Last March South Korea expects that North Korea was the one who blew up a South Korea warship. Because of this the U.S. and it's allies are now trying to talk North Korea to get rid of it's weapons program. Obama recently went to South Korea to give a speech. It was not only a memorial speech to those who died in the 1950-1953 war but a speech for the future of North Korea.
In his speech he claims that North Korea is suffering from poverty. The biggest fix would be if they decide to break out of isolation and commit to foreign nations. Knowing North Korea, that is not happening anytime soon.
6 comments:
I think it's good of Obama to take the time to tell these countries that they are not the only ones who remember the war.
Unfortunately, I agree with Caroline in that it would seem there is no change coming soon to North Korea's isolation.
While Obama tries to do what he can, many countries are, sometimes justifiably [and sometimes not], against the US intervening in their affairs.
Still, with that said I don't think that Obama should give up on any of the US's efforts to help other countries like North Korea or Israel.
North Korea is an extremely sad country. It is highly affected by poverty, but not much is going to change. Every day, the citizens of North Korea live in fear and respect of their "Great Leader". They are highly brainwashed. For America to positively influence North Korea, it is going to be quite challenging. Many generations of North Koreans have already been forced to see America as the bad guy using domination to end their "safe and prosperous country." North Korea is one of the saddest cases in the world. If you were to look at a satellite picture of North Korea, it is completely dark. In reality though, the dear leader lives in a life of luxury, using many foreign goods. In reality though, North Korea is a very mysterious country that does have some technology, but is mostly an empty facade. President Obama is right to remind us of the difficult situation of North Korea with that country on the verge of creating or have created nuclear weapons. The use of nuclear weapons could potentially cause a lot of damage to the world. In the end, it is important for any President to remember the past, but also to use the past as lessons for the future. It was nice to see President Obama recognizing the stalemate on this most sacred day.
By the way, I feel that Israel is no comparison to North Korea. Israel is very well off these days with their high-tech companies and farming in the desert. I feel North Korea is a category on its own. There is almost no comparison to any other country.
Interesting facts about North Korea and Kin Jong-Il:
1. Their GDP per capita is $1,800 while in the US it's $46,442.
2. North Korea has the 4th largest army in the world with 1.1 million soldiers in their military and spends 25% of their GDP on their military. The US has the 2nd largerst army at 1.5 million soldiers and spends 4% of it's GDP on the military.
3. Pundits predicts that North Korea has 5,000 tons of chemical and biological weapons.
4. North Korea has an estimate 10 nuclear weapons to the 9,400 in the US and 12,000 in Russia.
5. The literacy rate in North Korea is 99%, which is the same as the US.
6. Citizens have the right to vote at 17, but there is only one party to vote for.
7. Re-education camps hold as many as 50,000 political prisoners, guilty of crimes.
8. There is no freedom of religion or press. Christians who distribute bibles can be executed.
9. An estimated 70,000-3,500,000 people have been executed by the North Korean government.
10. Kim Jong-Il's biography states that he doesn't defecate or urinate, in his first ever game of golf he shot 11 hole in ones, he planned to solve hunger in North Korea by breeding giant rabbits and he infects himself with the blood of virgins to stay young.
11. Citizens of North Korea are told that Kim Jong-Il and his father created the world and can control the weather.
12. Kim Jong-Il banished all short people in Pyongyang to uninhabited islands to take the "short" gene out of the gene pool.
13. Kim Jong-Il paid 4 million dollars to build a palace. The palace was built for the sole purpose of making a shrine to a basketball signed by Michael Jordan.
14. Kim Jong-Il is the largest importer of Hennessy in the world, importing $700,000 worth of Hennessy a year.
I'm done with typing for the night.
Well of course Obama has to do something interesting on Veteran's Day. He's being a public figure. North Korea is backward and won't Heel Face Turn anytime soon, so what's new?
That said, best wishes to North Korea's citizens, whether or not they know where they stand.
I agree Israel and North Korea are very different countries. I was not making a comparison of the two, I was just saying that they're both countries that have resisted US help.
I realize that this thread is not about Israel, but I would just like to point out that the US is perhaps one of the biggest contributor to Israel. We have poured billions of dollars into their country in almost all aspects. They have been very accepting of our aid and in fact have cooperated greatly with us. Sometimes, they just have to deal with their foreign policy and domestic issues.
I feel a better example would be Myanmar who has continuously denied any source of US help, since the comparisons between the two are much closer. In 2008, a gigantic cyclone hit Myanmar, but like North Korea they denied any source of outside help.
This link provides more information in how much money Israel have gotten. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
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