The fear of North Korea

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Just Wikied. It's not specified, but it's sort of hinted at:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Kore ... e%27s_Army

As of 2013, with 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel, it is the largest military organization on earth.[7] This number represents nearly 40% of the population, [8] and is the numeric equivalent of the entire population between ages 20 and 45.

[Svartalf]

Nearly 10M, and they would have more personnel than the PRChinese army?
Or does that include civilian police and other auxiliaries that would be militarily about as useful as applying a cautery to a peg leg?

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

I beg your pardon...It is specified.

North Korea has universal conscription for males and selective conscription for females with many pre- and post-service requirements. North Korea has a mandatory service that ranges between 3 and 5 years. Article 86 of the North Korean Constitution states, "Defending the fatherland is the supreme duty and honor of citizens. Citizens shall defend the fatherland and serve in the armed forces as prescribed by law". Long before Kim Jong-il instituted "military-first" politics as his governing strategy, an individual was able to improve one’s status through service in the Military. However, not everybody is able to join the Army. North Korea maintains a universal draft and excludes those who are not physically able to perform, as do all other militaries. However, North Korea also excludes individuals based on their social-political background.

Those who receive military training must be unconditionally loyal to the Party, and those perceived as enemies of the state are not permitted to possess a weapon. In determining service eligibility in the Korean People’s Army, "Songbun" in effect determines a person’s lifelong career as well. If one serves in the military, one goes through three levels of investigation by three different internal security agencies where Songbun is a central consideration in each investigation.

After entering military service, the Korean People’s Army Military Security Command begins a new file in a process parallel to the MPS investigation process and at the same time processes an identification card. The military identification card is distinct from the civilian citizen registration card that all North Koreans carry. After leaving the military and being assigned to a civilian occupation, the local MPS and SSD receive copies of the songbun file from the military which forwards the file through official Military Security Command-Ministry of People's Security-State Security Department channels.

KPA soldiers serve 10 years of military service in the KPA, which also runs its own factories, farms and trading arms.

[FBM]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/14/opini ... ?hpt=hp_c3

Interesting story. Hawt NK chick.

[pErvinalia]

You guys hear about that undercover BBC doco coming up soon which is causing a bit of a kerfuffle in Britain? A couple of doco makers posed as PhD students and inserted themselves into a genuine student tour of NK. Seriously endangering the lives the genuine students. Couldn't be bothered finding a link.

[FBM]

Yeah, it's on the BBC website. BBC says that the students were told, but the students say they weren't told enough. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat.

[pErvinalia]

Apparently they told them at the airport.

[FBM]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22144667

[FBM]

Meh. All they risked was imprisonment and torture.

[klr]

John Sweeney is a well-known investigative journalist, whose past credits include delving deep into the wonderful world of Scientology. If the LSE students didn't cop to what was going on, that's their problem.

[Clinton Huxley]

John Sweeney is a well-known investigative journalist, whose past credits include delving deep into the wonderful world of Scientology. If the LSE students didn't cop to what was going on, that's their problem.

I like the bit where the LSE say this has damaged their reputation. This is the institution that accepted donations from Gaddafi"s son....

[klr]

John Sweeney is a well-known investigative journalist, whose past credits include delving deep into the wonderful world of Scientology. If the LSE students didn't cop to what was going on, that's their problem.

I like the bit where the LSE say this has damaged their reputation. This is the institution that accepted donations from Gaddafi"s son....

Yup.

On the NK side, the trip was organised - needless to say - by an organ of the NK regime. So it's not as if the students were ever going to get an accurate picture of what the country is like. Why did they ever bother to go in the first place?

[Clinton Huxley]

John Sweeney is a well-known investigative journalist, whose past credits include delving deep into the wonderful world of Scientology. If the LSE students didn't cop to what was going on, that's their problem.

I like the bit where the LSE say this has damaged their reputation. This is the institution that accepted donations from Gaddafi"s son....

Yup.

On the NK side, the trip was organised - needless to say - by an organ of the NK regime. So it's not as if the students were ever going to get an accurate picture of what the country is like. Why did they ever bother to go in the first place?

Preliminary to the LSE getting a £10m donation for the Kim Jong Un Centre for International Relations and Ballistics.

[klr]

John Sweeney is a well-known investigative journalist, whose past credits include delving deep into the wonderful world of Scientology. If the LSE students didn't cop to what was going on, that's their problem.

I like the bit where the LSE say this has damaged their reputation. This is the institution that accepted donations from Gaddafi"s son....

Yup.

On the NK side, the trip was organised - needless to say - by an organ of the NK regime. So it's not as if the students were ever going to get an accurate picture of what the country is like. Why did they ever bother to go in the first place?

Preliminary to the LSE getting a £10m donation for the Kim Jong Un Centre for International Relations and Ballistics.

They'd need it. The LSE is well down the UK rankings when it comes to research income. It's not even in the same division as the rest of the big universities it's supposed to be on a par with. That's what comes from specialising too much in the social sciences.

[Clinton Huxley]

It amuses me that a school of economics can't raise money.