- 19 Jun 2004 14:21
#193114
It is interesting that you still refuse to back up the statistics with fact. You as of yet have not provided me with the web site you got those figures from.
Your rebuttal to my point on the difference between South Korea and North Korea was irrelevent. Again the statistics are not backed up with locations. "comparably rampant" against what? Against the falsified figures brought out by the North Korean government. The fact of the matter is that given the chance many North Koreans would flee to the South if they could. South Koreans can go whereever they like whenever they like (except to areas controled by Brutal insular regimes).
Here are some real statistics for you (not biased opinons)
North Korea,
one of the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and spare parts shortages. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. The nation has suffered its tenth year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land, collective farming, weather-related problems, and chronic shortages of fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the regime to escape mass starvation since 1995-96, but the population remains the victim of prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In 2003, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue threatened the flow of desperately needed food aid and fuel aid as well. Black market prices continued to rise following the increase in official prices and wages in the summer of 2002, leaving some vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and unemployed, less able to buy goods. The regime, however, relaxed restrictions on farmers' market activities in spring 2003, leading to an expansion of market activity.
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 22.9% (2003)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 24.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 26.59 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.08 years
male: 68.38 years
female: 73.92 years (2004 est.)
South Korea
Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Four decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita is 18 times North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the European Union. This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labor effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. Growth plunged to a negative 6.6% in 1998, then strongly recovered to 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth in 2002 was an impressive 6.2%, despite anemic global growth, followed by moderate 2.8% growth in 2003. In 2003 the National Assembly approved legislation reducing the six-day work week to five days.
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.7% (FY03)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 7.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 7.64 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.58 years
male: 71.96 years
female: 79.54 years (2004 est.)
These statistics are compiled by the UN and CIA and are the most trusted souce for statistics in the world. They are not based on opinion but fact. Please disprove them if you can.
Finally on the issue of Drugs -
for years from the 1970's into the 1990's, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics. In recent years, police investigations in Taiwan and Japan have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, with the attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 125 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003 the most recent example of Pyongyang's involvement in the drug trade. All indications point to North Korea emerging as an important regional source of illicit drugs targeting markets in Japan, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, and China.
Your rebuttal to my point on the difference between South Korea and North Korea was irrelevent. Again the statistics are not backed up with locations. "comparably rampant" against what? Against the falsified figures brought out by the North Korean government. The fact of the matter is that given the chance many North Koreans would flee to the South if they could. South Koreans can go whereever they like whenever they like (except to areas controled by Brutal insular regimes).
Here are some real statistics for you (not biased opinons)
North Korea,
one of the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and spare parts shortages. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. The nation has suffered its tenth year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land, collective farming, weather-related problems, and chronic shortages of fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the regime to escape mass starvation since 1995-96, but the population remains the victim of prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In 2003, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue threatened the flow of desperately needed food aid and fuel aid as well. Black market prices continued to rise following the increase in official prices and wages in the summer of 2002, leaving some vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and unemployed, less able to buy goods. The regime, however, relaxed restrictions on farmers' market activities in spring 2003, leading to an expansion of market activity.
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 22.9% (2003)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 24.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 26.59 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.08 years
male: 68.38 years
female: 73.92 years (2004 est.)
South Korea
Since the early 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Four decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita is 18 times North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the European Union. This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labor effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. Growth plunged to a negative 6.6% in 1998, then strongly recovered to 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth in 2002 was an impressive 6.2%, despite anemic global growth, followed by moderate 2.8% growth in 2003. In 2003 the National Assembly approved legislation reducing the six-day work week to five days.
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.7% (FY03)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 7.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 7.64 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.58 years
male: 71.96 years
female: 79.54 years (2004 est.)
These statistics are compiled by the UN and CIA and are the most trusted souce for statistics in the world. They are not based on opinion but fact. Please disprove them if you can.
Finally on the issue of Drugs -
for years from the 1970's into the 1990's, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics. In recent years, police investigations in Taiwan and Japan have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, with the attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 125 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003 the most recent example of Pyongyang's involvement in the drug trade. All indications point to North Korea emerging as an important regional source of illicit drugs targeting markets in Japan, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, and China.
Leaders do not make wars,
wars make leaders
wars make leaders