March 7, 2004
GIVE THEM A SHOVE:
North Koreans 'ready to revolt' (JULIAN RYALL, 3/07/04, The Scotsman)
ORDINARY people in North Korea are ready to revolt against dictator Kim Jong Il, according to three fishermen who risked their lives to flee the country three decades after being abducted by its agents.Few escapees ever publicly speak out for fear of endangering the lives of wives, children and friends left behind in North Korea.
But the three men now in South Korea said it was their duty to tell the world what was happening inside the world’s most secretive state.
With a nuclear weapons programme and an unpredictable and volatile leadership, North Korea is also thought to be the most dangerous nation in the world.
Lee Jae Keyn, whose trawler was seized by a gunboat in April 1970 and who was forced to spend the next 30 years in the north, said: "The top ranks of the military believe very strongly in Kim and will protect the regime, but the ordinary people are saying things about him behind his back.
"They’re very dissatisfied with the regime and, if the leadership believes its grip on power is beginning to slip and starts to turn on the people, they will definitely rise up and attack the military at the local level.
"There are 1.2 million people in the North Korean armed forces who will fight for Kim Jong Il, but the people won’t."
Shock and awe. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 7, 2004 7:45 PM
My secret plan would be to announce that the US will give green cards to the first 100,000 North Koreans to make it across the border to China. I am sure that neither the South Koreans or the Chineses would be happy, but I bet it would de-stabilize the NoKo regime in a way reminiscent of East Germany 1989.
Posted by: TM at March 7, 2004 10:22 PMUh, how about just 50,000.
Posted by: genecis at March 8, 2004 11:25 AMOK, 100,000 with the opportunity for those qualified to enlist in the American Foreign Legion with the benefit of full citizenship upon honorable discharge.
Posted by: genecis at March 8, 2004 4:05 PM