6 March 2010

So I wasn’t able to make it to Korus House to see the Venerable Pomnyun speak, but the Hankroyeh, of all places, cites him as saying that two thousand people have starved to death in North Korea since The Great Confiscation. I’m tempted to fall back on ordinarily reliable maxim that everything the Hanky publishes is false just because it’s published in the Hanky, but in this case, it’s slightly more complicated than that. First, it’s likely that that many North Korean prisoners or kotjaebi would have starved to death even without The Great Confiscation, but we’ll never know for certain. Second, I don’t doubt that The Great Confiscation has caused the deaths of many North Koreans, whether through suicide, execution, or starvation. Third, I don’t believe either Good Friends or any other organization with contacts inside North Korea has developed those contacts sufficiently to make reliable estimates. Undercounting seems much more likely than overcounting, but both are distinct possibilities. Fourth, I cite Good Friends frequently because they’re a valuable source for reporting anecdotes from which we can infer general trends, but I would caution anyone against relying on them for statistical information.

Axis, Schmaxis: Janes publishes new imagery of an Iranian missile launch site and finds a North Korean connection.

Update: I went on Google Earth, where I found and marked the base camp, but GI Korea does me one better and finds what may be the construction site Janes refers to. Assuming that’s the right place, the similarities aren’t any more obvious to me than they are to GI Korea, but if I’m reading the imagery dates correctly, they’re about a year old. Maybe Janes has newer images and more interpretive skill than me.

The Chosun Ilbo cites a Radio Free Asia report (good luck finding it) that even Pyongyang’s shops and hotels for foreigners are running out of food:

Radio Free Asia on Wednesday quoted a member of an American NGO who recently visited the North to deliver aid as saying shops in Pyongyang are empty, there are few foreigners in hotels, and construction has come to a standstill.

The American recalled that even no kimchi, the staple spicy delicacy of Korea, was found among dishes of Korean food served in the Koryo Hotel. He wondered if the hotel could not afford to make it due to skyrocketing prices. He had visited the North for more than 10 years, but it was the first time no kimchi was served, he added.

RFA quoted a Western diplomat in Pyongyang as saying foreigners travel to the Chinese border town of Dandong at weekends because they cannot find daily necessities even in designated shops in the North.

Hmmm.

Your giggle for today, hat tip to Curtis:

Brookings has released the latest update to its Iraq Index.