Posted on 05/25/2010 12:56:42 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
Just found this photo from Communist North Korea from several days ago apparantly during one of dictator Kim Jong il's "on the spot guidance tours".
and also here:
Note the manufacturer of the computer monitor (and presumably the hard drive itself) (Dell Computer, Round Rock, Texas, USA), which General Secretary Kim Jong-il is inspecting.
Link to article on North Korean news through Japanese website:
Kim visited "Hamhung University of Chemical Industry" on or about 21 May 2010. The institution was Hamhung University of Chemical Industry (咸興化学工業大学)
The Academy of Defense Science [Hamhung Branch] is one of at least four chemical weapons research and development facilities, and there is speculation that the University of Chemical Industry [formerly the Hamhung University of Chemical Industry] may have some connection with chemical technology associated with the North Korean nuclear weapons program. (Source: FAS)
I found these photos today on the KCNA website out of Pyongyang, and some Japanese websites of North Korean origin.
"Trading with the Enemy Act" (12 U.S.C. § 95a) may or may not apply in this case--as this is primarily directed at Cuba, but certainly the provision of technical products to the DPRK for North Korea's chemical weapons program is going to raise a lot of eyebrows, as well as serious questions.
If utilizing this thread elsewhere, please quote specifically the work of AiT and FREE REPUBLIC, and link to this original thread, where this story has initially appeared (25 May 2010).
Tiger, here’s a good one.
Ping!
Does Dell sell to China?
Did China sell the Dell computers to N. Korea or did N. Korea buy directly from Dell?
A statement from Dell headquarters in the USA should be forthcoming. They should (or better have) an explanation.
Thanks American in Tokyo and thanks for the ping.
It may also be that the North Korean Navy (which attacked and sunk the Cheonan corvette of the South Korean Navy), may well also be a happy customer of DELL Computer, as photos were also shown last year which indicated DELL products. See below. Something really is fishy here, if you ask me; it does not pass the smell test as far as I am initially concerned:
What makes this potentially very damaging is that international intelligence has generally identified the location where the DELL computer were, as a North Korean WMD facility.
That’s interesting.
Looking forward to what Dell has to say about this.
ping
You think Dell can control where their computers get exported by third parties?
Impossible.
Dell’s are sold all over the world. Once purchased by a third party it is impossible to control who the third party transfers it to.
Hmmmmm....
Explanation, please?
That’s ridiculous.
Dell has no way to control what third parties do.
Control Data Corporation in the 1970s (Cyber 76) got in a LOT of trouble over this kind of thing. (So did Toshiba Machinery for that matter).
Merits deep investigation, IMHO.
Are you nuts?
You think Dell can control this?
Slandering Dell for nothing they have control over.
You should know better.
Ummm....Dell doesn’t have a force of 50,000 mind-reading police that rappel down your walls and come in through your windows if you’re one of the millions of people that have bought a Dell, but you’re thinking of reselling it to North Korea?
Or are you an employee or a supplier?
Why the dramatic response to this thread?
If DELL knew about their brand-new computers heading for N. Korea, now that is a problem.
A big difference between mainframes and specialized manufacturing equipment, and a consumer commodity.
I suspect this will become an issue (this story).
You on some kind of drugs?
Not even remotely the same thing.
There are literally millions of Dell’s sold every year all over the world.
It is impossible for Dell to control exportation of a jellybean computer once sold.
Because it's so stupid?
Those are just the simple questions I am posing, as you have pointed out. (Seeing as they also have these American IT products at the Hamhung Naval Institute, and other military facilities in North Korea—per previous web stories and now these most recent “on the spots”). Would be nice to get a statement or reaction out of Dell.
None of the above.
Just shocked by the stupidity of it.
So it should not be investigated and delved into futher, is that your position?
Dell may have made the thing; I doubt they sold it to the NORKs. I mean, Dells are everywhere.
What if you saw Kim Jong Mentally Ill using “Kleenex”? Would you assume Kleenex is in bed with the NORKs? :)
He has so many shoppers working for him that he can get any common thing he wants.
SNIPPET from your link in post no. 11:
Quote:
Accordingly, we hereby agree:
- that we will not transfer, export, or re-export, directly or indirectly, any Product(s) acquired from Dell to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and/or Syria, or any nationals thereof, or to any other country subject to restriction under applicable laws and regulations, and that we are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country;
- that we will not use the Product(s) in any activity related to the development, production, use, or maintenance of Weapons of Mass Destruction, as defined by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, including without limitation, uses related to nuclear, missile, and/or chemical/biological development and or production and that we will not transfer, export, or
re-export, directly or indirectly to any party engaged in any such activity; if we are engaged in the development or production of Weapons of Mass Destruction, we acknowledge that we could be subject to and responsible for U.S. export licensing requirements;
- that we will not transfer, export, or re-export, directly or indirectly to any party listed by the U.S. Government or under any applicable law as prohibited from receiving Product(s) and that we are not on, or under control of anybody on, any such list;
I don’t know what to say...
Spend millions investigating the obvious?
Where to start...
There’s only a few BILLION Dell computers in the world...
How could NK have gotten their hands on one... I don’t know...
There are 3,555 Dell monitors listed on E-bay at the moment.
Is Dell responsible for tracking who buys all of them and then who they resell them to?
So do you want to pull some investigators off the F-14 parts being sold to Iran investigation and sic them on Dell? Is that your position?
Thank you, Cindy.
Gosh...
Someone lied when they checked out...
What to do...
Call the FBI...
This is nuts.
I’m speechless...
Bizzaroo world...
I’m going to bed.
So what would be the point of sanctions or export controls? Agreed he has an army out there, but he found it increasingly difficult in the 2002-2005 time frame under Bush controls.
...”Owwwwww, oaaawww, My arm hurts! OK Mr. president,,, I give up,,, Uncle! What’s that Swiss bank number again???
...I wonder who the third party could possibly be, they’re soooooo many thugs out in the world today...
Likely bought through multiple cutouts.
Michael Dell himself is an active Republican who’s pointed out that Reaganomics was a critical prerequisite of the ‘80s/90s tech boom.
Dells suck.
I brought this up as a legitimate question and as a reference to national security issues. Even the Japanese blogosphere from several months back has questioned this Dell-to-Pyongyang route, title: "ＤＥＬＬが北朝鮮に多数のＰＣを納入していたことが判明" (Many Dell Computers Procured By North Korean Uncovered")http://news2plus.blog123.fc2.com/blog-entry-441.html
and was discussed thoroughly, without slinging insults.
All I can surmise is that there were some upset Dell management or employees or stockholders that were disturbed by this story, spouted and went to bed. However, I think it is a story worth getting into, as deeply as possible.
Is not this what Free Republic is all about? Asking legitimate questions and trying to determine facts?
http://blog-imgs-40.fc2.com/n/e/w/news2plus/20090101_1_1.jpg
Greed.
ping to you, too.
There is a huge difference. I would no more blame Dell for "aiding" NK than I would blame Bic if we discovered that their pens were in use for the NK WMD program.
In one of the Japanese language threads about Dell in North Korea, somebody discussed that they took part in a "Arirang Mass Game" tour of North Korea from China, and at that time while they were in the DPRK, they visited an elementary school. At this location, they saw not only Dells there, they saw Lenovos as well.
They could not determine if the Dells were made in China or not...not enough time with their tour guide in the classroom.
It merits digging I would say. I don't care less if a few toes are stepped on. Computer systems in North Korea are aiming weapons at our troops as we speak, and as long as I have a free voice on Free Republic, I will speak up and report, dammit.
Well, that gave me a GOOD laugh, too. We can all laugh on this thread at the humor you just presented (in purple typeface), regardless of where we stand on this issue. I just ask we be civil about it.
Thank you for your perspective.
Interesting - but you are looking at a monitor. Not a computer. Not much regulation on computer monitors (or TV-sets, for that matter) I think.
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