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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| N. Korea Turns to Making Money from Overseas Missions |
| 2011-07-11 |
| Cash-strapped North Korea is leasing out parts of its overseas missions buildings to earn hard currency. A South Korean official on Sunday said the North Korean Embassy to Germany made illegal profits by turning an annex into a youth hostel and renting out its gymnasium for social functions. The North Korean Embassy to Poland was criticized in the local press for leasing out part of its compound to local firms. This violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which bans the commercial use of embassy buildings. A South Korean security official said, "Staffers of North Korean overseas missions are using their embassy buildings to make money because of a global crackdown on the North's drug trade and tobacco smuggling." In April, the North Korean Embassy to Russia was caught running a casino in its compound. "The embassy had four roulette tables, five poker and blackjack tables, and 30 slot machines in six game rooms on two floors," the official added. North Korean diplomats in Latin America earn hard currency by buying Cuban cigars at duty-free prices from Cuban distributors and reselling them to traders in the countries they are assigned to. Some Latin American nations have stepped up searches of North Korean cargo, and one airline has banned North Koreans, the official said. North Korean missions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and other African countries are suspected of dealing in contraband goods such as rhino horns or tiger hides. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 #3 and #4 I was just putting myself in their position for a moment.A mercenary force was just an idea if I was a ruling despot. The German Hessian mercenary troops defected but to what extent I don't know. Should a country want their services I believe the pay would be what the North Koreans need. I could see them using the Korean soldiers to train,feed, modernize, have a weapons trade, and send money home. The old and the young would be left to toil doing their part to help their country in time of need. It's almost a death march now for them. The only thing they have left is their paranoia. Yes, Stalin is a good example of a mind needed to do this deal. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-07-11 12:54 |
| #4 Dale: It would almost be worth it to pay the North a few million to send a hundred thousand soldiers to Somalia. For the LOLs. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-07-11 10:34 |
| #3 Stalin felt the need to purge the troops and officers who survived their expeditionary experience in the Spanish Civil War when they returned. Any NorK troops would probably suffer the same fate. Keep in mind that the NorK ideological framework relies on their deranged belief that the rest of the world suffers horribly, even compared to their own drear fate. The returning mercenaries would be ideological infectious vectors. Not to mention that North Korean troops can't possibly be well-trained or physically impressive on balance - they don't have the resources for the former, and endemic malnutrition has stunted the last generation or two. Even a sterling North Korean physical specimen isn't going to be particularly intimidating. Not to mention that they're probably going to suffer horribly from micro-biological isolation. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2011-07-11 09:36 |
| #2 I wonder why the North Koreans haven't leased out their troops for the military experience but to raise revenue and feed their troops. Defection most likely would be the first major concern. I don't believe they would mix well and would not blend in so to speak in an Arab or Latin nation. Send money back home to families back in Korean or arrest of families for those who choose desertion. Iran, Saudis, even aL Gaddafi would pay for this service to manage their populations. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-07-11 08:07 |
| #1 Hey - just print money like Obama's doing - problem solved! |
| Posted by: Raj 2011-07-11 00:13 |