled Wednesday at the ninth plenary meeting of the 13th Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly indicated budgeted state expenditures had increased by 5.6 percent from 2015, Pyongyang's state news agency KCNA reported Thursday. According to the statement from North Korea, the defense portion of the budget accounts for 15.8 percent of the total, a decline of 0.1 percentage point. The statement did not disclose a specific monetary amount for the budget.

The South's Korea Development Bank said in its analysis the North's total budget is estimated to be $7.71 billion, up from $7.3 billion in 2015. The defense portion of the budget was up by $60 million to $1.2 billion. Kim Young-hee, head of the North Korea Economy Team at KDB, said an overwhelming portion of the budget goes toward the management and operation of the People's Armed Forces. The budget could also be greater than estimated if it accounts for the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, Kim said.

Lim Eul-chul of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University said the North could be hiding costs in other parts of the budget. "The total budget is similar in size to last year's, but the portion devoted to military expenditures should be on the rise," Lim said. The analysts expect the budget to grow in the future because North Korea is forecasting positive economic growth in the year ahead. An increase in budgeted funds for cultural expenditures also indicates more renovation projects are being planned, and monuments to Kim idolization are being accounted for, Kim Young-hee said.

North Korea underreporting defense spending, analyst says

Related:

North Korea keeps quiet on recent projectile launches
March 30, 2016 - The silence could mean North Korea is wary of China’s reactions to its weapons tests.

North Korea has not publicly announced its most recent rocket launch because Pyongyang is wary of China's reaction. North Korea typically publicizes its military training and target practices, but state media refrained from reporting on the recent launch of a short-range missile on Tuesday, News 1 reported. The missile traveled across the interior of the country for more than 120 miles before landing near the China border, according to South Korean military intelligence.

Pyongyang could face criticism from Beijing, as China has expressed its displeasure with North Korea's military provocations and has supported the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Rather than touting its military, on Wednesday Rodong Sinmun, the Workers' Party newspaper, devoted most of its content to preparations leading up to the Seventh Party Congress, to be held in May. The paper also included an editorial on the state's "peaceful" space development and argued its satellite launches did not break international law.

North Korea's silence is unusual. In early March, the Rodong had touted the deployment of the country's first 300-mm multiple rocket launchers. Pyongyang has also fired a total of 16 short-range projectiles in 2016. Kim Jong Un had said the launches from the rocket launchers pleased him, and KCNA, the state news agency, has described the launches from its latest technology as "accurate as threading a needle." Kim had also said during the firing of six projectiles on March 10 that the country must stand ready for nuclear attacks "from the enemy."

But other missile tests have not been made public since March 18. Some experts have said the silence could mean North Korea is wary of China's reactions to its weapons tests, while others have stated there may have been an error in the last firing. South Korea's military is also concerned the North is only two or three years away from completing a submarine-launched ballistic missile. Seoul has budgeted for a SLBM-warning radar, local news network YTN reported.

North Korea keeps quiet on recent projectile launches

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim soon to be standin' inna soup line?...

Retired USFK Head: North Korea Collapse May Happen Sooner
May 25, 2016 -- Instability within North Korea will lead to its collapse "sooner than many of us think," a former U.S. Forces Korea commander says.

Retired four-star Gen. Walter Sharp was among five panelists Tuesday who opened a three-day symposium, sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare, on strengthening land forces across the Pacific. North Korea garnered most of the panel's attention, driven by the volatile nation's uptick in missiles launches and its fourth nuclear test earlier this year. Sharp, who headed USFK in 2008-11, said he recently guaranteed Gen. Vincent Brooks, the newly minted USFK commander, there would be major changes on the peninsula before his tenure ends. "First off, I believe there will be strong provocations, strong attacks by North Korea that could quickly escalate into a much bigger conflict," Sharp said. "Secondly, there will be instability in North Korea that I believe will lead to the collapse of North Korea much sooner than many of us think."

There's long been speculation about how long the regime can continue to hold power in a country riddled with serial famines, drought, draconian punishments, poor medical care and an ever-increasing regimen of United Nations sanctions. Some analysts believe the North needs only one more jolt before it tumbles, while others say it has muddled through worse times in the past. Sharp said North Korea's economy "is clearly not meeting the needs of the people of North Korea," a situation exacerbated after China, the country's biggest trading partner, joined the most recent round of harsh UN sanctions. North Korea is attempting to build nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities while fostering a civilian economy. "We're all pretty convinced that that's not going to work," Sharp said.

Combine that with North Korean citizens who are gaining more outside access through cellphones and broadcasts, and there is "growing internal pressure within North Korea that will force either the regime to change or to change the regime," he said. Planning for what happens after the North's collapse must begin now, Sharp said. "What are we going to do with the North Korean military?" he asked. "How are we going to be able to provide stability and security in a collapse scenario within North Korea? We need to have those discussions; we need to have the training and capability as we move forward. "I think we also need to work very hard to plan and exercise for this collapse scenario," he said.

Both the U.N. and China could have work to do in the event of regime collapse, Sharp said. "I could see a role for the United Nations along the border between what is now North Korea and China, doing border control there, perhaps with China as the lead of that UN command up there," he said. Lt. Gen. Thomas L. Vandal, 8th Army commander in South Korea, told the audience "the pace of change has been exponential over the past three or four years on both sides of the [Demilitarized Zone]." "From the balloon launches (of propaganda leaflets), the propaganda broadcasts, mission-boat activities and exchanges along the DMZ, we face a high risk of miscalculation and escalation," he said.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Flooding and hunger in No. Korea...

North Korean Flood Victims Caught in Nuclear Standoff
October 10, 2016 — Winter is coming in North Korea, where nearly 600,000 people are in need of urgent assistance due to recent severe flooding. A typhoon that hit at the end of September inundated villages near the Tumen River, along the border areas with China and Russia.

Worst flooding in memory

Relief agencies report that 138 people have died so far, 400 are still missing and 70,000 have been displaced by one of the worst humanitarian disasters to affect North Korea, since the droughts in the 1990s that caused, in part, widespread suffering and starvation. The floods have destroyed 20,000 homes as well as numerous schools and hospitals, and washed away 30,000 hectares of crops that were nearing harvest.

Workers recover cement blocks from flood-damaged areas in Onsong, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea​

Paolo Fattori, the North Korea program director for the humanitarian organization Save the Children, says there is need of immediate assistance to provide clean water and food, and to build new shelters for the flood victims in the next few weeks before the temperatures in the region drop below zero. “In all these areas there is a strong need for support, actually because this event occurred at the end of the summer season, which means that the time to respond is very, very short,” said Fattori.

Workers repair the flood-damaged train track between Sinjon and Kanphyong train stations, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea​

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), working with other relief agencies, is calling for $28.2 million for both immediate aid, and long term assistance to help rebuild homes, schools and hospitals that were lost, and to repair damaged water supply and sanitation systems. Currently the North Korean disaster relief fund has only about $6.5 million, about 75 percent less than what humanitarian organizations say is needed.

No confidence

See also:

North Korea plagued by serious levels of hunger, think tank says
Oct. 12, 2016 -- More than 40 percent of North Korea's population is at high risk for malnutrition, according to a think tank.

The International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C., stated in its annual report on the global hunger index that 4 out of 10 North Koreans are not getting enough food, Radio Free Asia reported on Tuesday. The IFPRI recommended the North Korean government address the critical food situation with better policies. In 2016 North Korea's food shortage scored a 28.6 on IFPRI's global hunger index, in a year when the average GHI score for developing countries was 21.3 on a scale of 50. A score of 50 represents the most extremely alarming level of hunger in a country, with scores between 30 and 50 signifying crisis levels of hunger, according to the report.

Scores between 20 and 30 like North Korea's imply dangerous levels of hunger that need to be addressed immediately. North Korea's score of 28.6 is higher than its score in 1990, when IFPRI began issuing the index. That year, North Korea scored 16.2, well below crisis levels, and less than a quarter of the population was at high risk for malnutrition. The score takes into account four criteria: the percentage of the population that is undernourished, the percentage of children under the age of 5 who suffer from low weight for height and stunted growth, and the percentage of children who die before the age of 5.

The report comes less than a month after Seoul said North Korea is short nearly 700,000 tons of food for fiscal year 2016, which began in November 2015 and ends in October. Citing data from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program, South Korea's unification ministry told South Korean lawmakers food demand in North Korea was about 5.5 million tons, but food production only reached 4.8 million tons.

North Korea plagued by serious levels of hunger, think tank says

 

[aris2chat]

always the civilians become victims

 

[waltky]

Make way for the new generation...

North Korea families pressuring elderly to commit suicide
Nov. 4, 2016 - The cost of keeping older North Koreans alive is creating family conflicts.

More senior citizens in North Korea are being pressured to kill themselves because of intergenerational conflicts and the skyrocketing cost of medicine. Elderly North Koreans who can no longer depend on the country's welfare system must also cope with their children who are sometimes apathetic to their needs, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday. A source in North Hamgyong Province told RFA on Tuesday it is a common sight at parks or train stations to see senior citizens gathered together, even as temperatures continue to drop in some of the coldest parts of the country. "[Korean War] veterans are among their numbers; it is heartbreaking to see them there," the source said.

The elderly, who are no longer employable, leave their homes during the day to avoid friction with their children. They shiver in the cold outdoors until the sun sets, the source said. The financial burden they impose on their adult children who also struggle to make ends meet has led to family crises, where it is the children who are asking their aging parents to commit suicide, said another source in North Hamgyong Province. The notion of killing themselves is not unfamiliar to elderly North Koreans, particularly war veterans who once devoted their lives to the Workers' Party and sacrificing for North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

Their devotion has not paid off, as neither the state nor their children are tending to their needs, according to the report. Adult children complain chiefly about the cost of medicine and their parents' inability to participate in a market economy. Out of frustration, they hang a scroll in their parents' bedrooms that reads, "Spirit of Self-Destruction" or suicide. Young people placing pressure on the elderly to kill themselves is becoming a trend, the source said.

North Korea families pressuring elderly to commit suicide

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Fatboy got no common sense...

Foreign investors leave North Korea, citing corruption, 'lack of common sense'
July 3, 2017 -- Foreign investors who were once lured by promises of high returns in a North Korean city are leaving after suffering heavy losses, according to a South Korean press report.

Daily NK reported Monday that Chinese and Russian investors are withdrawing their financial support for projects in Rason, the northeastern North Korean city designated a special economic zone under Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un. Outside investors were discouraged by relentless corruption, according to North Korean sources in North Hamgyong province who spoke to Daily NK on the condition of anonymity. State authorities often made demands outside business contracts, or concocted excuses to not return investment profits to foreign interests, sources said.

North Korean authorities in Rason, North Hamgyong province, are extorting money and gasoline from foreign investors, sources in the country say.​

Some Russian and Chinese enterprises are leaving Rason because they realized they "could not solve the problem using common sense" with the North Koreans, according to one source in the province bordering China and Russia. The investors, who were unable to recoup their losses, decided to "get out of the city before suffering more damage," the source said. Russian companies that had begun construction on new buildings suspended their projects, leaving behind "skeletal structures" that stand unfinished in a city once touted for its economic potential as a trading hub. Individual Chinese investors are among those who have "not received a penny in return for their investment" and are quitting the city.

Others cannot leave Rason, but the source did not specify whether they are unable to leave because of North Korea regulations, or because they cannot afford to exit their North Korea investments. There is also evidence of skyrocketing gasoline prices, according to the report. Corruption among state officers has enabled them to make other demands that extend beyond bribes and include requirements for gasoline from the foreign business community. The price of gasoline is $5.56 per gallon, up from $3.33 per gallon in recent weeks, according to the report.

Foreign investors leave North Korea, citing corruption, 'lack of common sense'

 

[waltky]

UN Panel Blasts North Korea for Building Nukes While Starving it's people...

UN Panel Blasts North Korea for Building Nukes While Its People Starve
14 Nov.`17 - A United Nations committee condemned North Korea Tuesday for building nuclear weapons and missiles while its population starves.

The European Union and Japan co-sponsored the resolution in the human rights committee. It passed by consensus and will go the General Assembly. It condemns the North for "diverting its resources into pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles over the welfare of its people."

Experts believe as many as 70 percent of North Koreans do not have enough food.The resolution also strongly criticized Pyongyang for "gross human rights violations" including torture, executions without trials and arbitrary arrests.

It's a big deal to get invited to Fatboy's house `cause ya get to eat like normal people.​

The resolution also demands that North Korea provide detained foreign nationals with counselor access and communication with their families. North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Ja Song Nam attends a G-77 Ministerial Meeting at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 22, 2017.

North Korea's U.N. ambassador Ja Song Nam says his government "categorically rejects" the resolution, saying it is part of the "political and military confrontation, plot, and conspiracy of the United States and other hostile forces."

UN Panel Blasts North Korea for Building Nukes While Its People Starve

 

[waltky]

Will the Donald have to ride inna oxcart when he goes to talk to Kim?

North Korea tells people to use 'oxcarts' as fuel costs rise
March 13, 2018 -- North Korea is coping with high gasoline prices and the state is urging ordinary people to use oxcarts to carry heavy equipment, rather than trucks, according to sources in the country.

The price of gasoline per kilogram hovers between 13,000 and 18,000 North Korean won, and diesel is being sold at 7,000 to 8,000 won, Daily NK reported Tuesday. There is no official exchange rate, but about 8,000 to 10,000 North Korean won is equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar. Prices have doubled since March 2017, when a kilogram of gasoline was being sold at 8,000 won, and is up from February, when in Yanggang Province gasoline was estimated to be worth about 13,000 won per kilogram, the report stated. Daily NK's source said fuel is scarce because "little crude oil is coming in from China, and it is being used for national defense and for farming," leaving a low supply for other uses.

Oxcarts are being promoted as an alternative mode of transportation in North Korea as fuel costs rise in the country as a result of oil sanctions.​

Vehicles on the roads have also decreased significantly owing to sanctions. "The number of cars have reduced by about 40 percent," Daily NK's source said, adding state authorities have called on people to tap into "self-reliance" and use oxcarts for transportation. The last round of United Nations Security Council sanctions that came with the adoption of Resolution 2397, following North Korea's Hwasong-15 missile launch, may be squeezing the regime. More reports from the U.N. indicate sanctions are being enforced in countries like Singapore, where North Korea has had access to commercial trading firms that could supply the regime with luxury goods.

The BBC reported Monday the Singaporean government has begun investigating two companies, OCN and T Specialist, which are being probed for illegal sales of luxury items to North Korea. The goods sent to the North include wines and spirits, most likely being used to reward elites for loyalty. Transactions exceeded $2 million between 2011 and 2014, according to the report.

North Korea tells people to use 'oxcarts' as fuel costs rise