Welcome Lil' Kim's Invasion

[Taro Toporific]

Here he comes! See Kim's girls slideshow.

N. Korean ferry Mangyongbong enters Niigata port
NIIGATA, Japan, Aug. 25 Kyodo (08 :24) - The North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92 entered Niigata port Monday morning for the first time in seven months amid tight security.

[Marked Trail]

N. Korean ferry Mangyongbong enters Niigata port
NIIGATA, Japan, Aug. 25 Kyodo (08 :24)

I don't get it. Little Kim fires missiles at Japan and his ship gets a welcoming. He's given a boat full of GameBoys and booze. WTF?!


North Korean Ferry Arrives at Japanese Port, Kyodo Reports
Bloomberg August 24, 2003 19:36 EDT http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=71000001&refer=japan&sid=ad3Edpaj0KQE

...The Man Gyong Bong-92 transports goods and passengers, mostly ethnic Koreans from Japan visiting North Korea. A North Korean defector told the U.S. Congress in May that North Korea uses the ferry to smuggle missile parts out of Japan.

Japanese officials have said they suspect the ship also carries North Korean agents. The ship, which last visited Niigata in mid-January, canceled its scheduled trips earlier this year after Japan strengthened safety inspections of North Korean vessels.

[Caustic Saint]

In related news,

Brawl threatens Korea games hopes
Sunday, August 24, 2003 Posted: 3:32 PM EDT (1932 GMT)

DAEGU, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea threatened to pull out of the World University Games on Sunday after a brawl between North Korean reporters and human rights activists protesting the communist country's leader.
....
"Down with Kim Jong Il. Rescue our Northern brethren," one banner read. Protesters also held pictures of starving North Korean children lying in hospital beds.

Heaven forbid the "reporters" from the North cover anything newsworthy from their own country.

[Taro Toporific]

In related news,
Brawl threatens Korea games hopes
Sunday, August 24, 2003 Posted: 3:32 PM EDT (1932 GMT)

My question is: "How the hell do five N. Korean reporters win a brawl with 50-100 protesters?" Sheesh.

[AssKissinger]

[Taro Toporific]

This just gets weirder and weirder...

Terrorists attack pro-Pyongyang group in Japan
Mainichi Shimbun / Aug 24
Three locations connected to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) have been attacked, Fukuoka and Okayama prefectural police said Sunday.... a member of Chosen Seibatsutai of Kenkoku Giyugun (Korea-conquering forces of the nation-building army) has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
... the attacks were in protest of a Niigata port call Monday by a North Korean "spy" ship, an apparent reference to the Mangyongbong-92 freight and passenger ferry....
...
From REUTERS/Aug 25"Japanese family members and supporters of Japanese abducted North Korea oppose North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92's visit at the port of Niigata..."

[GuyJean]

My question is: "How the hell do five N. Korean reporters win a brawl with 50-100 protesters?" Sheesh.

No kidding. And no criminal charges filed against someone attacking and injuring another?

Now NK is demanding ANOTHER apology from the South.. Just like when protesters burned the NK flag last week, Noh Backbone, the South Korean leader, says "So sorry, hamnida. Can I tickle your balls as I kiss your fat ass, Master Kim?".. So freedom of speech doesn't exist in South Korea either? Maybe they DO belong together..

Is Fat Bastard the ONLY Asian leader with a spine? He get's whatever he wants!.. Wish I had a nuclear missile and beautiful android cheerleaders.. Group-think frieghtens me.

GJ

[Caustic Saint]

Now NK is demanding ANOTHER apology from the South.. Just like when protesters burned the NK flag last week, Noh Backbone, the South Korean leader, says "So sorry, hamnida. Can I tickle your balls as I kiss your fat ass, Master Kim?".. So freedom of speech doesn't exist in South Korea either? Maybe they DO belong together..

Actually, I don't think Roh apologized for the flag burning, stating only that the incident was "unfortunate" or some such thing. I guess somebody reminded him that it's tough to apologize for another country's flag being burned when your own policy states that said country isn't even a real country.

Funny how the US never demands an apology for all the American flags being burned in South Korea.

[Kurofune]

This boat thing is a joke. There have been several TV news reports about it, high-level NK defectors have reported that it's used for smuggling, etc., and the Japanese government just stands there twiddling its thumbs and avoiding the subject.

[Taro Toporific]

Actually, I don't think Roh apologized for the flag burning, stating only that the incident was "unfortunate" or some such thing. I guess somebody reminded him that it's tough to apologize for another country's flag being burned when your own policy states that said country isn't even a real country.

Funny how the US never demands an apology for all the American flags being burned in South Korea.

South Koreans cheer the U.S. volleyball team during a preliminary match against North Korea at the 22nd Summer Universiade Games in Taegu, The United States defeated North Korea 25-23, 25-14, 25-15.
REUTERS /August 26, 2003
http://reuters.com/newsPhotoGallery.jhtml?type=sportsNews

[cstaylor]

What is Korean for "Please don't leave"?

[Caustic Saint]

[quote="cstaylor"]What is Korean for "Please don't leave"? ]
Couldn't find that one in my phrasebook, so how about "I hope I'll see you again"?

Tto peop-kki-reul pa-ram-ni-da.

Taro, thanks for the great pic above. I've posted it to the Korean ESL board I'm on. That's certainly a rare sight to see. And cheering against the North no less!

[AssKissinger]

[Taro Toporific]

J@pan Inc Magazine
Issue No. 243 Wednesday, September 10, 2003
TOKYO Amid the Communist North Korean government's 55th birthday cele-
brations, and on the eve of the second anniversary of September 11,
we asked FUJI TV Military Correspondent, photographer, J@pan Inc
contributor and longtime Japan resident, Michael E. Stanley, to weigh-
in on possible worst-case scenarios should the six-nation negotiations
over the Korean peninsula fail.


++ Viewpoint: If It Comes to War ---What Might Happen in Korea and Japan

Over the last two decades, I have photographed and reported on various
aspects of the US military presence in the western Pacific region, and
have been fortunate in getting a fairly close look at the structure and
capabilities of those forces.

....The foreseeable loss of the weight of North Korea missile threat and
the combination of weather and combat readiness would seem to point at
March and April of next year as being a particularly dangerous time....

Read the rest here

[Caustic Saint]

J@pan Inc Magazine
....The foreseeable loss of the weight of North Korea missile threat and
the combination of weather and combat readiness would seem to point at
March and April of next year as being a particularly dangerous time....
Read the rest here

Interesting. I'd always heard that winter was the prime time for war. Only when the rice paddies are frozen can the ground support the weight of main battle tanks and heavy artillery pieces. Thought I've also heard that there's a fine line as to what weight constitutes "too heavy." Supposedly the M-1 Abrams series far outweigh some of the NK armor, giving us a disadvantage in muckier conditions.

[Taro Toporific]

... I've also heard that there's a fine line as to what weight constitutes "too heavy." Supposedly the M-1 Abrams series far outweigh some of the NK armor, giving us a disadvantage in muckier conditions.

Yep. Those M-1 suckers are heavy.
Too bad everyone in the "know" on the FG are Zoomies (Air Force) and not tankers. I'd like some confimation on this WITHOUT having to go my Never Say Anything sources.

[Alcazar]

Read the rest here

That was really interesting and scary. Hard to imagine, but that is what the North has been preparing for. The description of that war is horrifying, it sounds so deliberately depraved-use of WMDs, targeting population centres, etc. And for what? Why bother taking trying to take the South if half the people there are dead and the survivors hate you?

[Taro Toporific]

[.... is horrifying, it sounds so deliberately depraved-use of WMDs, targeting population centres, etc. And for what? Why bother taking trying to take the South if half the people there are dead and the survivors hate you?

EXACTLY!
I can't image what those S. Koreans are thinking about reunification with N. Korea since it'sthe Land of Cult-Crazies. In East Germany, the unification is STILL going VERY poorly after more than a decade (a few of my remaining relatives are there and I've visited once a year).

[Caustic Saint]

And look! They've already got their promotions department on the job.



My best guess on this one is "America's reckless rampage will be stopped!"

I'm not quite sure about some of the verb endings and suffixes here, so I'm going off dictionary definitions and the context of the poster.

[Taro Toporific]

And look! They've already got their promotions department on the job.

Please send them a picture of their future...

[Caustic Saint]

I can't image what those S. Koreans are thinking about reunification with N. Korea since it'sthe Land of Cult-Crazies. In East Germany, the unification is STILL going VERY poorly after more than a decade (a few of (my remaining relatives are there and I've visited once a year).

I haven't seen any hard statistics on this, but I think the people who are for reunification are in the minority. Older Koreans, especially those who remember the Korean war and the South's own dictators, like things just fine the way they are. They're in no hurry to get things patched up with the North.

Reunificaiton is going to be an economic disaster here if it happens without the North changing its spots. L'il Kim likes living the high life too much to give it up, and the Koreans who've worked their whole lives to get where they are have no intention of lowering their standard of living to help out their "Northern relatives."

[Taro Toporific]

...
Reunificaiton is going to be an economic disaster....

THAT'S the UNDERSTATEMENT of the MONTH!

If the Germans STILL can't pull off reunification properly... the S Koreans don't have an ice-cube-in-hell's-chance of pulling it off. Are they insane? The North is a CULT of 22+ million mentally/physically damaged persons. Reunification is impossible in terms of mental health treatment alone.

(This is rhetorical question, not personally directed Saint-san.)

[cstaylor]

As far as I understand it, South Korean business leaders (primarily Hyundai) are salivating over the cheap labor available in the North... there's no benefit to them if the two countries reunite, they just want enough rapprochement for building sweatshops in the North.

[Caustic Saint]

As far as I understand it, South Korean business leaders (primarily Hyundai) are salivating over the cheap labor available in the North... there's no benefit to them if the two countries reunite, they just want enough rapprochement for building sweatshops in the North.

Yeah, corporate SK is more interested in getting some factories/planta/what have you built in the SEZ the North is putting together. Kim won't want anything to do with reunification if he pulls off the SEZ. He'll be rolling in cash and will be set for the rest of his life.

[Taro Toporific]

Yeah, corporate SK is more interested in getting some factories/planta/what have you built in the SEZ the North is putting together. Kim won't want anything to do with reunification if he pulls off the SEZ. He'll be rolling in cash and will be set for the rest of his life.

Ok, ok, ya got me. I didn't know WTF the "SEZ" was...


Here's the SEZ info I found...

http://www.sez.com/NR/exeres/EA6BC634-2F81-4461-803B-EF078E3C70DF.htm
http://www.sez.com/NR/exeres/7D88CD24-A1E5-4E51-93D5-326D135D2C10.htm

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/times/200101/t200101261732284011184.htm

http://www.chinaweblog.com/archives/2002/09/25/north_korea_allows_sez.php

[Caustic Saint]

Here are a couple good reads about what may come to be on the peninsula.

Red Phoenix by Larry Bond

Bond was Clancy's co-author on Red Storm Rising and this was his first solo novel.


WW III by Ian Slater

Slater's book is the beginning of a series, which while interesting, gets repetetive in plot elements and resolutions.

Both are good reads, and are kinda creepy if you're at all familiar with Korea. I read Bond's book during my second duty assignment in Korea and was spooked at how many of the places I knew - that were getting destroyed.

[Taro Toporific]

[Alcazar]

The North is a CULT of 22+ million mentally/physically damaged persons. Reunification is impossible in terms of mental health treatment alone.

Damn, I never considered that. When you think about the human rehabilitation and not just the economic reform, it boggles the mind.

Well, there could be some English teaching jobs in it..... and there will be the race to be the first franchisee to open a McDonalds in Pyongyang! Those halal quarter pounders at Kandahar are something else!

[Taro Toporific]

The North is a CULT of 22+ million mentally/physically damaged persons. Reunification is impossible in terms of mental health treatment alone.

Damn, I never considered that. When you think about the human rehabilitation and not just the economic reform, it boggles the mind.

Think about it: protein deprivation since conception, cult education, limited magazines/books/media, big brother discipline...those folks are literally brain damaged.

More than a decade after the fall of the Wall, my relatives in the east of Germany still act withdrawn and untrusting, have a poor work ethic and general malaise. Just an hour away in the western part other German relatives are MUCH more "normal". N. Korea is gonna be mess in terms of cult deprogramming 'cause a lot of the damage is at the actual neural level.

[AssKissinger]

Think about it: protein deprivation since conception, cult education, limited magazines/books/media, big brother discipline...those folks are literally brain damaged.

More than a decade after the fall of the Wall, my relatives in the east of Germany still act withdrawn and untrusting, have a poor work ethic and general malaise. Just an hour away in the western part other German relatives are MUCH more "normal". N. Korea is gonna be mess in terms of cult deprogramming 'cause a lot of the damage is at the actual neural level.

That's a good point and I agree with you. On the other hand, war era Japan and Nazi Germany snapped out of their cultlike insanity really quickly (I think). However, Maoist China and the effects of Stalin linger on and on. Is it something about communism? Is it because the Axis powers were soundly defeated but these communist countries weren't?