North Korea in the News
by Richardson ~ July 8th, 2007. Filed under: News Links.Daily NK: NK’s Up-and-Coming Upper Class Do Not Want Regime Change
KBS Global: 8th US Army Command to Stay in Korea
Yonhap: IAEA to station inspectors at N. Korea’s nuclear reactor
IHT: NK says it could shut down reactor as soon as aid arrives
Reuters: North Korea says may shut down nuclear plant early
AFP: UN agency meets to approve funds for NK inspections
Kyodo: Japan to partly fund IAEA monitoring of NK nuke facilities
AP: Ex-[UNDP]-Worker Seeks Whistleblower Protection
Rueters: UNDP denies firing employee over NK criticism
AFP: NKorea close to making new missiles operational: US
Reuters: Japan says North Korea, China security concerns
MNS: Macau tycoon, China want U.S. to back off
FOX Sports: Argentina beats North Korea 1-0
KCNA: 06 July | 07 July
July 8th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
NK up and coming class. Point was made that North Korea is not so much a socialist state as historical society that views outsiders with fear. One should note that would make North Korea the last fuedelist country in the world with roots going back centuries. I think there is alot of truth to this. The only problem is they have modern weapons and a society that is as backward and ill informed as it was 500 years ago. An antropoligists dream or a sociologists nightmare.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:49 am
How long KJI can hold on to this “middle class” will be key in how long he stays in power/alive, and whether or not one of his sons will be able to follow him to power. I think there are unprecedented pressures on this group, but fear of change along with the desire to keep what power they have will, for now, keep them with the regime.
July 9th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hey Richardson, did you see this?
This was posted on the Sean Hannity forums, and would love for you to take a look a this. I cannot seem to find other articles similar to this.
[edit: insert link into text]
July 9th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Thanks for the quick reply to the link. You can delete the above link if you wish. I did not see you posted a similar story already. Please forgive me about that.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
No problem, Jack, I appreciate the heads up on those sort of stories. The Hannity forum link you emailed mentioned something other articles have not, which is the possibility of USFK leaving in the event of a peace treaty. Personally, I don’t see a treaty coming soon, and I don’t see USFK fully leaving even with a treaty. Like USFJ, USFK helps ensure regional stability, so likely will stay in some capacity even with a treaty.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Right, some took the ball and ran with it as you can read in the link. I tried my best to explain it the best I could, but I am absolutely no expert on the subject. I did however, mention you and your blog there. I have a lot of respect for this blog (and that is saying a lot because I rarely if ever read blogs) an maybe others interested can use this site as a starting point for any serious study on the DPRK.
So I hope you do not mind the mention. If it is a problem, let me know and I will not do that again.
Anyway, there was some discussion regarding how things are different with the situation in Iraq and the DPRK. I did not answer because obviously any answer I give will not be good enough, but it made me think though.
1. Logistics are different.
2. Regime change? Replace it with what? There is no obvious distention or factions.
3. North Koreans are well indoctrinated and will not accept a regime change without a serious fight.
4. The army is well trained, the 5th largest in the world and is nowhere near the same as Iraq.
the list goes on and on and on…
Maybe one day when I am smart enough may study that more.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
I think you did a fine job on that forum and agree with what you said. Also, thanks for plugging the blog!