Posted on 06/06/2005 9:18:32 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
June 08, 2005 -- North Korea is aggressively asserting greater control over domestic and international communications, apparently out of fear the United States could launch a preemptive military strike on the country, two sources with close connections to North Korea have suggested.
Starting in April, the sources said Pyongyang blocked 90 percent of its international phone lines to hinder leaks of information to the outside world. Before April, the North operated 970 international phone lines, but the sources said a direct order came from the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, to cut the lines. The North Korean Foreign Ministry is now said to operate with just two lines, while the North's military operates another two and the Ministry of Foreign Trade possesses one.
In another measure, the sources said Pyongyang has also impounded 20,000 cell phones since May of last year after the North Korean authorities came to believe cell phone calls leaked news of a massive explosion at the rail station in the town of Ryongchon. North Korean citizens who paid $1,200 as a deposit on the cell phones are said to have been angered because the deposits are not being returned.
Cell phone service in the North was started in August of 2002.
The regime, the sources said, has also tightened its grip by severely limiting access to the outside world through the Internet. Only two government departments are said to have Internet links. The internal intranet that was previously available to North Korean colleges such as the Kim Il Sung University has also been shut down, the sources said.
"Since a preemptive strike scenario surfaced in 2003, North Korea has been in a semi-state of war, and it is likely to continue until the six-party talks resume," said Jung Chang-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Kookmin University.
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday in the United States that it was unlikely that Washington in the coming weeks would refer the North Korean nuclear crisis to the UN Security Council.
"I think that the idea that within weeks, we're going to decide one way or another, is a little forward leaning." Her remarks contradicted an unidentified U.S. official who said Sunday that within a few weeks a decision would be made whether to refer the North Korean issue to the UN Security Council. The official accompanied U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on a trip to Singapore this weekend.
Ping!
I wonder if Kim Jong 11 moniter FR for hell of it Tiger you think
I think if he is that internet savvy he probably post on live journals see how many Team America DVD resets we do here so Kim if you lurking dude
Don't be so ronaey register on FR LOL!
The bells in the picture look like a pair of bra.:-)
The target/benign ratio is being improved again.
If I'm reading this correctly, North Korea has a total of five international phone lines. And this is "paradise." I find it hard to believe that even the Chicoms can take these people seriously.
Cellphones are essential tools for running successful business among elites. Taking them away without giving back security deposits would sow real anger among elites.
Cellphones, Internet, and video CD's are really doing serious damage to Kim's regime.
Chicoms are only putting up with them due to their bigger strategic need. Chicoms wrote off N. Koreans as loons a long time ago.
As soon as I wrote this, I realized the fact that the Klintoons gave them nuclear capabilities is a reason to take them somewhat seriously.
While talking over this tin-can phone, one should wear tin foils, too.:-)
Were this some sort of normal country, such an event would be a klaxon.
With these nutters though, who knows? My own wild guess is that this presages their nuclear test occurring quite soon.
Kim Jong-Il is certifiably NUTS. I would believe that they might be planning their own attack and are cranking down the communications in order to prevent the rest of the world from discovering it.
What a good looking dude!!! I always wondered why there isn't a coup in the military. They are surely aware that their own families are starving
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