Is DPRK's latest missile launch 'destabilizing actions' or 'strengthening national defense'? It's the latter. This is the result of the US holding ☮️hostage demanding DPRK's nukes as ransom.
North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile, second in a week aje.io/cn5mgz
2/We have to promote peace, reduce tensions & improve relations w/ the DPRK. Frank Aum shows that maximum pressure is inherently hostile, and DPRK has made clear that the US's "hostile policy" has to change before it will sit to talk. That's the name of
3/the game. If the US's position is: "That's not the game we're playing. You do as we say and fully denuclearize before we lift sanctions", the DPRK will say, "F*** you US", hunker down under sanctions and launch more missiles. That the US & allies are utterly blind to the
4/security concerns DPRK has (or indifferent which is worse) shows them to be acting the bully to a socialist sovereign state that is defending itself against US threats of nuclear first strike, decapitations strike & regime change. Or Cold War tunnel vision has made them stupid.
6/I guess nobody's got man pants among the US, ROK & allies who can negotiate getting DPRK to limit its nuclear & ICBM programs and agreeing to USFK staying in South Korea. So we wait for 2024...
COOPERATIVE FARMING IN THE DPRK 🚜👨🌾
Chongsan-ri Cooperative Farm - DPRK Guide
INTRODUCTION youngpioneertours.com/chongsan-ri-co…
"The Chongsan-ri Cooperative Farm is the most famous farm in North Korea...…[T]he DPRK government focused their efforts on making this particular cooperative farm
2/"the ideal model farm for the entire nation for others to learn the techniques taught to the local farmers here.
The term cooperative farm means hundreds sometimes thousands of North Korean families working together on land provided by the DPRK government to produce a single
3/"crop or multiple crops. The government gives the cooperative farm a targeted quota to reach each year. The more effort the families put into farming, the more they’re able to benefit from the number of crops they grow. Villages and towns are built for the locals as the
Average Monthly Expenses: From Single Person to Family of 5
Average monthly expenses range from $3,189 for one person to $6,780 for a family of five. nerdwallet.com/article/financ…
"Average monthly expenses for one person totaled $3,189, or $38,266 annually.
Average monthly expenses for
2/"a family of 2:
$5,572, or $66,861 annually."
Monthly/Yearly expenses include:
Rent/Mortgage payment
Healthcare insurance
Car Insurance
Food
Utilities
iPhone/ISP
Subscriptions
& whatever else.
Let's say Rick makes (net) $2,800/mo [= $33.6K/year]. He's neither rich nor poor.
3/Rick's monthly expenses average $1,800/mo, which allows him to save $1,000/mo [= $12K/year]. Then Rick reaches full retirement age, cashes in on his SSA retirement check and gets $1,800/mo but keeps working full-time, making $33.6K/year which could all go into savings.
South Korea is caught b/t a rock (the military option) and a hard place (admitting the North as a de facto nuclear state)
US-ROK Deterrence Architecture
[27 Feb 2018] theasanforum.org/us-rok-deterre…
“The military option, which involves attacking North Korea preemptively, cannot be South
2/“Korea’s choice, because its goal is peace and there is undeniable risk that military conflicts would ensue and possibly lead to a nuclear exchange. Still, surrendering to the rogue regime’s military ambitions by admitting the North as a de facto nuclear state should not occur.
3/“The right strategy can frustrate the enemy to surrender even without any conflict.”
No one wants to be caught b/t Scylla and Charybdis in a real-world situation. However ROK’s dilemma is largely of it’s own making, a perceived conundrum brought to life by inadequate problem-
The Calculus of Sanctions on the DPRK (Squeeze ‘Em Harder)
The true impact of North Korean sanctions
3 July 2019 eastasiaforum.org/2019/07/03/the…
“There are two issues that need consideration [in analyzing the economic impacts of sanctions on North Korea] — how sanctions are impacting the
2/“economy and where the economy figures in the regime’s cost–benefit calculations regarding its nuclear and missile programs.
In the longer run, things could become more dire if current difficulties persist for the country’s industry. For example, it is hard to see how any
3/“meaningful level of production of the most essential goods can continue…
Under the sanctions, North Korea is unable to sell its most crucial export goods. In 2018, Chinese imports from North Korea plummeted by 88 per cent. UN numbers show that Chinese imports of North
Trump’s ‘America First’ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_F…
"An America First National Security Strategy is based on American principles, a clear-eyed assessment of U.S. interests, and a determination to tackle the challenges that we face. It is a strategy of principled realism that is
2/"guided by outcomes, not ideology."
“America First refers to a policy stance in the United States coined by progressive, internationalist president Woodrow Wilson that generally emphasizes nationalism and non-interventionism…
“Trump…”agreed with a suggestion that his ideas
3/"might be summed up as 'America First'." Since that time the Trump campaign, and subsequently the Trump Administration, made 'America First' the cornerstone of Trump's foreign policy. The administration even branded its 2017 National Security Strategy of the United States of
The Real DPRK
What is the Juche ideology? youngpioneertours.com/what-is-juche-…
"If you were to ask a Korean, they would tell you that they follow what is Juche, political theory and philosophy unique to Korea and first conceptualized by president Kim Il-Sung.
2/"It certainly has its roots in traditional Marxism (the Workers Party of Korea began as the Communist Party of Korea) but it has since embraced what it considers an entirely unique philosophy.
The word itself is controversially translated. Koreans do not translate it into an
3/"English equivalent in their writings, though attempts have been made by foreign observers to draw meaning from the word. Most often, the ideology is described as meaning ‘self-reliance’ in reference to the Korean socialist model of opposing foreign influence in their affairs,