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That monetary bit raised an eyebrow here too - either that's a forced and false confession or weird behaviour by a church. The CIA isn't entirely unknown to ope
by madaxe_again 11y ago
That monetary bit raised an eyebrow here too - either that's a forced and false confession or weird behaviour by a church. The CIA isn't entirely unknown to operate through front organisations (they almost always do).
That said, more likely is the bit about the Z society, who have a track record of getting their supplicants variously arrested and killed over the last century and a bit, who were probably the ones actually pushing the idea.
- wodenokoto 11y agoI don't get why NK would think that story is particularly good. It just seems odd from every angle, except the Z-society, if we are willing to believe they are grade A assholes who would put up a fake monetary reward to convince someone to get in a lot of trouble.
- madaxe_again 11y agoOh, the monetary award is likely real - the collective worth of their members is in the billions.
- krzrak 11y ago> I don't get why NK would think that story is particularly good. From the history of their actions, they don't seem to have very brilliant people in charge ;)
- crispyambulance 11y agoThis has nothing to do with "the crime" of stealing a banner. I suspect the story was made-up not by the student but by some official in government. To them, it sounds more plausible that someone would do this for a 10000 payout than simply for the satisfaction of having kick-ass dorm-room swag from North Korea. Whatever the story is, it doesn't matter. The NK government is perhaps batshit crazy, but they're not stupid. The detainee is going to be a bargaining chip.
- pdabbadabba 11y agoExactly this. And it helps NK's preferred narrative if he was somehow manipulated by forces larger than himself--both because it makes Americans look desperate for any material advantage they can get, and because it makes the crime more easily forgiven when/if he is ultimately released.
- JulianMorrison 11y agoI figure it's basically a coded ransom demand. "There, we've made it clear we don't care about reality, there's no way to lawyer out of this, we've got him and we mean to keep him, unless you can make an offer to change our minds?"
- benologist 11y agoWho does the story have to be good for? Kim doesn't give a shit if anyone believes it or not outside of NK, and will execute anyone who questions it from within.
- nsajko 11y agoDo you maybe have any references about the deaths linked to the Z society? Googling does not yield much.