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N. Korea runs out of gas; only the elite can now fill their cars
Asahi Shimbun ^ | October 4, 2017 | YOSHIHIRO MAKINO

Posted on 10/05/2017 9:49:46 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

N. Korea runs out of gas; only the elite can now fill their cars

By YOSHIHIRO MAKINO/ Correspondent

October 4, 2017 at 15:40 JST

SEOUL--Only the elite and selected military heavyweights in North Korea can get their cars tanked up as international sanctions start to bite.

The regime in Pyongyang imposed the ban on gasoline stand sales in late September, according to a source here who is knowledgeable about goings-on in the reclusive country.

The move was apparently taken to prepare the nation for the impact of U.N. economic sanctions to protest North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches and sixth nuclear test.

The governments of Japan, the United States and South Korea are using intelligence satellites to confirm whether and how a ban on exports of gasoline to North Korea are taking effect.

Only a few hundred of the most senior members of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, along with high-ranking government and military officials, are still permitted to purchase gasoline, the source said.

Those individuals all have license plates that begin with the three-digit sequence "727," which refers to July 27, an auspicious date in North Korean history as it was when a cease-fire agreement was signed in 1953 to suspend fighting in the Korean War.

The special license plates are a privilege given out in the name of North Korean despot Kim Jong Un.

Among party officials, only those with the rank of member or alternate member of the Central Committee, are eligible for the plates.

The committee had 235 such members as of May 2016, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The figure includes high-ranking military and government officials.

It is unclear if there has been any change in the sale of gasoline to taxis and buses.

Hoarding of gasoline began in earnest at the start of the year in anticipation of the international community imposing economic sanctions.

Gasoline prices have tripled during that time. North Korea was slapped with new sanctions after its sixth nuclear test in September.

The measures include one that limits the annual import into North Korea of refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and light oil, to 2 million barrels, or the equivalent of about 270,000 tons of crude oil.

The North Korean government has issued instructions to top officials to stockpile an additional 1 million tons of crude oil to prepare for this eventuality.

According to South Korean government officials, North Korea's annual demand is in the range of 700,000 to 900,000 tons. It also has a stockpile totaling 1 million tons in case of hostilities on the Korean Pensinula.

The ban on gasoline sales has eliminated the long lines that commonly formed at North Korean gasoline stands, according to intelligence satellites used by Japan, the United States and South Korea.

One North Korean source said, "Gasoline is not being sold no matter how much money is offered."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gasoline; nkorea; sanction
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1 posted on 10/05/2017 9:49:47 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster; AmericanInTokyo; nuconvert; MizSterious; endthematrix; Grampa Dave; ...

P!


2 posted on 10/05/2017 9:50:17 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (dead parakeet + lost fishing gear = freep all day)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Only the elite would have cars there...


3 posted on 10/05/2017 9:54:58 PM PDT by piasa
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To: TigerLikesRooster

But this can’t be. I thought the people would get taken care of under socialism?


4 posted on 10/05/2017 9:56:41 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (We're right, you're wrong - that's the end of the argument.)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

yep, what’s the problem? Why would sanctions be an issue, if they are supposed to be self sufficient and all that? North Korea prides itself on its people being self reliant in the face of hardships.


5 posted on 10/05/2017 10:05:25 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: TigerLikesRooster

How will they do in a land, sea and air war if they can’t gas up their public?


6 posted on 10/05/2017 10:05:31 PM PDT by lurk
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Bingo!!! According to all those socialist democRATS, everyone should have a car and unlimited gasoline to drive though those beautiful roads on a Sunday after church. Wait, you mean no churches in Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe? .......Sorry, I must be mistaken


7 posted on 10/05/2017 10:06:01 PM PDT by Fungi (90 percent of all soil biomass is a fungus. Fungi rule the world.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!

- President Trump

8 posted on 10/05/2017 10:07:52 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

But this can’t be. I thought the people would get taken care of under socialism?


No, North Korea exemplifies juche, or self-reliance. Which, in this case, means “you get to walk.” The elite says it is not unusual to have the Juche-fruit gum up the works.


9 posted on 10/05/2017 10:14:15 PM PDT by sparklite2 (I'm less interested in the rights I have than the liberties I can take.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Re: “the reclusive country”

Why do journalists all over the world refer to North Korea as “reclusive?”

It’s a totalitarian slave state governed by an all-powerful dictator.


10 posted on 10/05/2017 10:15:05 PM PDT by zeestephen
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To: zeestephen
It’s a totalitarian slave state governed by an all-powerful dictator.

Calling the Norks exactly what they are, doesn’t fit their narrative.

11 posted on 10/05/2017 10:20:20 PM PDT by Mark17 (Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning GOD....And the rest, as they say, is HIS-story)
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To: TigerLikesRooster; Whenifhow; LS; GregNH; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; ...

ping


12 posted on 10/05/2017 10:22:25 PM PDT by bitt (The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literal)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Liberal Democrats wish this curse on Americans. They want us in high rise buildings in big cities, no cars, no money. That is the goal. They want to corrall us and control us.


13 posted on 10/05/2017 10:24:23 PM PDT by buffyt (Humane Societies are proudly No Kill. When will Planned Parenthood be No Kill!??!?!!?!?!?!)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Does this mean Trump will get credit for decreasing North Korea’s carbon emissions?


14 posted on 10/05/2017 10:29:41 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: buffyt
high rise buildings in big cities, no cars, no money.

no elevators, no running water and no electricity.

15 posted on 10/05/2017 10:30:41 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (dead parakeet + lost fishing gear = freep all day)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Hmm. Wonder if that is the inspiratin for the not so many ‘I’m gonna drop bombs on you’ talk.


16 posted on 10/05/2017 11:09:17 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: TigerLikesRooster

“The ban on gasoline sales has eliminated the long lines that commonly formed at North Korean gasoline stands...”

Poor Jimmy Carter read this and exclaimed “Now why didn’t I think of that!”

Next they’ll be banning cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAoSknxwd-k

My uncle has a country place
that no one knows about
he says it used to be a farm
before the motor laws.

(Rush, Red Barchetta)


17 posted on 10/05/2017 11:25:55 PM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts FDR's New Deal = obama)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

In the following two versions of the story, the quotations of President Trump’s words appear to be probably more accurate in the first one linked here.

Trump With Military Leaders: “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm… You’ll find out.”
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3592390/posts

‘It’s the calm before the storm’: Trump offers cryptic message
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3592399/posts


18 posted on 10/05/2017 11:48:22 PM PDT by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." --Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Within the past few years, I read that there weren’t many cars in North Korea. The article said that only a small number of high ranking government people had cars.


19 posted on 10/05/2017 11:52:58 PM PDT by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." --Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Shit highways that are mostly empty, any good roads is only for the very few elite to their homes and of course the military.


20 posted on 10/06/2017 12:09:59 AM PDT by Daniel Ramsey (Thank YOU President Trump, finally we can do what America does best, to be the best)
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