dollars my azz... they are frickin $100 SuperBills!!!
Posted on 02/18/2006 7:49:04 PM PST by HAL9000
SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- The eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is responsible for spreading fake U.S. dollars through Macau, prompting Washington to slap sanctions on the communist country, a South Korean official said Sunday.The U.S. crackdown has not only intensified friction between the two former battlefield foes but also diminished chances for Kim's oldest son, Jong-nam, to succeed his father in a power struggle with his two younger brothers, the intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We obtained intelligence that he got farther away from his father's mind due to the Macau bank problem," said the official, whose job is gathering and analyzing North Korea-related intelligence at one of South Korea's largest state spy agencies.
The official refers to Banco Delta Asia in the Chinese territory of Macau, one of four foreign banks said to have been used by North Korea to get outside funds. The three others are based in Hong Kong, China and Austria, the official said.
According to the South Korean official, the junior Kim belongs to the "Foreign Exchange Earning Project" bureau under the direct control of the North's military, which has used the four banks for its overseas transactions.
In September, the U.S. suspended all transactions with the Macau bank, accusing it of distributing fake U.S. dollars printed in the North and laundering illicit money. A month later, the U.S. sanctioned eight North Korean companies suspected of spreading weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea has denied any wrongdoing, arguing the sanctions are merely aimed at pressuring North Korea to resume six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program. The talks, which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since November.
After Kim Jong-il turned 64 on Thursday, speculations have risen anew over who will succeed him as the North's leader. The senior Kim was anointed as an official heir to his father, Kim Il-sung, when he was 30 in 1974.
According to media reports, the leader's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, 35, fell out of his father's favor because of his wayward lifestyle. In 2001, he was arrested in Japan for traveling on a forged Dominican passport and told Japanese police he wanted to visit Tokyo Disney Land.
Some South Korean analysts believe that Kim Jong-il is leaning toward nominating his 25-year-old second son, Jong-chol, as an heir.
"Kim Jong-chol is the most likely successor of Kim Jong-il as he is very brilliant and tyrannical like his father," the intelligence official said. "Now we are very busy gathering intelligence about him." The two junior Kims were born from different mothers.
Jong-nam was born from his father's unofficial relationship with Sung Hae-rim, an actress who died in Moscow several years ago, while Jong-chol's mother, Ko Yong-hi, the purported official wife of the North Korean leader, died of heart failure in 2004. Ko has another son, Jong-un, 22, but experts say he is too young to inherit the power.
The North's succession dispute is so fierce that news reports last year said Kim Jong-nam had escaped two assassination attempts -- one in China and the other in Austria.
I say kill Kim and all of his accursed sons, and let God decide where in Hell (literally) they'll end up.
It is unfortunate that Kim Jong-Il and just about every petty tyrant are holding their populations hostage.
If we cut off aid and assistance, a lot of people will starve to death. If we don't, fewer people will starve to death, but more will probably die later. And we can't decapitate the N. Korean government because China won't let us and won't do it themselves.
N. Korea is China's little distraction. In the game of chess, N. Korea would be a pawn thrown out to be an annoying little pest while the rest of their pieces maneuver for advantage. Meanwhile, our pieces maneuver for advantage and the Democrats want to freeze us where we were in 1999.
Someone kick me...
I guess the rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
dollars my azz... they are frickin $100 SuperBills!!!
Ping for the Great Leader....
c'mon D.O., where is kim?
Hey, maybe we ought to spend another 75 million to win the 'hearts & minds' of the N Korean people. That's what we're gonna do in Iran...heck, if it's gonna work there, why not N Korea?
A people who worship Kim Jong-il can have neither heart or mind...
Kick their freaking asses, and whatever is left will follow.
We have waited too long to address that problem..
Semper Fi
North Korea is a pawn for China and Russia.
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