Maybe all those stories about poor Koreans going to the States and getting caught up in America’s decadent drug culture are true. That’s the only way I can explain this statement made Tuesday by Unification Vice-Minister Rhee Bong-jo while on visit to New York:
“The United States’ distrust of North Korea is based on vague ideas, rather than specific evidence,” Rhee said. “The United States is even skeptical of the North’s statement that it possesses nuclear weapons.”
There’s more hilarity, if you care to read further. If you want to look at it in Korean, here it is, via Yonhap.
31 Comments
There was no WMD in Iraq.
Your intelligence is a moron basically.
With all that high tech gadjet and hundreds of sattlite orbiting the earth your CIA concluded that There is WMD in Iraq let’s go and f*#k em.
But there wasn’t any were there?
good job AMerica continue your good work
Nakku — like most red-blooded Americans, I occassionally enjoy poking good-natured fun at our neighbors in/from the Great White North, but I’d really appreciate it if the comments here remained on topic. I don’t need a replay of the War of 1812 on my blog.
I like how the world works. Iraq is and will be a great example to exploit until my great grandchildren die at a ripe old age(who haven’t been born yet). But, look at the Pakistan-Libya recent story. Even within the article that got a commotion started, enough quotes from US officials, including the one who dropped the scoop, said the US never claimed the nuke material was shipped directly to Libya from North Korea and that it was brokered through people in Pakistan. It did not, however, highlight any claims that the Pakistan government was involved. And this article has somehow joined and renewed the legions of cries over Iraq intelligence and the US fabricating things to lie to the world.
But, on the other hand, the vice anti-unification minister can’t figure out why some nation might not trust NK? He can’t figure out what specific evidence they could possible point to….
On the Iraq question, 1234…
I said at the time Bush should do more of what Tony Blair did — lay out the human rights issue and how bad Hussein’s regime has always been. However, both Tony Blair and Bush’s people spoke constantly about Iraq not complying with UN resolutions that threatened force.
And how many people chide the US for not backing something like the International Criminal Court? Law without enforcement, yeah, that works…
On Iraq, what happened to the WMD is a good question.
Starting from a belief that no WMD ever existed since the first Gulf War or that the weapons inspectors destroyed them all in the 1990s brings up an even more fascinating question.
Why would Hussien hold out and allow war to come to his country if he knew he did not have any WMD?
When faced clearly with an invasion, why didn’t he throw open the doors to weapons inspectors and comply?
He would have made the US look like complete idiots AND he would have kept his power.
Another interesting question. Why did Iraq field and unit commanders during Iraq War II tell US debriefers as they were captured this —- that their unit did not have any chemical or biological weapons, but they knew the unit beside them did. Iraqi commanders gave their soldiers gas masks and injectors not because they thought the US was going to use WMD, but because they thought the Iraqi unit to their right and left would use them.
The US debriefers said each Iraqi field commander believed other units had the weapons and would use them.
So, if the Iraqi field commanders believed Hussein had WMD and would use them, how much should I piss on US intelligence?
You did want to discuss the issue of WMD in Iraq, right?
Nakku, not all countries are cracked up to be military country. You maybe surprised that most Canadians like it that way. After all, why waste billions on weapons that will go to waste when there are no dangerous threats anywhere near Canada?
Marmot - Apologize for off topic comments. But when people make such galactically inane comments as 1234, I feel the need to point out their ignorance and lack of intelligence.
Sa Hwa Dong,
Wow, you perfectly exemplify my points that Canada has no gov’t OR people intelligence.
I will comment no further.
Dda,
I’ll be nice and take back my comments relating to France. I shouldn’t put the French and Canadians in the same basket.
But re: your comment, there’s no mention of “drawing-room lefties.” And why would we want to scrounge for them in Canada? Leave’em there!
I’d add, from what little I know, Canada did sign up for WWI and WWII before the US. I believe Canada also sent troops to the Korean War. Also, if I were Canadian, I wouldn’t want our government to spend much money on defense, because there aren’t many credible threats, and any credible threat would catch the attention of the US, and the US would most likely defend Canada even if they didn’t like it. It is kind of like France kicking NATO out in the Cold War. It was a bigger kick in the teeth than having Canada scold the US and pretend they don’t enjoy secrurity and economic wellbeing thanks to the black sheep to their south (the USA). But, it was basically the same principle — France couldn’t imagine a situation where Soviet forces would only attack France. France also had West Germany as a buffer state. So why not take advantage of the opportunity to stick their thumb in America’s eye and claim to be the champion of non-aligned nations? I wouldn’t have done it, but it was a good card for De Gualle to play…
I’m not much of a complainer when it comes to Canada. The Canada-US alliance isn’t central enough to US interests or in danger anywhere close to the US-SK one to make me pay attention much to them.
Yes, Canada joined WWI in 1914 and WWII in 1939, both times on the British side (of course). And yes, Canadians fought in the Korean War. Anyhow, rather than focus on the differences, let’s consider for a moment the similarities between the two countries.
Despite the superficial differences, the countries are fairly well integrated. There’s NORAD and NAFTA. There’s AutoPact (spelling?), the decades-old cross-border car manufacturing agreement. We use a single phone system (NANPA); Canadians watch American TV and movies; Americans listen to Canadian musicians (Celine, Shania, et al.) and watch Canadian actors with accents that are imperceptibly different from the standard Midwest accent. Both countries have “red states” and “blue states” (although they’re provinces and the colours are reversed up here, since red is the traditional colour of the Liberals and blue of the Tories).
…And English Canadian culture was largely forged by the United Empire Loyalists, i.e., the (small t) tories who fled the 13 colonies during the American Revolution. That helps to explain both (a) the common culture between the two countries on the one hand, and (b) the antithetical positions that the two countries sometimes take on certain issues on the other. As for Quebec, the truth is that, political differences aside, many Quebecois are as enamoured of American popular culture as most anglos are. The difference is that when Quebec looks to Europe for cultural examples, it naturally looks to France, since it has a shared language and history (at least pre-1763).
…Geez, I’d better stop before I get my fellow Canadians too upset! I just think that it would sometimes be better if citizens of both countries put aside their differences once in a while and considered their similarities.
A Canadian teacher I worked with in a hakwon where we were the only two expat teachers used to watch WWF professional wrestling. At that time, he said they were using a promotional strategy of US vs Canada and he was amazed and amused at how rabid the fans were when the wrestlers from the two nations would play to the crowd using that theme.
That is how I see the American and Canadian expats in Korea on forums like Dave’s ESL cafe wacking each other about. It’s like professional wrestling or talk radio. Some people get some pleasure out of participation in the even, but once the leave the forum, everything is nice and forgotten.
I wouldn’t mind spending some time in the non-urban areas of Canada — if it weren’t so damn cold…
I wouldn??t mind spending some time in the non-urban areas of Canada ?? if it weren??t so damn cold…
LOL! Well, there’s another easily overlooked similaritythe Canadian West Coast climate in the winter is much milder than many parts of the US Midwest and Northeast! And lest anyone think BC is…well, whatever, the spectrum here is a microcosm of everywhere else. We even have our own mini Bible Belt in the Fraser Valley.
It was really reprehensible for Unification Vice-Minister Rhee Bong-jo to make such a comment. It flies in the face of so much information that has been gleaned from escaping North Koreans, not to mention the very obvious totalitarian regime and its various criminal activities which have been well-documented from a variety of sources to numerous to list here. I’m simply stating what is pretty obvious.
Unification Vice-Minister Rhee Bong-jo should probably be fired for his serious flirtation with mind-numbing stupidity, considering his remarks.
P.S. The topic is about the comments of Unification Vice-Minister Rhee Bong-jo; not Canada.
Sewing,
I was about to add a note to that comment saying that I couldn’t handle winters in MA or OH either and don’t like the winters in TN or even north GA. See. I even thought the winters I spent in Miami were a little on the chilly side some days. God, I miss Hawaii….
I don’t know if these guys(diplomats) are talking to each other or going into their own separate corners and talking to themselves. I mean, how can anyone seriously ponder at the prospect of North Korean government opening up it’s borders and letting UN weapons inspectors run nilly-freely around all the mines in the country? (UN weapons inspectors, that US government isn’t too fond of in the first place.) I don’t understand what they seriously expect from North Korea. It’s like telling Pol Pot that he cannot produce punji sticks anymore. I wonder when people will stop having nightmares of nuclear armageddon, and wake up and see the NK people dying in real life.
virtual wonderer,
???
Following your logic, I could say, “North Korea not starving its people to death would be like Americans giving up hot dogs, apple pie, and baseball…”
???
When int. humanitarian orgs that - as you would say - don’t care much for the United States gov — pull out of NK and stop trying to help NK citizens because of the nature and actions of the NK regime, what do YOU expect?
What are you suggesting nations should have done in the face of Pol Pot?
What are you suggesting nations should do with NK today?
I really can’t tell where you are heading with this last statement…..
USinkorea
sorry, dude, you sorta lost me. Actually I’m really lost.
I was just saying that we (we as in United States, S Korea, Japan, etc) need to get our act straight and place Human Rights as the priority issue instead of the political football issue. Nuclear issue just seems like a gordian knot without no solution in sight.
As for my Pol Pot analogy, I’m saying that I seriously doubt telling Pol Pot to stop manufacturing weapons would convince him to stop, no matter what kind of pressure tactics we used, aside from putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. But unlike Cambodians who had refugee camps in Thailand etc, NK doesn’t have even this. AHh… if Mongolia wasn’t a landlocked country…
But seriously USinKorea, you really think Kim Jong Il will one day blink and say, “awww shucks. Ok, you have complete and unadulterated freedom to walk around my country and do as you will.” Because that’s pretty much what we are demanding in our nuclear dialogue, because only THAT can guarantee that KJI ain’t making nukes.
So then, what are dialogues really for? When we know and they know they will never stop making nukes. At least if we concentrate on NKHRA, maybe we can see at least couple people saved. I think that would be progress.
Why do 75% of the comments strings on Marmot’s Hole transform into ethnic hatred? Korea…tossed-salad or melting pot?
Anyways, Rhee Bong-jo’s bong-induced statement shows that we should concern our intelligence more with the accuracy and payload of the Roh-Bong than we currently do with the No-Dong.
North Korea has no intention of letting the 6 Party talks succeed. They will only participate if they can be guaranteed that they will lead nowhere. They will use any excuse they can to not participate.
I don’t really know, but I suspect that Kim Jong Il and the other gangsters up there really are paranoid about theirs being the next regime to change. I also suspect, but don’t really know, that probably the Bushies (much as I don’t like them) probably don’t have it as their first intention to do so.
The Vice-Unification ministers remarks are helping North Korea in this context. I guess that’s fairly obvious. I guess he’s of the party that believes that it is better to placate the North than face the truth.
North Korea has at least some nukes and/or the capacity to make some sort of crude nuclear devices.
But what can the US really do about it? Sanctions aren’t going to work unless Japan, South Korea, China and Russia all agree, and they won’t. Bombing won’t work because they probably don’t know exactly where everything is, and anyway, it’s probably in deep underground bunkers. And invasion is out of the question until they get out of Iraq and only if they can get the South Koreans to agree (not) and the Chinese don’t interfere (well…).
I don’t pretend to have a solution.
Now now, Marmot, you’re not looking deeply enough - Unification Ministry officials make comments that are just as dumb, without leaving the country.
My money’s on mandatory lobotomies for anyone taking a position at the Unification Ministry.
maybe i’m mistaken, but didn’t the korean government also say that they doubted that NK actually had nukes?
Why do 75% of the comments strings on Marmot??s Hole transform into ethnic hatred?
Just as, in economics, bad money drives out good; so in the blogosphere do stupid posters drive out smart. Dorks apparently have a lot more energy and free time.
anonymous …
that’s true … i’m probably guilty of using anecdotal evidence and making generalised statements too.
also, remember that the audience here is mostly foreigners in korea. as outsiders, people coming to korea have a polarised view of things based on their own culture.
show me a culture *or country* that doesn’t think they do things better … that kind of thing would come across as ethnic hatred too.
The topic was actually about the Unification Minister doubting North Korea does anything bad…its just those dasdardly Americans making stuff up….ok then..why…
Has Austrialia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and China seized North Korean ships smuggling drugs and counterfeit money….did North Korea admit to kidnapping Japanese citizens (many of whom died mysterious at young ages), did a Korean war POW escape from North Korea where he was held illegally for 50 years, did Libya get nuclear material from North Korea regardless of whose hands it went through first(it means they export it), and why on earth is the EU preparing to condeme North Korean Human rights. I skipped the gulags, mass pubic executions, political starvations etc etc etc.
Hey Korea, this isn’t a US conspiracy against the peace loving North Koreans, Korea is the only country that believes them. I had a chance to study with some really neat Chinese academics, they don’t even like North Korea, it is just a buffer.
Another case of Korea’s leaders making some really huge, really stupid mistakes. Reminds me of the leadership in Korea in the time running up to Japanese annexation.
Mark: Why do 75% of the comments strings on Marmot??s Hole transform into ethnic hatred? Korea??tossed-salad or melting pot?
I wonder the same thing myself. Many of the comments I get are really quite insightful, and for this, I am extremely grateful. Heck, I’m grateful I get any readers at all. But as the anonymous commenter pointed out, some of my comment threads have developed in such a way that the good comments get overshadowed by the flaming and generalizations, something that not only hinders productive discussion, but also gives my blog a bad name. I don’t know quite how to go about changing this situation without becoming a full-time discussion group monitor, which a have neither the intention nor desire of becoming.
Perhaps (as robertneff103 noted in another thread) the use of nicknames, and the anonymity that they bring, fosters an atmosphere in which people feel less bound by social stricture. Or perhaps, because this type of communication does not allow for all the non-verbal communication, what we read becomes misinterpreted or overblown, and we overreact. I know that I??m as guilty as anyone in that regard.
Also, it seems that we are fated to meet odd or irrational people on occasion, regardless of where we are, but the only way to deal with them is by either ignoring them or responding in this public forum.
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