I bet you thought politics in Washington was ugly

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Cruelty isn't new and no society can claim immunity. Some, however are far more cruel than others. NK has us beat. I'm not saying we don't have our own brand.  We absolutely do, but look around yourself...we don't imprison entire families, don't lop off heads for not bowing down to allah or make laws to ban homosexuality (except in Texas) and generally don't let entire classes starve to death inside our borders.  I'm pretty sure there's a long list somewhere.

[zarus tathra]

That's like .5 mouthfuls of flesh for each dog.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

That's like .5 mouthfuls of flesh for each dog.

Lots of bones to chew on too.. Gives all new meaning to chew toy, eh?

[_Xenu_]

But this is not about money. This is about human rights. Human rights should weigh heavier than money.

Oh, you poor naive bastard.

[Shiranu]

There have been multiple versions of how he was killed. Either way, I doubt it was great, but it is more than likely he was simply shot by a hit group and then the press went on to exaggerate how brutally he was killed to prove how much of a chingon Un is.

As for invading NK... if we did that, we would also need to invade half of Africa and the Middle East to stay consistent. And of course China would not be happy if we stationed our army right by their border. And there is no telling how Un would respond... it's quite possible he would have his people mass executed just as a "fuck you" to us.

[Insult to Rocks]

Okay, about the whole "Rich capitalists have no morals thing"? Please stop. Rich people are still people, and generalization of them is stupid and illogical, especially when the only thing that joins them together is their financial status.
About a North Korean invasion.... there are multiple reasons against an invasion at the moment. First, the world community has its' hands full with the Middle East right now. Second, NK has nuclear capabilities, and, given their suicidal zealotry towards their government, would most likely use nukes, even if it meant their own destruction. Third, NK is allied with China, but they have a tumultuous relationship. Any intervention would likely wait until we convince China to let us, or until we gather enough countries behind our banner to dissuade China from intervening, both of which would take time.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Well...invasions are expensive and capitalists don't generally give a rats ass about human rights.

There's also the fact that even well-meaning invasions often arouse patriotic resentment.  Never mind that NK is distant, and terrain not very suited for invasion (mountainous, poor road network, harsh weather this time of year), and couple that with the fact that the US is not responsible for the well=beiong of the world, and needs to stop acting like the big kid in school, and you can count me against anything committing American lives into the balance.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

Any invasion of North Korea would be extremely costly in both lives and money, it would be like Iraq times ten. The NK government would fall easily as long as China didn't back them up, but then you'd have to deal with various generals and military units trying to wildly grab whatever power they can in the chaos. Add to that around 20 to 30 million unskilled, technologically ignorant North Koreas that would have to somehow be integrated into the South Korean economy and society. Even a peaceful reunification at this point would make the German one look like a pleasant walk in the park.

It's the clusterfuck of clusterfucks for anyone involved so no one is going to get seriously involved unless NK really fucks up by actually invading SK.

[Plu]

Here's a quick idea of just how backwater North Korea is. Let's see if you can spot the country on this satellite image:

[Shiranu]

Guessing that is Pyongyang on the middle-west side of Korea? I thought it was closer... :.

[mediumaevum]

Okay, about the whole "Rich capitalists have no morals thing"? Please stop. Rich people are still people, and generalization of them is stupid and illogical, especially when the only thing that joins them together is their financial status.

But some people are less people than others.

The rich are hypocrites. They want human rights - for themselves. They care nothing about North Korean massacres, yet they refer to North Korean massacres whenever
poor and disabled and unemployed people want a little money to survive on, saying that if the poor should be fed, we get a North Korean society.

[SilentFutility]

Without any evidence and just the speculation of Wen Wei Po to go on, I don't think anyone can say for sure what eventually happened to Jang Song Thaek.

An explanation of why this story is to be doubted.