North Korea Agrees To Suspend Nuclear Activities 221
Hugh Pickens writes writes "In a breakthrough in negotiations with the secretive communist nation the Guardian reports that North Korea has agreed to suspend nuclear activities and to a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. According to U.S. State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, North Korea has agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment and confirm disablement of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. In return for the moratorium on nuclear activities at this key site, the United States has agreed to finalize a package of 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance to North Korea. There will be intensive monitoring to assure the delivery of such assistance is made to those in need, and not diverted to the military or government elites."
Re:Still in violation (Score:5, Informative)
Stalin used famine to crush those who opposed him. He caused one! Holodomor not ringing a fucking bell for you?
North Korea saw true famine in the 90s, it only made their people more sure that the west was the evil empire. Famine only proves to the people of North Korea that we are their enemies and only the Kims are keeping them alive.
Comment removed (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Still in violation (Score:5, Informative)
You don't know about the North Korean Famine?
The "Arduous March" is not something you are familier with, but you think we should take your opinion seriously?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine [wikipedia.org]
Famine is not new to North Korea, it will not topple their regime.
Re:Still in violation (Score:3, Informative)
It's so cute that you think they'll will actually use this food for anything but feeding the military and the government people or to sell it for money. You do realize that dictators routinely lie about these things, right?
Re:Still in violation (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a little tidbit from Slate: ... he seized all the grain and food that was grown in 1932 and 1933 to feed the rest of Russia and raise foreign capital, and in doing so left the entire Ukrainian people with nothing to eat—except, sometimes, themselves. ...
One more horror story. About a group of women who sought to protect children from cannibals by gathering them in an "orphanage" in the Kharkov region:
"One day the children suddenly fell silent, we turned around to see what was happening, and they were eating the smallest child, little Petrus. They were tearing strips from him and eating them. And Petrus was doing the same, he was tearing strips from himself and eating them, he ate as much as he could. The other children put their lips to his wounds and drank his blood. We took the child away from their hungry mouths and we cried."
If interested, read the whole article at http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_spectator/2011/02/stalins_cannibals.single.html
Re:Suspend not end (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Food is fungible. (Score:4, Informative)
Start dumping cheap/free food on their markets, put all the local farmers out of business.
Those don't exist in DPRK, at least not legally. The "Market" was extinguished in the 60's. Almost everything you get comes from the government, and money is almost symbolic. Until the later part of the 80's peasants were not even permitted a private garden for producing their own food.
Also, only about 1/5 of North Korea is arable. This is a country which falls far short of being able to produce enough food to feed its people even under ideal circumstances. Since most farms of any significant size are government owned or controlled, and those working them are not guaranteed any share of what they produce. Aid to the people is a good thing, and trying to spin it otherwise is disingenuous.