That's not a very precise analysis. SK is vastly more developed than the north, including militarily. The only reason they don't have nuclear weapons is that they're under the US atomic umbrella. They could develop nukes very fast if they wanted to (as could Japan). While NK has crazy numbers of infantry soldiers and tanks, pretty much all military hardware of South Korea is vastly superior.
North Korean Missiles Can Hit Mainland US
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Moriarte
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Why weren't latest ballistic missiles shot out of the sky by vastly superior SK and US military hardware?
What kind of question is that? A modern tank is vastly superior to a WW2 tank, but it can't shoot down a projectile shot from a WW2 tank in the middle of its trajectory.
What's more, SK and the US didn't even try to shoot down that missile. Considering the missile was aimed at nowhere, trying to shoot it down would increase the probability of a fatality, not decrease it.
What you say shows that going the focussed economic way pays off very well: you get the superior weaponry as a positive side effect with spending a moderate percentage of your GDP.
Which is BTW the current long term China strategy.
Going full military with farming and stalinistic "communist" industrialising for economy is not as effective.
(EDIT but NK had not much choice there because the big 3 did not allow for peace, forcing more or less the Kim family to develop the ultimate weaponry at the expense of further strangling their normal economical (limited by sanctions) development, compared to for example Cuba)
But that does not at all take away the point I made because both choose their own focus, strongly influenced by their basic post 1953 position, and are in their historical cultural sentiments not that different.
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Erm.. Quick search gives that only 0.2% of North Korean export goes to Russia
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/prk/show/all/2015/
I think that exported labor is not added to those standard trade analysises, just like tourism. Tio find that out precisely you have to look for the money flow.
Also to consider is that there are for example 750,000 koreans living in Japan of which 300,000 side with NK.
Most koreans do not want to naturalise to japanese because they feel too attached to Korea, despite that most of them do not speak korean.
I saw somewhere an article that the 300,000 NK favouring community has even their own schools with big pictures of the Kim family.
I guess that private money is also flowing into NK and besides that there are I think a lot of other semi-trading possibilities for such a 5th colonne.
A bit like the financial support for the IRA from Irish immigrants-ancestor-citizens in for example the US.
http://www.everyculture.com/East-Southeast-Asia/Koreans-in-Japan.html
The slaves don't count in those transactions, as they're not exports. Nevertheless, we know that slave labor is a significant source of hard currency for NK, and Russia recently surpassed China as the main NK slave market.
Moriarte
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Well, shooting it down with ABM or whatever viable would fall within fire and fury promised by US president, yes? Or you think he'd prefer nuking Pyongyang and be done with little potatoes?
Anyway, concentrated Japanese/US/SK "vastly superior" military force just idles there for the Nth consecutive NK launch "aimed at nowhere". Is it really as superior as you claim it is?
EnglishEdward
Deity
It is now 24 years since Ronald Reagan announced his Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) on 23 March 1983.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative
Something ought to be working soon!
Your argument makes no sense. As I said nobody even tried to shoot down NK's missile, which was aimed at the ocean. Trying to intercept it would increase the risk of fatalities, not decrease it. If and when NK fires a missile against a real target, we'll be able to gage the effectiveness of the defense systems deployed by the US, Japan and SK.
Aleksey_aka_al
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I'm trying to spend less time on forums, but just can't stop myself from logging in to reply on this comment.
Could you, please, advice me, good gentleman, where can I buy a few slaves? I've recently purchased a used rocket launcher through the evil Chinese AliExpress and want to use some cheap humans for target practice. But there are no slaves on AliExpress left, everyone is sold, even the Somalis
innonimatu
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Could you, please, advice me, good gentleman, where can I buy a few slaves? I've recently purchased a used rocket launcher through the evil Chinese AliExpress and want to use some cheap humans for target practice. But there are no slaves on AliExpress left, everyone is sold, even the Somalis
Why, you are looking in the wrong place. Try Libya or some other "liberated" country. I heard that slave markers are thriving there.
Moriarte
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So, shooting icbms over Japan doesn't qualify for real target practice in your book? Gotcha. Does indeed sound rather peaceful. By the way, do you think US would show similar restraint if some Caribbean state X would shoot icbms over Florida casually? Aimed at the Atlantic ocean, similarly, of course..
Vladivostok is the place to go for North Korean slaves. Though they are the property of the NK regime, who only leases them to Russians. I don't think you can actually buy them, but who knows.I'm trying to spend less time on forums, but just can't stop myself from logging in to reply on this comment.
Could you, please, advice me, good gentleman, where can I buy a few slaves? I've recently purchased a used rocket launcher through the evil Chinese AliExpress and want to use some cheap humans for target practice. But there are no slaves on AliExpress left, everyone is sold, even the Somalis
It is very bellicose and could warrant a military response, yes. But not shooting down a missile not carrying any warhead and aimed at the ocean. Indeed, if a missile was shot aimed at the Atlantic Ocean and not carrying any warhead, the US would not try to shoot it down, because that would only increase the chance of creating a debris field over an area with air traffic. A later retaliatory response is another matter.
FriendlyFire
Codex WMDicanious
The entire North Korean Garment industry is like that, Business pay the North Korean government directly for labour. The South Koreans on seeing how malnourished the North Koreans worker are even feed them, But the State couldnt have that and cracked down on free food provided. The wealth of South Korea was too much, that free Cola and Choco pies was undermining the regime and exposing North Koreans workers to the evil wealth of capitalistic west.
The good news is the Regime grip is eroding away, via corruption and the collapsing Stalinist system.
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Aleksey_aka_al
Smiley
I've contacted a slave operator from Vladivostok, he said FSB bought everyone to use them as a human trigger against suicide bombers in Syria and to stage mass executions allegedly done by the Islamists.
That's why communism is superior, in fracking capitalism, a simple guy like me can't even buy a slave, while in a Stalinist utopia everyone gets one for free!!! Like they say, "Social program: Ukrainian woman to every household!"
The only info I can find about it, is that several thousands North Koreans work in Russia. Mainly as construction workers, obviously paid ones. Yes, that would give some additional currency for their country, but I doubt it will be significant amount.
Legally you cannot employ slaves in Russia. If they are being used illegally and on such a scale that it makes a difference for NK economy (like, hundreds of thousands people?), I wonder what is your source for that assertion.
Most likely, "slaves" here is a figurative term for low-wage workers legally employed in Russia.
I called them slaves because they are not allowed to keep their salaries. Typically, around 70% of their wages are confiscated by NK, which leaves them in precarious conditions. What's more, they're closely monitored by NK intelligence to avoid defections. Of course, it's still preferable than being in NK...
Russia is the biggest employer of this kind of "labor export". It's hard to know the exact value captured by NK, but monitor groups place it at around 700 million USD p.a. Considering NK only exports around 2 billion USD p.a., this is a very significant sum, and needs to be addressed if we're really to starve them from forex.
such a 700 million USD would matter
Just exercising my habit to crunch numbers everywhere
as a rough proxi:
There go roughly 60 rubbles in 1 dollar
and the minimum wage in Russia is approx 7,500 a month or 7,500:60 = 125 USD a month = 1,500 USD per year.
Assuming for sake of simplicity they make more working hours to get netted still that 1,500 USD to Kim.
To get that 700 million USD, we would need 700,000,000 : 1,500 = 700,000 : 1.5 = 467,000 North Koreans
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