Does anyone else see the irony in this? From the Korea Times:
North Korea has arrested a Japanese businessman for allegedly smuggling drugs through the communist state from a third nation to Japan, the North’s news wire reported yesterday, raising suspicions over the political motive behind the illegal transaction.
“Yoshiaki Sawata, a director at Enterprise Co. is now under investigation by a competent institution for his attempted drug smuggling,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
It said Sawata was trying to bribe a North Korean into buying drugs from a third country and smuggle them into Japan by Mangyongbong-92, a ferry sailing between North Korea and Japan. Although it did not specify the date of arrest, the news service said the man entered North Korea on Oct. 14.
The North’s state-run news agency said it suspected a political manipulation behind the drug smuggling. “The case comes at a time when hostile forces in Japan are calling for checking the ship at Japanese ports, dubbing it a ’ship for illegal remittance,’ ‘a ship transporting missile parts,’ and ‘a spy ship’ in a bid to push the DPRK-Japan relations to the worst state.” DPRK is the official name of North Korea, standing for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“What is clear is the political purpose intended through the case,” it added.
Apparently, Pyongyang has yet to progress far enough in its “economic reforms” to where it sees the benefits of competition.
One Comment
I guess this is what happens when you try and screw Big Daddy Illin’ out of his cut. In a sense, you really gotta hand it to him… Sure, the “Illinest” may have completely missed the advent of hair styling products, but he sure does know his way around an international incident. This is sheer genius! A masterstroke!
You see, he’s protecting a core business by sending the message to other associates that Big Daddy ALWAYS gets his cut - or else - and flipping it around to use as ammunition against the sneaky Japanese pigdog government! Or, as they say, “killing two birds with one ‘bong-92.” (Now seriously, is that the best possible name for a drug-smuggling vessel?)