N.Korea Demands Rice for ‘Protecting’ South(NK missiles protect S. Korea, too?)

Chosun Ilbo ^ | 07/12/06

[TigerLikesRooster]

N.Korea Demands Rice for ‘Protecting’ South

North Korea on Wednesday demanded the South provide it with promised rice aid, apparently oblivious to the international diplomatic tensions it caused by test-firing several missiles only a week ago. The demand came at an inter-Korean ministerial meeting in Busan.

North Korea’s Senior Cabinet Counselor Kwon Ho-ung in his keynote speech hailed the impoverished country’s “Songun” or military-first ideology, which he claimed was helping the South protect its security and benefited “a vast majority” of South Koreans. Notable achievements of the Songun policy include Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program and missile tests and mass starvation among its people for the sake of arming the military to the teeth. However, this was the first time the North has named South Koreans among its beneficiaries.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok (left) and North Korea’s Senior Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho-ung get in a car to leave a ministerial meeting on Wednesday.

The North Korean delegation also urged their South Korean counterparts to visit “sacred places” in the North when they celebrate Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Aug. 15. They include the Kumsusan Memorial Palace where former leader Kim Il-sung lies embalmed, the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery and others. In other rhetoric, it called for Seoul's annual military drills with the U.S. Forces Korea to be suspended and the National Security Law to be scrapped. But the most immediate call was to deliver half a million tons of rice and raw materials for its light industry, which Seoul has suspended due to the missile test.

The North made no further comment on the tests, saying a Foreign Ministry statement on July 6, was sufficient explanation. A ministry spokesman at the time said the missile tests were part of routine military exercises to strengthen the North’s defense capability.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok in his speech warned things could “get out of control” if the North launches any further missiles. Lee gave short shrift to Kwon’s claims for the Songun policy. “Has anyone in the South asked the North to protect our safety?" he demanded. "North Korea can help us protect our security when it stops launching missiles and dismantles its nuclear program".

Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Kwan-se later said Seoul has no intention of providing assistance to Pyongyang at the moment.

[TigerLikesRooster]

This is exactly how N. Korea views itself, that is, protecting the entire Korea against external aggression with N. Korea leading and S. Korea following.

Some news article in S. Korea expressed a shock on such a N. Korea behavior, wondering how wrong their perception is regarding S. Korea. IMHO, that they have not realized N. Koreans are more than capable of this is much worse than N. Korean behavior itself.

N. Korea just tries to dominate by psychological intimidation. The more accomodating S. Korea is, the worse it gets. It is bad enough already.

[avacado]

Mo fied wice, or we ruke U.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[IrishMike]

...North Korea on Wednesday demanded the South provide it with promised rice aid ??????????????????????

I'm at a loss for words.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Good insight. Good article, TLR. It peels one more skin of onion for many of us.

[claudiustg]

They're trying to win the nutball championship back from Iran.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Just (always) predict what rational human beings and nation-states would do in certain situations.

Then just reverse it for North Korea.

[Thermalseeker]

I'm at a loss for words.

No kidding! Maybe we should make up a pamphlet that shows how the rest of the world lives and pepper North Korean with it. Show the North Korean people that their "dear leader" is nothing more than a two bit thug who lives a lavish lifestyle while they starve and live a 7th century existence in a 21st century world.....maybe that picture of the world taken at night from space showing the dramatic contrast in lighting on the Korean peninsula between the north and south would be a good place to start.

[NonValueAdded]

I wonder if all those reunification supporters think the southern system will be used after the happy joining.

[IrishMike]

...maybe that picture of the world taken at night from space showing the dramatic contrast in lighting on the Korean peninsula between the north and south would be a good place to start.

That would probably be a duplicate of the middle east vs Europe and Israel

[reegs]

You mean this one?

I didn't know about it until you mentioned it, but, WOW, a pictures says a thousand words.

[RasterMaster]

Protection? More like blackmail.

[mikrofon]

N.Korea Demands Rice for ‘Protecting’ South

No, we'll keep Condi, but you can have Maddie Halfbright back if it makes you happy...

[Calpernia]

>>>>N.Korea Demands Rice for ‘Protecting’ South

Condi will see you now

[RS]

North Korea’s Senior Cabinet Counselor Kwon Ho-ung



Think -

George Stephanopoulos
Mike McCurry
Mark Fabiani
Moham-med Saeed al-Sahaf "Baghdad Bob"


They are all cut from the same cloth

[RightWhale]

Kim Capone protects the hood.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

In this country we have a form of extortion called the protection racket, where a criminal offers to "protect" someone, usually a shopkeeper, for a fee. So, Kim Jong Il is basically saying to the South, "It would be a terrible thing if youze was to have an unfortunate accident or something because of a lapsed policy."

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #17

Yeah, it's protection racket, plain and simple. That is N. Korea's main economic policy, in a nutshell.

[himno hero]

buy us breakfast o we bomb u2

we no kiddin
ha!

[Element187]

Heh protecting South Korea?!? sorry bud, but South Korea already has American support, you can't buy better protection then that.