Posted on 12/09/2009 4:11:04 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
North Korea rushes to starvation
December 09, 2009
Olivia Ward
North Korea's beleaguered people are used to running on empty. But a silent catastrophe that is looming in the secretive dictatorship may push the poorest beyond the point of no return.
A sudden revaluation has left the currency worthless, threatening collapse of the fragile food market.
"This could start widespread starvation deaths in the hungry season, after the last harvest runs out," said Andrew Natsios of Georgetown University, author of The Great North Korean Famine. "There are a number of alarming things happening at once, and people may not be able to cope."
North Korea announced last week it would redenominate its national currency, the won, apparently to curb inflation and crush the fledgling private markets that sprang up after 2002, when the government realized its centrally controlled food distribution system had failed.
After the announcement it said limited amounts of won could be exchanged for new currency, and that the move was necessary for building "a strong and prosperous nation." But angry Koreans were reportedly burning piles of old banknotes in protest, and soldiers had been ordered onto the streets.
The move undermined many of the private markets, which had been a runaway success, selling not only food but South Korean items such as videos that are banned by the authoritarian regime.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestar.com ...
Hey China, “You broke it, you bought it.”
Its really sad to see a corner of Earth with a society like this, socialism at its finest hour?
The dark future of America? manufacturing abandoned, utilities missing, transportation only for the elite, equality meaning that all must starve in unison?
Too far fetched to comprehend anything of even a fraction of this happening in America? If we allow any form of socialism to control our lives we are accepting the possibility of this cancer of society of hatching in America.
Its all about the elites controlling the serfs, America needs no usurper, no dictator, no Islamic mullah to create laws.
I have been following this story as much as possible since AIT first posted about it a few days ago. Such a sad state of affairs for those poor people - it’s truly horrifying. Reminds me that I have NOTHING to complain about.
North Korea is what a nation gets when Liberals are given absolute power. Scratch a Liberal and you find under the veneer, a tyrant.
Starvation for the masses is a feature, not a bug.
Sounds like they will be asking for another hand out soon. Typical!
Bosworth landed at Osan base, returning from Pyoyang.
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