Meanwhile, at the Theater . . .

At this moment, as you read this, young children in Ryongchon and Sinuiju are dying prolonged, agonized deaths. Their parents sit beside their kids in helplessness and despair, watching them die.

And what are their government’s leaders doing to respond to the crisis and ease their suffering? They’re all at the theater, watching creepy mass games. Meanwhile, truckloads of aid and busloads of doctors and nurses are blocked at the border. The risk of political infection is apparently a greater concern than scores of children dying of real ones.

This suffering is as unnecessary as the accident itself, and as preventable as the famine. In fact, it’s a microcosm of the famine itself. The only issue open to debate is whether the North Korean government actually wants them to die or simply doesn’t care.