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The sanctions are intended to exacerbate the destitution and starvation in North Korea in order to provoke political upheaval. They are also just the current st
by dahdum 5y ago
The sanctions are intended to exacerbate the destitution and starvation in North Korea in order to provoke political upheaval. They are also just the current strategy, and have been ineffective from a humanitarian perspective.
I wouldn’t undermine them personally, but I understand how a rational person could come to believe it was even a moral obligation to do so.
- freemint 5y agoThe sanctions are to slow the nuclear weapon program and that an ally (south korea) has to spend less on defense.
- postsantum 5y agoTwo questions: 1) Why SK spending less on defense is a good thing for US? 2) Now that Russia is under even more sanctions, why not share some rocket tech with Kim and accelerate their program?
- tofuahdude 5y ago> intended to exacerbate the destitution and starvation What support is there for this statement?
- dahdum 5y agoI’ll rephrase. While the intent is to topple or pacify the government by starving the regime, this strategy essentially requires the suffering of the people. Happy and content people don’t revolt or push for political change. We are openly doing this to Russia right now, rooting for the economic collapse and stark decline of living standards. In both situations we assume that making life much more difficult for the people now will achieve our goals.
- awillen 5y agoIf he were smuggling in food, sure, but I struggle to see how helping the North Korean government use crypto is going to lead to the people eating better.
- af78 5y agoQuoting one of the lawyers who helped draft sanctions law: https://freekorea.us/sanctions-nkspea-faq/ https://freekorea.us/sanctions-nkspea-faq/ """ Section 207 of the NKSPEA contains broad exemptions for food imports and humanitarian aid, and provides for waivers for humanitarian reasons, or when a waiver is important to the national security or economic interests of the United States. The Treasury Department has also published general licenses permitting humanitarian aid. """
- syshum 5y agoAnd yet they still starve, it is almost like crippling economic systems but allowing shipments of rice is not humanitarian at all, but more a "face saving" position so they can claim they are not the baddies
- JustLurking2022 5y agoIt's almost like the place is run by a dictator who would take food out of the mouth of his own people to fund a nuclear weapons program that serves no purpose other than to keep him in power.
- dahdum 5y agoIt’s exactly like that, but that was always the most likely result and hardly a surprise. The sanctions are meant to drive a wedge between the regime and the people.
- syshum 5y agoHmm if only there was an economic system or currency that could be used outside the control of authoritarian governments... I wonder what we would call it.....
- JustLurking2022 5y agoThe USD - crypto is an amazing tool for authoritarian regimes looking to evade sanctions. Assuming that's where you were trying to go, you totally misunderstand the problem. People in oppressive regimes can have all the crypto in the world but, if every time they use it to buy food, there's a guy with a gun who takes it for the regime, then it's even more useless than it's normal Monopoly money status.