Sure, just as much as your GF Palin told you.
Sure, just as much as your GF Palin told you.
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"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Redrose (12-22-2014)
Lil' Kim soon to be standin' inna soup line?...
Retired USFK Head: North Korea Collapse May Happen Sooner
May 25, 2016 -- Instability within North Korea will lead to its collapse "sooner than many of us think," a former U.S. Forces Korea commander says.
Retired four-star Gen. Walter Sharp was among five panelists Tuesday who opened a three-day symposium, sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare, on strengthening land forces across the Pacific. North Korea garnered most of the panel's attention, driven by the volatile nation's uptick in missiles launches and its fourth nuclear test earlier this year. Sharp, who headed USFK in 2008-11, said he recently guaranteed Gen. Vincent Brooks, the newly minted USFK commander, there would be major changes on the peninsula before his tenure ends. "First off, I believe there will be strong provocations, strong attacks by North Korea that could quickly escalate into a much bigger conflict," Sharp said. "Secondly, there will be instability in North Korea that I believe will lead to the collapse of North Korea much sooner than many of us think."
There's long been speculation about how long the regime can continue to hold power in a country riddled with serial famines, drought, draconian punishments, poor medical care and an ever-increasing regimen of United Nations sanctions. Some analysts believe the North needs only one more jolt before it tumbles, while others say it has muddled through worse times in the past. Sharp said North Korea's economy "is clearly not meeting the needs of the people of North Korea," a situation exacerbated after China, the country's biggest trading partner, joined the most recent round of harsh UN sanctions. North Korea is attempting to build nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities while fostering a civilian economy. "We're all pretty convinced that that's not going to work," Sharp said.
Combine that with North Korean citizens who are gaining more outside access through cellphones and broadcasts, and there is "growing internal pressure within North Korea that will force either the regime to change or to change the regime," he said. Planning for what happens after the North's collapse must begin now, Sharp said. "What are we going to do with the North Korean military?" he asked. "How are we going to be able to provide stability and security in a collapse scenario within North Korea? We need to have those discussions; we need to have the training and capability as we move forward. "I think we also need to work very hard to plan and exercise for this collapse scenario," he said.
Both the U.N. and China could have work to do in the event of regime collapse, Sharp said. "I could see a role for the United Nations along the border between what is now North Korea and China, doing border control there, perhaps with China as the lead of that UN command up there," he said. Lt. Gen. Thomas L. Vandal, 8th Army commander in South Korea, told the audience "the pace of change has been exponential over the past three or four years on both sides of the [Demilitarized Zone]." "From the balloon launches (of propaganda leaflets), the propaganda broadcasts, mission-boat activities and exchanges along the DMZ, we face a high risk of miscalculation and escalation," he said.
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Obama gonna put a stop to No. Korea money laundering...
US moves to lock North Korea out of global financial system
Thursday 2nd June, 2016 - The action follows a recent United Nations Security Council resolution that calls on all UN members to cut off banking relations with Pyongyang.
See also:The United States took steps Wednesday (Jun 1) to lock North Korea out of the world financial system as it officially branded the country a "global money laundering concern." The move would prevent both direct and indirect North Korean financial activities within the US banking system, making sure that any third-party deals involving significant sums of US dollars cannot transit the US.
The action follows a recent United Nations Security Council resolution that calls on all UN members to cut off banking relations with Pyongyang. "The United States, the UN Security Council, and our partners worldwide remain clear-eyed about the significant threat that North Korea poses to the global financial system," said Adam Szubin, the US Treasury's acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Today's action is a further step toward severing banking relationships with North Korea and we expect all governments and financial authorities to do likewise pursuant to the new UN Security Council Resolution."
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...html#photo-tab
US designates North Korea 'primary money laundering concern'
Jun 1,`16 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States on Wednesday proposed new restrictions to close off North Korea's access to the international financial system and to prevent the reclusive communist country from using banks to launder money that could be used for its nuclear weapons program.
The Treasury Department declared North Korea a "primary money laundering concern," the latest step toward severing U.S. banking relationships with North Korea and deepening its economic isolation. U.S. banks are generally prohibited now from dealing with North Korea. A proposal under Treasury review would prevent foreign banks from using their accounts for dealings with U.S. banks to process financial transactions on behalf of North Korean banks. "Basically they have put everyone on notice, if you do financial transactions with North Korea, you are subject to investigation by U.S. bank regulators who may exclude you from the U.S. market," said Marcus Noland, an expert on North Korea at the Petersen Institute for International Economics.
The Treasury Department was required by legislation enacted in February to consider whether to make the money-launder designation. Having made that determination, the government can impose penalties after a 60-day comment period. Adam Szubin, acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, urged other countries to take similar steps to sever banking ties with North Korea. After the North conducted atomic and missile tests early in 2016, the United Nations in March issued its toughest sanctions yet. "It is essential that we all take action to prevent the regime from abusing financial institutions around the world - through their own accounts or other means," Szubin said in a statement.
Despite the international censure, North Korea has pressed ahead with weapons testing. The U.S. and South Korean militaries reported that North Korea conducted the latest in a series of failed ballistic missile launches on Tuesday. But in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with a high-ranking North Korean envoy on Wednesday, in an apparent move aimed at easing strains between the two countries. China remains North Korea's biggest source of diplomatic support and economic help, but Beijing this year agreed to the new U.N. sanctions, and observers say trade exchanges between the two have declined dramatically.
Noland said major Chinese banks have stopped doing business with North Korea, and in the past month, Russian banks have followed suit, although smaller banks that have less to lose from being excluded from the U.S. market may still consider it worth their risk to conduct North Korea-related transactions. The U.S. took a similar step in 2005 against a Macau-based bank, Banco Delta Asia, which held about $25 million in North Korean funds. Treasury declared the bank a primary money laundering concern, and the sanctions cut Banco Delta Asia off from the international dollar-based financial system and almost caused it to collapse. The U.S. later lifted that restriction to facilitate nuclear talks with North Korea, but the stigma it created meant most banks have since avoided transactions with the North Korea even when they are not expressly banned.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-01-23-17-44
'How and Why ?' ~ Einstein
In No. Korea dey lock ya in behind barbed wire for defecting...
North Korea labor camps overcrowded, dangerous, report says
Sept. 16, 2016 - The prisons are being packed as a crackdown on defectors continues under Kim Jong Un.
North Korea's labor camps are overcrowded and the number of deaths in the camps is soaring, according to former detainees in the country. The labor camps, which are used as short-term facilities for prisoners, are overflowing as more arrests are taking place under Kim Jong Un, Japanese news service Asia Press reported. A North Korean woman who was recently released after being detained at a labor camp said the prisons are so packed "there is no place to sit down."
The woman told Asia Press people in the camps were arrested for attempted defections, smuggling, or not showing up at their workplaces. "Death and malnutrition among prisoners have increased due to forced labor and harsh conditions...I risked death many times due to beatings, forced labor and hunger," the woman said, according to the report.
Asia Press founder Ishimaru Jiro said the North Koreans in labor camps have been targeted for "violating the social order," including those who took unauthorized leaves of absence from mass mobilization movements like the "200-day battle," smuggling goods across the China border, or using a Chinese mobile phone to make calls. Inside the prisons, North Korean guards do not provide enough food and deaths are being reported, Jiro added.
North Korea's treatment of defectors is at the center of a U.N. query into cases of missing persons in the country. The U.N.'s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances stated it has requested North Korea answer questions regarding 41 cases of forced disappearances. Pyongyang has yet to provide a response, Voice of America reported Friday. The cases include defectors and South Korean citizens who were kidnapped to the North during the 1950-53 Korean War.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...?spt=sec&or=tn