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ok.. so north korea says no. now what? do you believe that if people are starving, north koreans will overthrow their government? if so, why do you believe tha

ok.. so north korea says no. now what? do you believe that if people are starving, north koreans will overthrow their government? if so, why do you believe that? In 94-98, upwards of 3.5m people starved to death (almost 20% of their population at the time). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine I can't see any reason why it wouldn't play out exactly the same way this time. what's changed? Edit: also remember, during this time, the elites were fed. It was ordinary people who starved. There was no rebellion.

quantumhobbit 10y ago
I this is the root of the problem. NK elites are perfectly willing to let their people starve to death. Any help from the outside will be completely on their terms.
- lisper 10y ago
  > NK elites are perfectly willing to let their people starve to death. If that were true they wouldn't be asking for help in the first place.
  - nickff 10y ago
    The starving people are a useful tool for extracting supplies from more developed countries; much if not all of this food will be siphoned off to bribe the elites. Famines are also a useful tool to help the tyrant punish areas which are not 'compliant'.
lisper 10y ago
> ok.. so north korea says no. now what? Wait a week. Then fold, saying, "OK NK, you called our bluff." (But of course, you can't announce that part of the plan up front.) > do you believe that if people are starving, north koreans will overthrow their government? No. As you point out, that experiment has already been done, with negative results. The goal here is not to overthrow the government, the goal is to sow the seeds of doubt in the Dangerous Fiction. > what's changed? The goal: to sow the seeds of doubt in the Dangerous Fiction.
- rgbrenner 10y ago
  > Wait a week. Then fold, saying, "OK NK, you called our bluff." ok, that's a lot more realistic.

quantumhobbit 10y ago

I this is the root of the problem. NK elites are perfectly willing to let their people starve to death. Any help from the outside will be completely on their terms.

lisper 10y ago
> NK elites are perfectly willing to let their people starve to death. If that were true they wouldn't be asking for help in the first place.
- nickff 10y ago
  The starving people are a useful tool for extracting supplies from more developed countries; much if not all of this food will be siphoned off to bribe the elites. Famines are also a useful tool to help the tyrant punish areas which are not 'compliant'.

lisper 10y ago

> ok.. so north korea says no. now what? Wait a week. Then fold, saying, "OK NK, you called our bluff." (But of course, you can't announce that part of the plan up front.) > do you believe that if people are starving, north koreans will overthrow their government? No. As you point out, that experiment has already been done, with negative results. The goal here is not to overthrow the government, the goal is to sow the seeds of doubt in the Dangerous Fiction. > what's changed? The goal: to sow the seeds of doubt in the Dangerous Fiction.

rgbrenner 10y ago
> Wait a week. Then fold, saying, "OK NK, you called our bluff." ok, that's a lot more realistic.