THE PLANK MARCH 6, 2009
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Don't miss Blaine Harden's fascinating and awful story on the long-term effects of North Korea's unending famine in the Washington Post today:
Mental retardation caused by malnutrition will disqualify about a
quarter of potential military conscripts in North Korea, according to a
December report by the National Intelligence Council, a research
institution that is part of the U.S. intelligence community. The report
said hunger-caused intellectual disabilities among the young are likely
to cripple economic growth ...Kim is also struggling -- and by many accounts failing -- to contain an
outbreak of capitalism and profiteering that food shortages and food
aid have helped spread. ... "People on the outside don't realize it, but North Korea right now
is in a drastic state of change," said Jiro Ishimaru, who edits
Rimjingang, a journal of reports, photos and videos smuggled out of
North Korea by anonymous eyewitnesses.
--Eve Fairbanks
7 comments
Cripple economic growth in North Korea?! Oh my! I heard the growth of corn on the moon might be inhibited, too.
The DPRK is basically a 46 thousand square mile concentration camp. With nuclear weapons.
- ratnerstar
March 6, 2009 at 9:26am
Oddly enough, the article itself argues that famine is actually spurring economic development. The strangeness of the place boggles the mind. The latest government decree to address starvation? "Shit in a box and have it ready for us in the spring." It's so surreal I have no idea what a proper response could possibly be.
- janus
March 6, 2009 at 10:42am
This actually explains a lot, boneill is short for Bo nei il, a ommon North Korean surname, which explains the quality of his posting.
Janus, along the border the North Koreans tried their own autonomous zone modelled after the experiments in China in the early 80's, but from what little I read it has been a disaster, they keep arresting people who have any kind of success at it. You want to hear something funny, in a tragic and sad way, the Chinese governments explanation for the famine in North Korea? It is mountainous and a lot of the farmland is in the shade.
Most Korean restaurants you find in China are staffed and operated by North Koreans who fled. So many sad stories I gave up engaging in conversations with them besides ordering my food
- blackton
March 6, 2009 at 11:12am
Ok, so the stock market is tanking, banks are failing, Iran wants is getting nuclear weapons and we're ticking off one of our oldest and most trusted allies. At least we're not North Korea, right? See, things could be MUCH worse, so buck up and take your
- Anonymous
March 6, 2009 at 11:26am
Actually blackie, I'm pretty sure "bo" (presumably ? in Hangul) is not a Korean family name at all. Nor is il (?) for that matter, so it couldn't even have been an anglicized (i.e. reversed so the family name is last) Korean name. I'm sticking with my original theory that boneill is a Canadian spy.
- ratnerstar
March 6, 2009 at 11:41am
As long as we're comparing our crisis to other countries', I'd just like to point out that France isn't doing so bad these days.
www.chicagotribune.com/.../chi-fri-burns-france-mar06,0,5756067.column
- jhildner
March 6, 2009 at 3:35pm
Is today foreign script day at the Plank?
- JEFF FREY
March 7, 2009 at 2:01am