One wonders how control of the rural areas can be maintained if the rail roads and other transport is so bad.
Then there is the 3/5ths urban thought. How could anyone, especially the UN think such a thing?
Posted on 09/18/2011 3:06:34 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Food and stability in North Korea
Deprive and rule
Why does North Korea’s dictatorship remain so entrenched despite causing such hunger and misery?
Sep 17th 2011 | SEOUL |
IF NOBODY else, at least Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader, appears to have found something to fill his belly with during the annual Chuseok harvest festival in North Korea this week. “His face beaming with a smile,” as his propaganda machine put it, he dropped into a shop in Pyongyang selling pancakes stuffed with meat.
Outside the capital there are few such treats. Much of the rest of the country is suffering a severe food shortage, say aid agencies. On September 9th the UN’s World Food Programme released video images from a trip to the North Korean countryside showing listless orphans, their growth stunted by malnourishment. A cold start to the growing season and summer flooding has badly damaged rice and maize crops. Potato rations have been cut by a third, to two a person each day.
Mr Kim’s regime, with customary cynicism, has told people to “simplify” their dining habits at Chuseok this year “in the socialist way,” according to DailyNK, a Seoul-based online news agency. Yet in his parallel universe, Mr Kim boasted of the variety of beef, pork, goose and turkey available to the privileged customers of the pancake shop. How does he get away with it? Loosely, that is the question posed by North Korea-watchers trying to understand how an odious regime has remained stable for so long, defying frequent predictions of its downfall.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
The regime may end up controling only a pocket of region around Pyongyang and its western corridor northward to China.
Of course, a scenario with better odds is that powerstruggle goes out of control in Pyongyang, leading to coup or military confrontation with S. Korea, before ruling elites allow the provinces to break off.
P!
Sounds like any one of Moochell's food initiatives
.
I’m hoping for a “train wreck” that wipes out the top echelon of rulers.
Maybe multiple train wrecks.
Interesting article, thanks for posting.
“How does he get away with it? Loosely, that is the question posed by North Korea-watchers trying to understand how an odious regime has remained stable for so long, defying frequent predictions of its downfall.”
He gets away with it because their are a host of military leaders who benefit from his policies. I doubt they’d allow the provinces to break off though, it would weaken them too much.
He gets away with it because we are idiots. Cut medical and food aid to him tomorrow and freeze his bank accounts, next sunday he will threaten to nuke us and the folowing sunday he will give ip everything.
We have enough cojones to put 25k troops in harms way but not enough cojones to divert those flights to a nuke ravaged Japan.
the Norks will crash and burn one way or another. I don’t think it will peaceful either..
Liberals admire socialism. For some reason they think everyone would be content to suffer together in the US. They’re convinced that under socialism in the US the leaders would never be like Kim and no one would ever steal from anyone else; crime would disappear. How does anyone live in such chosen ignorance?
“and the folowing sunday he will give ip everything.”
The next Sunday he’ll start a war in the region.
What flights would we divert to nuke ravaged Japan and why would we? THere was other help sent to Japan, as much as Japan asked for.
My point was we shouldn’t be helping our enemies.
Easily agreed upon.
Its a tough decision though, let millions of people starve or send some grain.
1. Bring the troops home, save billions of dollars AND seem like the US wants peace.
2. Meanwhile harass this bastard at every turn. Recon flights with fighter escorts up to and into Nork airspace.
3. Encourage the South Koreans to begin commando raids on strategic targets.
4. Drone or cruise missle attacks on strategic targets.
5. Stop all aid immediately.
6. Sever road and rail links to communist China.
7. Bomb them with counterfeit Nork currency.
Two can play the games they have been playing. Of course, don't expect any of this during Obama's regime.
The South Koreans really don’t need us there anymore. I think that their fairly impressive military can defeat these nutritionally-deprived zombies if it came down to it. That is... if the South Koreans have gotten too soft in the intervening 20 years or so since I last trained with them.
The first 24 hours would see most of Seoul destroyed.
That’s why we would have to nuke them. Obama would never give that order, however. Our nation and our allies are in peril until he leaves the White House.
Well, that is a bit of a problem. Kind of silly to have their capital so close to the border. But, seriously, if they could survive the first volley, the North Koreans would eventually collapse...would be downright messy I am sure.
One wonders how control of the rural areas can be maintained if the rail roads and other transport is so bad.
Then there is the 3/5ths urban thought. How could anyone, especially the UN think such a thing?
Yeah their leaders are demented and starving the population. Lets nuke em until they glow!!!
“But, seriously, if they could survive the first volley, the North Koreans would eventually collapse...would be downright messy I am sure.”
Thats one way to describe the deaths of 15-20 million people.
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