Comrade nathan said:
How could you possible know that Kim Il Jong neglects his people? Just because a country has problems doesn't mean the leaders neglect the situation. Does Howard neglect the farmers? Or can we safely acknowledge there is a drought?
How could you possibly know that Kim Il Jong cared for his people? Tell me since you are so sure that he is a good leader, what have he done for the benefit of North Korean people with source? John Howard just announced a $ 750 million drought relief to farmers yesterday, $350 down payment with $ 400 million as broader package. (AAP and the Australian). That is what a leader who care for his people should do.
On May 15, Choe Su-hon, one of Pyongyang's nine deputy foreign ministers, quantified the grim truth at a Unicef conference in Beijing. Almost a quarter of a million people - 220,000 to be exact - died of famine between 1995 and 1998. As a result, and also due to medical shortages, average life expectancy fell from 73.2 in 1993 to 66.8 in 1999. Showing who exactly bore the brunt, infant mortality (under 5s) almost doubled from 27 to 48 per 1,000 people. Choe also gave data on a related disaster: his country's wider health care crisis. In 1994, 86 percent of people had access to save drinking water; by 1996, only 53 percent did. And the rate of vaccination against polio and measles fell from 90 percent in 1990 to just 50 percent by 1997. http://www.atimes.com/koreas/CE23Dg02.html
That was from North Korean official themselves who normally refuse to give details, and is likely a conservative estimate.
But nature knows no DMZ. Flood and drought have hit South Korea too. Some people drowned, and more lost property - yet nobody starved. That is the difference between sensible socio-economic systems, efficient and flexible, and stupid ones. In this sense, North Korea's famine like most others must be seen as man-made: to be more exact, Kim-made.
In the north of Korea there was a drought followed by floods during the 90s, this caused the famine. The DPRK did not have the fertile land or an economy which could access surpluss food. Now however the DPRK is slowly regrowing from the 1990's,
Who's fault is that they don't have access to surplus food produced by Australia, USA, India, and Europe? No one forced North Korea to close its doors, in fact, these country would love to sell their excess produce to North Korea very much, instead, it refuse to buy foods and spend a huge portion of the country's budget for military programme. Yeah thats very responsible for Kim Jong Il.
I doubt that people actually starve in the north of Korea these days. There would be considerable nutrution problems though. Provided steady growth is sustained and aid is continued the DPRK will be better prepared for natural disasters.
Nutritional problems in North Korea is caused by lack of food, if people do not have enough food to eat they starve. Why are North Korean so poor compared to South Korea? They live side by side, with the same soil, the same climate, the same race, the same language, and culture?
Why do they have to rely on AID in the first place? begging to the world for food and then spend the only money you have to produce useless weapons and war machine. Is that what you consider responsible leader? probably for you but not for North Korean.
It seems that because the DPRK is isolated from the west, people think they can claim anything. Have any of you actually read the DPRK consitution? It's also wierd the idea people have that the DPRK intend to harm another nation. People often make this claim, that Kim has plans to bomb Japan or even South Korea. No where have I seen a legitimate source presented. It is often a south Korean or some unammed north Korean which is presented through a south Korean.
Give us your source where people claim Kim plan to bomb Japan or South Korea. What is the relevance of North Korean constitution? A constitution of typical communist country where right to equality, freedom, religion, expression or speech, freedom of press, freedom of thought and every kind of freedom you can imagine are written in details , none of those rights extended to the people.