According to the Toronto Sun (nice background), on December 11, a train filled with gifts for the young dictator-to-be derailed outside of Sinuiju. There is some speculation as to whether it’s cause was due to North Korea’s failing infrastructure or an act of terrorism (depending on the point of view).
“The tracks and rail beds are so old it is possible there was decay in the wood or nails that secured the tracks could have been dislodged but the extent of damage to the tracks and the timing of the incident points to a chance that someone intentionally damaged the tracks,” the source said.
“It’s highly likely that it was someone who is opposed to succession to Kim Jong-un,” the source said, according to the radio station.
Wonder if the watches arrived in time so that he could wear them to this military banquet reported in the Korea Times. Of course, this accident was nothing like the huge accident in 2004 and discussed in detail on The Hole here and here.
If it was a case of the failing infrastructure there may be hope. According to Chosun Ilbo, China has just signed a 50-year-contract to build roads and railroad lines between it and North Korea’s port city of Raijin.
But what about the regular North Koreans – how are they making out this year? Sharon LaFraniere of New York Times gives us contrasting images of Pyongyang with the rest of the country:
Signs of that relative good fortune were evident on Pyongyang’s streets. Some chatted on cellphones, something unknown two years ago. Koryolink, a cellphone network controlled by an Egyptian firm, has 310,000 subscribers. North Koreans can call only domestically, but the network is expanding fast. Residents report more cars and traffic lights than three years ago, although traffic remains sparse.
As opposed to:
Elsewhere, especially in northern provinces, residents report that child beggars haunt street markets, families scavenge hillsides for sprouts and mushrooms and workers at state enterprises receive nominal salaries, at best…Nationally, one in every three children is stunted, and nearly one in every five is underweight, according to the World Food Program.
But there are surreal events in the South as well. According to the Donga Ilbo:
The Defense Ministry said Sunday that it will not use the term “main enemy” in its 2010 defense white paper to be published around the end of this month.
A ministry official said, “We will not describe the North Korean military as the main enemy,” adding, “We already call the North Korean military the main enemy and they are called enemies externally. So we will not use the term ‘main enemy’ in the defense white paper.”
The ministry released reference materials the same day and said, “We didn’t directly use the term ‘main enemy’ in the white paper, but a stronger term implying the meaning of ‘main enemy’ will be used.”What is this stronger term you ask?
The white paper will reportedly describe the North as a key threat instead of an enemy. A military official in Seoul said, “We explicitly call North Korean forces the main enemy, but considering inter-Korean relations in the future, a public definition of the North as the main enemy will be a burden.”
Wouldn’t want to burden the North – even after they sank a South Korean warship, attacked a South Korean island and threatened to launch a sacred war with nukes. A lot has changed.
According to the Korea Herald:
The reference to the North as the main enemy in the 1995 whitepaper ― issued under former President Kim Young-sam ― came after a North Korean official made hostile remarks during working-level inter-Korean talks held at the truce village of Panmunjeom in March 1994.
South Korea has once again demonstrated the true meaning of Christmas….give and forgive.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Exactly what do you have to do, to become South Koreas main enemy?
^ Claim Dokdo of course.
Having a lingerie party w/ some Korean ladies will get ya the second slot.
“Key threat” is better language than “main enemy,” which suggests more than one enemy. Also, South Korea cannot refer to Japan as an enemy, but can refer to her as a threat, even though the threat from Japan is grossly exaggerated by many Koreans.
gbevers -
You neglected to add the “a” to your quote. In my opinion, “a key threat” implies more than one. “The main threat” seems to be a much stronger term.
Korean Minister of Defense: “No dudes, like we totally said the the North is our enemy in our white paper!”
국방부는 오는 30일 발간되는 2010년 국방백서에 ‘북한정권과 북한군은 우리의 적’이란 표현을 사용했다고 27일 밝혔다.
http://media.daum.net/politics/dipdefen/view.html?cateid=1019&newsid=20101227180117013&p=yonhap
북한군이 우리의 적임을 분명히 했다”고 말했다.
We CLEARLY said they’re our enemies n’ stuff.
직접적이고 심각한 위협’ – See, we called them a Direct and Grave Danger too.
Err… They should say “Clear and Present Danger” so that it sounds more Tom Clancy like. Actually, they should title the report “Tom Clancy’s Direct and Grave Danger co-written by the Ministry of Defense”.
South Korea has once again demonstrated the true meaning of Christmas….give and forgive people of the same race as you.
Fixed.
Way off topic: What happened to the guy running the Diffism korean blog? He was promising big things to come for several months, and now the domain has expired & been parked.
I’m glad I just ate a hearty lunch before checking that Toronto Sun article. Cool juxtaposition: Article on North Korea and an overabundance of pizza.
The grinch stole Kim Jong-un christmas
nice background?
It is gone now – the entire background was nothing more than a pizza advertisement and, like Wedge noted, seemed surreal considering the subject.
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