19 January 2010: KCNA Announces Purge of “Class Enemies”

CHILLING WORDS FROM KCNA, as it calls for “struggle against anti-socialist moves:”

It is also important to struggle against allies and stooges of the imperialists. A fierce struggle should be waged against the class enemies within the socialist society. All those who try to destabilize the socialist society are the enemies of socialism. They include remnants of the exploiting classes who harbor antipathy towards the socialist system, those who work hard overtly and covertly to bring down the socialist system after being greased by imperialists, those who have degenerated ideologically and morally, taken in by the imperialists’ ideological and cultural poisoning and those who are introducing corrupt bourgeois way of life into society. Only when a fierce struggle is waged against them is it possible to protect and reinforce the position of socialism.

This is going to end very badly for a lot of people who are just trying to scrape through another winter. Meanwhile, the Chosun Ilbo is reporting that the regime will soon close down all of North Korea’s large markets, leaving only “farmers’ markets” intact. In North Korea, farmers’ markets can only open once every ten days.

MORE THREAXERCISES in North Korea:

“North Korea was observed to have conducted the joint army, navy and air force drill in a western coastal area near Pyongyang on Friday,” the source said. “About 10 jet fighters, warships and 240-mm multiple-launch missile systems were mobilized in the training,” it added.

WHY YES, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, a larger military is exactly what North Korea needs. Sheesh.

STILL DOING KIM JONG IL’S BIDDING in the National Assembly:

South Korea’s opposition Democratic and Democratic Labor parties are blocking government efforts to conduct even a basic investigation on the human rights situation in North Korea. No South Korean textbooks teach students about the human rights situation in the North.

SOUTH KOREA RE-REVISES A SCHOOL TEXTBOOK on North Korea, undoing previous Roh-era revisions:

“It looks at such matters as the North’s habit of simultaneously pursuing hardline and conciliatory strategies toward the South. The North’s aim remains turning South Korea into a communist state, it says, and this will not change until the Juche (self-sufficiency) and Songun (military-first) ideologies are abolished and the entire system changes.”

I’d prefer see the schools teach critical thinking skills and let the people form their own political opinions, but I’m happy to see the unifiction propaganda excised out.

THERE’S ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE: You’d think that the whole Kaesong experience would have taught South Korean businesses something by now. The bigger picture, however, is that inter-Korean trade continues to fall.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR FEBRUARY 11TH: “Iranian opposition groups flooded the Web on Monday with calls for a massive show of force during next month’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, openly taunting authorities who have warned of a punishing response to any disruptions of the most hallowed day in the Iranian political calendar.” What courage these people have. I’m convinced they’re going to win. It’s just a matter of when, and at what cost.