North Korea - how serious should we take them?
Discussion
ash73 said:
Same parentage, apparently... but the first time the West ever saw a photo of Kim Jong-un was 2010, just a year before his succession. Who knows if he is even legitimate, let alone his sister.
He went to university in Switzerland, I doubt it was the first time the west knew of his existence! School in Switzerland, uni in North Korea
Same for the sister
False names etc, but yes, you’d think the intelligence services would know something of their existence
That said, our own PM’s full family situation isn’t public knowledge, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the ruling family of a secretive dictatorship obfuscates too
Same for the sister
False names etc, but yes, you’d think the intelligence services would know something of their existence
That said, our own PM’s full family situation isn’t public knowledge, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the ruling family of a secretive dictatorship obfuscates too
DAVEVO9 said:
FourWheelDrift said:
Some news sites claiming he is dead
Fingers and toes crossedHe's happy letting off a firework occasionally, eating pies and drinking expensive brandy.
She on the other hand is ambitious and ruthless and believed to be intelligent.
He is a joke, she is dangerous.
When Kim Jong Un reemerged after his previous health scare, it was pointed out that his “recovery” could easily have been staged. He only made a couple of isolated “public appearances”, such as the fertiliser plant, with reports suggesting that could have been leftover footage from events he’d attended in the past.
TMZ are reporting he's still in a coma, seems to have been picked up by The Mirror and the NY Post
https://www.tmz.com/2020/08/23/north-korea-kim-jon...
TMZ are reporting he's still in a coma, seems to have been picked up by The Mirror and the NY Post
https://www.tmz.com/2020/08/23/north-korea-kim-jon...
I would agree that she is dangerous. I suspect she has been very careful in what she says but has a notebook of her own filled with names that won’t last long once she is in power.
I doubt anyone in that country’s elite would take power and appeal to the UN for help disarming and feeding the nation to democracy.
I doubt anyone in that country’s elite would take power and appeal to the UN for help disarming and feeding the nation to democracy.
There is a military parade going on right now
@nktpnd is tweeting about it with pics of the hardware etc
https://twitter.com/nktpnd
@nktpnd is tweeting about it with pics of the hardware etc
https://twitter.com/nktpnd
JPJPJP said:
There is a military parade going on right now
@nktpnd is tweeting about it with pics of the hardware etc
https://twitter.com/nktpnd
Imagine the power, if they all worked.@nktpnd is tweeting about it with pics of the hardware etc
https://twitter.com/nktpnd
Kim Jong Un signals plans to develop new nuclear weapons
https://www.ft.com/content/b4971c6e-8b89-43b5-93d2...
Kim Jong Un has signalled plans to develop new nuclear weapons and described the US as North Korea’s “biggest enemy”, moves that threaten to raise tensions with US president-elect Joe Biden. The North Korean leader’s comments, made at a rare gathering of top political officials in Pyongyang, marked the dictator’s strongest broadside against Washington since Mr Biden won the presidency in November’s election. “Our external political activities going forward should be focused on suppressing and subduing the US, the basic obstacle, the biggest enemy against our revolutionary development,” Mr Kim said, according to a translation by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. Analysts warn that North Korea’s nuclear weapons development represents a core foreign policy challenge for Mr Biden, who faces unprecedented domestic problems and a tumultuous transition of power. “It is quite clear Kim is sending Biden the signal that dealing with North Korea will remain a tough challenge — whether or not the administration chooses to prioritise the North Korean threat is irrelevant to Kim,” said Soo Kim, a former CIA North Korea analyst now at Rand Corporation, a US think-tank. The Kim regime has announced a series of weapons development plans, including shorter-range “tactical” nuclear weapons, a new nuclear submarine, and hypersonic missiles, according to a separate report released by North Korean state media.
Yet the North Korean economy is collapsing
North Korea: Kim Jong-un says economic plan a near-total failure at a rare political meeting
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/06/nort...
Ruler begins second Workers’ party congress by admitting strategy fell short in ‘almost all areas’
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the first day of the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong-un, has admitted that his economic policies have largely failed, and vowed to avoid a repeat of the “painful lessons” of the past at a rare meeting of the country’s ruling party. Kim told the congress of the Workers’ party that his five-year economic plan had failed to achieve its goals “in almost all areas to a great extent”, North Korean state media said on Wednesday. “We should further promote and expand the successes and victories that we’ve achieved through our painstaking efforts but prevent us from having the painful lessons again.” The congress, the first for five years, opened with Kim facing the toughest challenges of his nine-year rule, caused by what he called “unprecedented” crises. It is being closely watched for signs of a shift in economic policy, after a year in which North Korea was struck by natural disasters while contending with the knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic and international sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. While the regime continues to claim it has not recorded a single case of Covid-19, border closures and the suspension of international flights have strained an already fragile economy. Trade with China plummeted by almost 80% in the first 11 months of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, according to Song Jaeguk, an analyst at the IBK Economic Research Institute in Seoul. North Korea’s GDP was estimated to have contracted by 9.3% in 2020, he added.
So where's the money for that totally ridiculous shopping list of advanced weapons coming from?
https://www.ft.com/content/b4971c6e-8b89-43b5-93d2...
Kim Jong Un has signalled plans to develop new nuclear weapons and described the US as North Korea’s “biggest enemy”, moves that threaten to raise tensions with US president-elect Joe Biden. The North Korean leader’s comments, made at a rare gathering of top political officials in Pyongyang, marked the dictator’s strongest broadside against Washington since Mr Biden won the presidency in November’s election. “Our external political activities going forward should be focused on suppressing and subduing the US, the basic obstacle, the biggest enemy against our revolutionary development,” Mr Kim said, according to a translation by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. Analysts warn that North Korea’s nuclear weapons development represents a core foreign policy challenge for Mr Biden, who faces unprecedented domestic problems and a tumultuous transition of power. “It is quite clear Kim is sending Biden the signal that dealing with North Korea will remain a tough challenge — whether or not the administration chooses to prioritise the North Korean threat is irrelevant to Kim,” said Soo Kim, a former CIA North Korea analyst now at Rand Corporation, a US think-tank. The Kim regime has announced a series of weapons development plans, including shorter-range “tactical” nuclear weapons, a new nuclear submarine, and hypersonic missiles, according to a separate report released by North Korean state media.
Yet the North Korean economy is collapsing
North Korea: Kim Jong-un says economic plan a near-total failure at a rare political meeting
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/06/nort...
Ruler begins second Workers’ party congress by admitting strategy fell short in ‘almost all areas’
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the first day of the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong-un, has admitted that his economic policies have largely failed, and vowed to avoid a repeat of the “painful lessons” of the past at a rare meeting of the country’s ruling party. Kim told the congress of the Workers’ party that his five-year economic plan had failed to achieve its goals “in almost all areas to a great extent”, North Korean state media said on Wednesday. “We should further promote and expand the successes and victories that we’ve achieved through our painstaking efforts but prevent us from having the painful lessons again.” The congress, the first for five years, opened with Kim facing the toughest challenges of his nine-year rule, caused by what he called “unprecedented” crises. It is being closely watched for signs of a shift in economic policy, after a year in which North Korea was struck by natural disasters while contending with the knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic and international sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. While the regime continues to claim it has not recorded a single case of Covid-19, border closures and the suspension of international flights have strained an already fragile economy. Trade with China plummeted by almost 80% in the first 11 months of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, according to Song Jaeguk, an analyst at the IBK Economic Research Institute in Seoul. North Korea’s GDP was estimated to have contracted by 9.3% in 2020, he added.
So where's the money for that totally ridiculous shopping list of advanced weapons coming from?
robinessex said:
So where's the money for that totally ridiculous shopping list of advanced weapons coming from?
By not buying food or medicine for most of his population? Have you seen the pictures of those missiles? I bet they are cardboard shells. Doubtless he is playing with nuclear toys but I bet the missiles are no more sophisticated than the German WW2 V1.
The opening ceremony to the latest parade. Not a bad do really
https://twitter.com/martyn_williams/status/1350124...
https://twitter.com/martyn_williams/status/1350124...
bristolracer said:
By not buying food or medicine for most of his population?
Have you seen the pictures of those missiles? I bet they are cardboard shells. Doubtless he is playing with nuclear toys but I bet the missiles are no more sophisticated than the German WW2 V1.
They are big buggers, those missiles. Need a big submarine to launch them from. I hear the russians have a couple of Akulas, they should be big enough to carry missiles and pies.Have you seen the pictures of those missiles? I bet they are cardboard shells. Doubtless he is playing with nuclear toys but I bet the missiles are no more sophisticated than the German WW2 V1.
JPJPJP said:
The opening ceremony to the latest parade. Not a bad do really
https://twitter.com/martyn_williams/status/1350124...
That's money well spent as long as nobody is hungry or cold.https://twitter.com/martyn_williams/status/1350124...
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