Defectors: NK’s Regime Killing Disabled and “Racial Impure” Children
As Andrew Sullivan points out, in the West we have a tendency to laugh at Kim Jung-Il every now and then, for instance because of NK’s ridiculously sad state of technology or Kim Jung-Il’s porn-obsession. But we should never forget that he does not just pose a threat to us, to the West and to stability in the region, but also to his own people. Make no mistake about it, Kim Jung-Il is one of the most brutal dictators living today.
THE North Korean regime’s obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors.
The latest description of Kim Jong-il’s policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.“There are no people with physical defects in North Korea,� Ri said. Such babies were put to death by medical staff and buried quickly, he claimed. He denied ever committing the act himself.
When talking about North Korea, we should always remember things like this.
Exiles in Seoul said Ri was now keeping a low profile, fearing retaliation by North Korean agents, who have assassinated foes in the South Korean capital before. But his account added to the evidence that the Kim family dictatorship is founded on mystical notions of Korean racial superiority rather than Marxism — a reality that explains its deepening estrangement from China.
Perhaps the UN should put some more sanctions on North Korea.
I am sure that’ll work….
UPDATE
Talking about sactions: what a surprise. This is going to be a shocker for all of you, I am sure but… South Korea and China have already said that despite the ‘sanctions’ “that business and economic relations would be largely unaffected.”
A day after the Council unanimously passed the resolution, following nearly a week of intensive diplomatic negotiations, the South Korean government said it would still pursue economic projects with North Korea, including an industrial zone and tourist resort in the North. Those projects are not explicitly covered by the Security Council resolution, but they are an important source of hard currency for the North.
China, which shares a 870-mile porous border with North Korea and is perhaps its most critical economic gateway to the outside world, said Saturday that it had no intention of stopping and inspecting cross-border shipments, as called for, but not specifically required, in the resolution. The Chinese government said nothing on Sunday about how it intended to carry out the sanctions, and American officials said they would be focused on whether the normal trade flow across the border was slowed.
H/t Hot Air.
24 Responses to “Defectors: NK’s Regime Killing Disabled and “Racial Impure” Children”
No surprise re: China. You are right about Kim. The 20th century produced some truly bizarre dictators: Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Kim Il-Jong and Kim Il-Song, Pol Pot, Mobutu Sese Seko. But these people were also incredibly brutal too. Their reign was no joke to their countrymen.
While I’m not at all surprised about the lack of resolve to enforce sanctions and inspection of shipments, I’m not enthusiastic about the use of sanctions as leverage against dictators anyway. History has shown that the dictators almost always benefit from these conditions; they find ways to maintain their own lifestyles while allowing their people to starve, while simultaneously enjoying the propaganda effect of blaming outsiders for the squalid conditions within their borders. I don’t think that the conditions for advancement of peace and prevention of tyranny will take hold until we figure out alternative ways to deal with dictators instead of the two main choices we’ve used so far: sanctions or war. I think that employing sanctions mainly allows the West to feel it is taking the high moral route, when actually we are doing more harm than good.
The racism of this region is nothing new. The Japanese comitted war crimes in Korea and we didn’t have a Nuremberg-like trial. He’s got a ways to go before he joins the Idi Amin Pol Pot crowd. The Vietnamese didn’t trust the Chinese during the Vietnam War and our CIA missed that one.
I was sarcastic in the article CS about sanctions working, etc.
I knew you were being sarcastic MvdG: my comments weren’t meant to criticize your remarks. Sorry if it came across that way!
CS: I think that employing sanctions mainly allows the West to feel it is taking the high moral route, when actually we are doing more harm than good.
You’re right, sanctions haven’t work before and they won’t now.
Rambie,
Do you have any ideas of how international law could be enforced though? I’ve mulled it over and so far I haven’t been able to come up with much of substance. It has always seemed to me that there should be a way for the international community to remove despots, but how?
Maybe a little saltpeter in their caviar – LOL.
Or a little degreaser on the POTUS mountaibike chain, call the SS – LOL.
How exactly does Jong Il pose a threat to the US or western Europe?
To his neighbors sure. But to the US or Europe? Not so much IMO.
Davebo,
Do you think that he will hesitate to sell or trade nuclear devices to terrorists?
C Stanley I’m in favor of a “obliteration if attacked” policy where if we did sell the devices to terrorists and they were used then we would destroy their country in retaliation. All nuclear weapons have very distinct signatures (biological ones do as well) where you can tell more or less exactly who created them if you know the techniques involved. If we were attacked by a terrorist it would become evident rather shortly where the bomb came from, and it doesn’t seem like he is completely suicidal.
CS His WMD’s are a used car without wheels and the engine doesn’t run. Pakistan had another coup attempt and you worry about a Nork of short stature.
Mikkel,
I think you’re probably right but I was just responding to Davebo’s point that he didn’t see a threat to the US; I can’t see an argument that there’s no threat, just that there are things we can do to mitigate it.
Rudi:
I wasn’t ranking NK as the premier threat to US security, just putting them on the list of potential threats.
C Stanley:
Yeah, I’ve been curious about this one too. Seems like the only answer is either groups with international sovereignty, which no dictator would sign on to, or war and regime change/ nation building. Can anyone think of any country which was successfully ‘built’ after removing a dictator?
I agree that sanctions don’t seem to be working, but maybe they are the best of all rotten responses. From what I’ve heard there are two prevailing theories on how you get domestic, democratic revolutions. One, the sanction method, puts forth the idea that you get revolution through economic crisis; that the hard lives of the underclass causes them to take up arms and overthrow the government. The other theory is that strong economies with oppressive governments leads to a social crises where the bourgeois are economically wealthy, but politically and culturally repressed, causing them to revolt. So if we are not going to take the sanction route does that mean the only recourse is to strengthen NK’s economy? Make them so fat on carrots that they revolt? Maybe the suffering of innocents is necessary if we are unable or unwilling to remove the dictator by force ourselves?
Sanctions and “good leadership” worked in South Africa.
The South African govt was unjust but not a dictatorship; the leaders still had to stand for elections so they had to care about the prosperity of at least the people who were allowed to vote. The dictators that we’re talking about don’t have to be reelected of if they do then they’re only sham elections. Thus the forces that determine the success of sanctions would be the ones that Kevin H described: trying to create conditions for a violent uprising from within the country.
If you lived in Soweto or your name was Biko it was a dictatorship. SA is a model that even India or Israel could learn to emulate.
Yes but if your last name was a Dutch one, then it was a democracy for you. Not to defend that the Afrikaans weren’t represented, but there’s still a difference in the response of a govt that has to answer to at least a portion of their population.
It has always seemed to me that there should be a way for the international community to remove despots but how?
I vote for the CIA-backed bloodless coup. Old-fashioned but effective. Of course, NK is such a closed society with an extremely well-trained army, that this option does not work for removing Kim Jong Il.
I vote for the CIA-backed bloodless coup.
Is there such a thing?
Panama was pretty close; unless Noriega’s eardrums were bleeding.
Actually I stand corrected: I just reviewed info on the Panama invasion and I see that there were some casualties.
Actually I stand corrected: I just reviewed info on the Panama invasion and I see that there were some casualties
Not as many as there’ll be if that nutjob is left in power. They’ve already declared that they interpret the UN sanctions as an act of war.Also, China is already considering a coup. Look at the other options:
1. Try the sanctions- as CS points out correctly, these usually fail in a dictatorship- and end up hurting the population, not the leadership. The leadership then gleefully directs the blame for squalid conditions at those employing the sanctions, thereby unifying the country against us and our regional allies. SK and China have already balked at implementing them.
2. Try direct talks- while I’m in favor of trying everything and anything, Kim is notorious for cheating on any agreement. It could be used to deliver a very direct threat, but then we would have to figure out how to back it up in a meaningful way.
3.Air attacks on nuclear facilities- This has been considered and rejected as they are buried in the mountains, and intelligence on their location is even worse than on where WMD’s were in Iraq.
4. Ground invasion- Will lead to possible casualties of one million South Koreans. Kim’s army is large and well-trained. Also they have 11 thousand missiles aimed at Seoul. Instant bloodbath.
5. Nuclear preemptive attack- instant bloodbath–loss of allied support on this issue-loss of moral high ground. Out of the question.
6. Infiltration by special forces- very difficult due to the closed nature of NK society. Our forces would be easily detected and probably executed to maximize humiliation of our failure.
7. Naval blockade- could easily lead to regional conflagration if not done with allied consent, but maybe.
8. Increased isolation of NK- not effective- they are already the most isolated dictatorship in the world. If the Chinese agreed to stop sending humanitarian aid, could lead to mass starvation.
Honestly, why bother even posting this stuff?
The right already knows Kim Jong-Il is pure evil. Sure, it interests us. But the left doesn’t give a damn about such things. Nothing like this concerns the left unless they can somehow pin the blame for it on domestic right-wing political opponents or on “racism” or “imperialism” or “colonialism” or “capitalism.”
Mikkel,
Yeah, like our knowledge of Kim Jong-Il’s nuclear program is overwhelming. We don’t even know the geology of the area where he tested his recent nuclear device. What gives you any assurance that we can positively forensically identify the origin of the weapon under such circumstances? Better idea: terrorists use weapons anywhere in the world and we will not ask any questions, we will simply assume North Korea had a hand in it and nuke them. The same goes for Iran once they obtain nuclear weapons. We cannot afford to wait around trying to figure out who did it in the event we are attacked. Likely suppliers should simply be hit.