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Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

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Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#121

Post by mfru »

syndicatedjelly wrote: post #42

Government officials carefully select workers to send to China, screening them for their political loyalties to reduce the risk of defections. To qualify, a person must generally have a job at a North Korean company and a positive evaluation from a local Party official. “These checks start at the neighborhood,” Breuker said. Candidates who have family in China, or a relative who has already defected, can be disqualif…

> I don't think I"m ever gonna complain about my job in America again.

Voilá, this is how those in power are kept in power.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#122

Post by Despegar »

givemeethekeys wrote: post #116
Despegar wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have for decades since the armistice agreement was signed in 1953 after the Korean War.

Wikipedia disagrees: "In February–March 2021, South Korea continued to omit North Korea's "enemy" status from the South Korean military's White Paper after downgrading the status of Japan" It gets worse from there. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93South_Kore...

Apparently you have a higher standard for "get along" than I do. I think not being actively at war for decades qualifies.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#123

Post by boomboomsubban »

givemeethekeys wrote: post #116
Despegar wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have for decades since the armistice agreement was signed in 1953 after the Korean War.

Wikipedia disagrees: "In February–March 2021, South Korea continued to omit North Korea's "enemy" status from the South Korean military's White Paper after downgrading the status of Japan" It gets worse from there. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea%E2%80%93South_Kore...

How is "South Korea no longer rules them an enemy" disagreeing? Surely that's a sign of them getting along.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#124

Post by Moru »

tyre wrote: post #118
purplezooey wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think most people would assess the current state of industrial regulations in the US as having "massive regulatory red tape."

Building nuclear plants here is unbelievably difficult compared with similar countries.

That is interesting to know because that is used as an argument in other countries too.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#126

Post by Simon_ORourke »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #37
dimitri_deploys wrote: post #4

Absolutely incredible reporting. The risks taken by the sources both at the factories and within North Korea defy comprehension for anybody lucky enough not to fear that speaking out will endanger their family.

Indeed. And beyond the interviews, there is plenty of other examination of direct evidence including videos posted to social media, shipping records, packing labels. That evidence all supports the argument that the PRC and Chinese companies are complicit in violating sanctions. Further, it is telling that the NK government and their Chinese co-conspirators actively fight investigations. See the literature spread to w…

> That evidence all supports the argument that the PRC and Chinese companies are complicit in violating sanctions.

And this should surprise absolutely no-one. It's like it's 1980's Wall Street over there, and whatever makes a buck is what they do.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#128

Post by karolist »

Sabinus wrote: post #119
jimt1234 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in China years ago, I had a Chinese/local girlfriend whose brother-in-law owned a factory that "manufactured" small mechanical parts, like bolts, screws, springs, wire - stuff like that. She said that all the manufacturing was actually done in North Korea. The "factory" that he owned in China was all for show. He always knew when inspectors were coming, days in advance, and so he'd hire a few locals for…

Pre-warned inspections aren't inspections. The government or investigator should just show up at the door.

The idea I believe is to do so, but corruption makes these pre-warned anyway.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#129

Post by jojobas »

Sabinus wrote: post #120
jojobas wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The possibility to attain wealth and pass it on to your offspring has been driven the humanity since before Homo Sapiens. Removing it brings about the outright terror seen every time it gets removed. Change my mind.

It doesn't need to be one or the other. People should be able to give a good start to their kids, but not to make them as rich as countries when their children didn't do anything to deserve those resources.

Even then wealth mostly lasts 3 generations or so, either by dilution or squandering by the descendants. Trickle down economy of sorts. Exceptions like Rockefellers are rare and far between, and some might argue even they are net positive through their philanthropic efforts.

Re: Inside North Korea's Forced Labor Program

#130

Post by Log_out_ »

Despegar wrote: post #98

It's time for the US to end the sanctions on North Korea. The abuse workers face is a straight line result from the fact that virtually all aspects of their economy are under total embargo. North Korea is a nuclear state, and they will never go back to not being one. North Koreans have been working in China for decades and that won't change either because China is not going to let them become a failed state.

? Containment on imperial systems was removed. Russia invaded Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine. China colonized Hong Kong, uighurs, north Korea. Iran colonized Iraq, Yemen, Syria. Your liberal experiments have successfully brought back the world of 1910. And yet you endorse them..
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