North Korea - how lucky are we...

Not good .

Not socialism , its a gangster type dictatorship.
With any luck it will implode without harming too many.

And yup we have little nuff to whinge about (as per our great leader)
 
I see some poor sod of an American tourist has got 15 years in a labour camp for trying to steal a flag in NK
 
Interesting article here by the New York Times :

"..the Olympics in Seoul in 1988 ended up being a turning point. Over the past 30 years, the two countries have diverged sharply — economically, politically and culturally.
South Korea rapidly industrialized, growing at one of the fastest rates in the world. The North stagnated.
The South shed its military dictatorship and opened up to the world. The North remained isolated and authoritarian, and endured a devastating famine that killed an estimated 2 million people, according to some estimates."


https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...y.html?rref=collection/timestopic/North Korea
 
China has done a great job sorting out its crazy neighbour... they prevented anyone else from sorting North Korea out and now seem content to sit on their hands. They don't seem to feel any responsibility to the citizens of North Korea.
 
China has done a great job sorting out its crazy neighbour... they prevented anyone else from sorting North Korea out and now seem content to sit on their hands. They don't seem to feel any responsibility to the citizens of North Korea.

I just feel sorry for the people in NK. Rocket Man's sister is going to the Winter Olympics. Surely, somewhere in her heart, when she sees the gulf of a difference between NK & SK, she must say something when she gets home. It's just sad.
 
I just feel sorry for the people in NK. Rocket Man's sister is going to the Winter Olympics. Surely, somewhere in her heart, when she sees the gulf of a difference between NK & SK, she must say something when she gets home. It's just sad.
Not unless she wants to be executed with a flamethrower or some such thing.
 
Trumps proposed meeting with Kim jong could be interesting. Certainly I think in the sphere of international diplomacy, NK has been leading the US a merry dance. First, I did think Jongs comebacks against Trump were much better 'dotard':) And although the mud-slinging obviously raised tensions, NK participation in the Winter Olympics coupled with renewed Chinese backing on foot of a commitment to denuclearize is staying one step ahead of the war hawks in the US military.
However, I dont think Trump is interested in NK at all, or the living conditions of its people but rather to use NK as a pawn to cut a trade deal with China.
Interestingly, I had cause to look up a list of countries electricity use per capita as part of the bitcoin discussions

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_consumption

I expected NK to be near rock bottom, surprisingly it is listed 80th in the world for electricity usage with 157 kw on avr per person (Ireland is 65th, with a third of population and 574kw per person).

The most shocking stat was the Gaza Strip - 0.01kw per person on average, the West Bank is 220 kw per person, Israel 835 kw per person.

How can it be permitted or accepted that the population of the Gaza Strip can endure a life without electricity at all?
What sort of regime imposes this primitive standard on anyone - hardly one that has the best interests of the North Koreans at heart?
 
The most shocking stat was the Gaza Strip - 0.01kw per person on average, the West Bank is 220 kw per person, Israel 835 kw per person.

How can it be permitted or accepted that the population of the Gaza Strip can endure a life without electricity at all?
What sort of regime imposes this primitive standard on anyone - hardly one that has the best interests of the North Koreans at heart?
The crisis is a result of a row between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. See here for details. The data you looked at shows usage from the grid whereas many under developed countries have a high reliance on generators and, increasingly, solar power.
The reliance on locally generated power (mostly diesel generators) is one of the factors which stymies the economic development of the poorest countries on the planet but I'll stay off that hobby horse and keep this post on topic to your off topic post. :D
 
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