28 December 2009: Another Nuke Test, Proliferation Updates, Hard Times for N. Korean Workers Abroad

BRING IT ON: There’s speculation that North Korea may test yet another nuke, to which I say, that’s one less it can sell.

MORE ON THE LOGISTICAL CHAIN behind the Bangkok weapons seizure, at the Wall Street Journal. Still no finality on the final destination for the weapons, however, though I’m sticking with my educated guess that it was Iran, in part because the shipment contained parts for long-range missiles.

IF YOU CAN’T TRUST A FELLOW MARXIST OLIGARCH, WHO CAN YOU TRUST? Here’s proof, if more were needed, that North Korea would sell weapons to anyone. According to this report, North Korea has been selling weapons to Congolese rebels — probably in addition to the government forces whose soldiers it had trained. I’m ambivalent about some of the Congolese rebels, who are ethnic Tutsis originally mobilized by Rwanda and Burundi to fight against the genocide of their people by the Hutus — a classic case of people taking up arms to stop a genocide that the U.N. wouldn’t. There aren’t any heroes in that terrible war, but the worst villains are the Mai-Mai militias the Tutsi rebels are fighting. The Congolese government, by the way, has the armed backing of the armies of Angola and North Korean ally Zimbabwe. The lesson? Not even Robert Mugabe can trust Kim Jong Il.

NORTH KOREAN WORKERS IN DUBAI are feeling the effects of its recession. As always, that “voluntary” wage withholding is an added burden.

MEANWHILE, IN RUSSIA, a group of North Korean loggers has defected. Those workers probably labor under worse conditions than most prisoners.

MORE ON THE SPREAD OF CELL PHONES in North Korea.

SF GATE REVIEWS BARBARA DEMICK’S “Nothing to Envy,” which I’ll soon get to read, thanks to Ms. Demick reaching out to me and offering me a review copy. I’ve been looking forward to this one (hat tip to a reader).