North Korea is mad at Rogen and Franco.

[Immortalfire]

Yeah, Kim pow Fat doesn't exactly give one a Darkseid impression.

 

[Thundercrack85]

You think North Korea doesn't have agents that operate all over the world ETM?

Probably not actually. They keep defecting once they find out other countries have food.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Just saying ETM, but the regime there is well connected to various criminal groups all over the world. And, yes, they do have agents that operate all over the world. Look it up. Though they concentrate their operations against the South, they do spy and perform espionage and other acts (including assassinations) far beyond South East Asia. And with a thin skinned and megalomaniac type at the top of the food chain there, who knows what the reaction would be? One night Seth Rogen is answering his door cuz he ordered Kimchi take out, and before he knows it his throat is slit. Just saying...

A few things:

1) North Korea is in East Asia, not SE Asia.

2) No one orders kimchi. It's a side-dish. It'd be like ordering bread.

3) No, they don't have agents operating all over the world. They may or may not have a handful in Seoul, but you're ascribing way too much power to them. And they're not connected to "various criminal groups" in the world. I have no idea where you got that.

I hate to pull the "I know what I'm talking about, because I lived in Seoul 6 years and have read a ton of books about NK-SK relations and have friends in military intelligence there" card, but well, I did, I have and I do.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

A few things:

1) North Korea is in East Asia, not SE Asia.

2) No one orders kimchi. It's a side-dish. It'd be like ordering bread.

3) No, they don't have agents operating all over the world. They may or may not have a handful in Seoul, but you're ascribing way too much power to them. And they're not connected to "various criminal groups" in the world. I have no idea where you got that.

I hate to pull the "I know what I'm talking about, because I lived in Seoul 6 years and have read a ton of books about NK-SK relations and have friends in military intelligence there" card, but well, I did, I have and I do.

JJJ I bend to your real world experience but ask for some elaboration on these thoughts.

1) At one point (still?) N. Korea was involved with massive amounts of counterfeiting of US currency and distributing it across East Asia (thank you for the correction), true or not? This requires connections to criminal groups, yes or no. I'm not being a *****e, I really want to know if you can enlighten me?

2) Have you seen JSA: Joint Security Area? N. Korea did send military and agents into many different countries. I wasn't trying to make them out to be at CIA/MI-6/MOSSAD/Cold War era KGB level today, but they do have agents and they do task them with the types of missions one would expect a government such as theirs to do. (If you read my previous posts you'll note I did say they concentrated on the South Koreans though.) Is any of that I just typed beyond the reach in any way? Again, truly let me know if I erred. Just saying, dictator types have used their intelligence services to their own personal ends and let's face it, Kim Un is most likely a dude who is just a bit out of touch with reality.

3)The Kimchi thing was my attempt at a joke. I live in NYC home to quite a few Korean eateries of various stripes. I live off of 8th avenue in Brooklyn's Sunset Park area, and it's a vibrant community of peoples of Pan-Asian descent, though majority Chinese it also has places representing Malaysian, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean cuisine.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I have seen JSA. The film is 15 years old and the height of NK's infiltration into other countries for assassinations, sabotages and abductions was 25 to 40 years ago.

It's true. They bombed a SK Presidential convoy on a visit in Burma (Myanmar) in the early 80's and killed some top-level aides and advisors to the SK President, I believe. They abducted some Japanese students off the coast of Japan. And from the 60's into the 90's they had pretty audacious incursions into Seoul using hidden tunnels or coming ashore covertly. But I still thought you were overstating their power with agents all around the world and connections to criminal groups all over the world. All over Asia? Maybe. But there's no way a North Korean would be able to sneak into the US undetected or under a false VISA. I just don't see that happening in a post-9/11 environment. I think NK's sphere is pretty limited to Asia and some connections with rogue Middle-East or Persian countries like Iran.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I read a good article about NK on Cracked not that long ago and the article said they have these crazy NK restaurants in Asia that serve "authentic" NK dishes at insane prices. It's basically just a big money laundering scheme for their drug trade. Apparently NK is big into meth and bootleg prescription drugs

EDIT: Also they counterfeit cigarettes with horrible stuff

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I went to a NK restaurant in Shanghai once. Curiosity got the better of me. The food was actually great, but I know people in NK aren't eating that.

EDIT: I'm pretty shy with my private life here, but maybe I'll put some pics up of it, the dishes, menu if people want to see them later.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Also you would think Seth and James would be cool with NK since they have legal weed there. Even their military can smoke it

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Also you would think Seth and James would be cool with NK since they have legal weed there. Even their military can smoke it

Where did you read that?

I know in the 50's US POWs used to pick it in the mountains and get high, but NK was naive and thought they were just gathering herbs and ginseng.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Cracked article. It said they grow it all over the place and the government doesn't care.

While most of the rest of the world is still wringing its hands over whether to make marijuana legal, the DPRK is ahead of the game, in that they never made it illegal to begin with: The North Korean government doesn't consider marijuana a drug and has never regulated its use. You might think this is because the country does not give an actual crap about the well-being of its people, so it doesn't regulate drugs whatsoever, but you'd be wrong: The government is extremely harsh on users of hard drugs like meth, for example.

http://www.cracked.com/article_2083...ssive-policies-from-insane-dictatorships.html

Here is another good read for all the crazy crap they have been pulling lately

http://www.cracked.com/article_20949_5-insane-petty-crimes-committed-by-north-korea.html

 

[Teelie]

The sad thing is Cracked is probably better at citing reliable sources than most legitimate news reporters are when they make seemingly outrageous claims.

 

[Pink Ranger]

You think North Korea doesn't have agents that operate all over the world ETM?

All countries have "agents" that operate all over the world, but I think if we start imagining they're all like Jason Bourne or Jack Bauer, we'd be disappointed just how mundane their work is. I had a political science professor who was once a CIA operative: most of his job was to sit in an outdoor cafe in Vienna sipping coffee and watching people come and go from the Soviet Embassy. Barely did a lick of work more than that, he claims, but got paid for it.

 

[enterthemadness]

Cracked article. It said they grow it all over the place and the government doesn't care.



http://www.cracked.com/article_2083...ssive-policies-from-insane-dictatorships.html

Here is another good read for all the crazy crap they have been pulling lately

http://www.cracked.com/article_20949_5-insane-petty-crimes-committed-by-north-korea.html

Oh my....they are that good at insurance fraud and counterfeit money?

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Oh my....they are that good at insurance fraud and counterfeit money?

Crazy right, just think what they could have accomplished if they put all that effort into feeding their people and whatnot

 

[Teelie]

I'd suggest looking at South Korea as an example of what they could do.

 

[KevanG]

NK is one of the reasons I wish the UN had actual power. I get that it can do a lot but it's helpless in so many ways without being bolstered by a few large countries. When I was a kid, I always figured the UN was this huge thing that could order about countries and order invasions in cases like NK and I was always confused as to why things like Iran and NK kept going like they did.

 

[Teelie]

I think they had provisions for that but it was gutted before it ever came to fruition because no one wanted to be under the thumb of a world governing body that would have any teeth to enforce policy with action.

The compromise we have now is not even a slap on the wrist in effectiveness.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

All countries have "agents" that operate all over the world, but I think if we start imagining they're all like Jason Bourne or Jack Bauer, we'd be disappointed just how mundane their work is. I had a political science professor who was once a CIA operative: most of his job was to sit in an outdoor cafe in Vienna sipping coffee and watching people come and go from the Soviet Embassy. Barely did a lick of work more than that, he claims, but got paid for it.

I just want to point out again, that I wasn't saying that they are at the level of Cold War era KGB, or the Mossad or the CIA.

 

[Anubis]

Julia Child was a CIA Operative.

She was once the deadliest woman alive with a rolling pin.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Julia Child was a CIA Operative.

She was once the deadliest woman alive with a rolling pin.

Of course... She was my Grandmother's greatest student.

Mi Abuela is a 12th level Black Sash of Kung-Food.

 

[Anubis]

 

[Pink Ranger]

I just want to point out again, that I wasn't saying that they are at the level of Cold War era KGB, or the Mossad or the CIA.

For all we know, they're not much more effective than the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (for any wet assignments, we have to rent guns from the Americans like Blockbuster Video.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

For all we know, they're not much more effective than the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (for any wet assignments, we have to borrow guns from the Americans like a lending library).

It's a damned good thing you Canuks have got that weather controlling machine and control the Strategic North American Maple Syrup Supply.