Some N.Korean businesses defy China shutdown order

1. The following are excerpts from an AFP news report, dated 09 January 2018, under the headline "Some N.Korean businesses defy China shutdown order" at http://en.rfi.fr/wire/20180109-some-nkorean-businesses-defy-china-shutdown-order

(Begin excerpts)
Some North Korean businesses in China had closed their doors on Tuesday but others remained open, despite Beijing's deadline to shut down under UN sanctions intended to strip the regime of cash.

...the halting progress in shutting down the businesses demonstrated the uneven enforcement of a commerce ministry directive for them to close by January 9.

...elsewhere in China's frigid northeast, the hub of North Korean economic activities in the country, some restaurants, travel agencies and seafood stalls planned to stay open.

...Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China upholds its UN obligations and will "seriously punish" those who violate sanctions.

...The North's roughly 100 eateries in China brought in annual revenue of about $10 million, said Chung Young-June, a scholar at the Institute for Sinology at Seoul's Yonsei University.

"They've been providing (the North's leader) Kim Jong-un with private money," Chung said. Closing the restaurants will have a big "negative effect on the North Korean leadership". (End excerpts)

2. In North Korea, the spectre of death is constantly hovering in the air, waiting to swoop down on anybody (even if he is a foreigner, e.g. Otto Warmbier) who fails to fulfill the whims and fancies of the devil incarnate.

According to https://www.express.co.uk/travel/ar...-un-north-korea-dictatorship-execution-killed

(Begin excerpts)
...If you're still thinking of taking a trip to North Korea, we explore some of the most shockingly normal things that could have you EXECUTED.

...In 2012, a North Korean official was executed by mortar shell for drinking during the 100-day mourning period of the late ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il. Kim Jong-Un demanded the official be ‘obliterated’ with ‘no trace of him behind, down to his hair.'

Citizens are forbidden from watching anything but state propaganda. In the last two years, North Korea has publicly executed around 130 people for watching South Korean TV.

...in 2013, 80 Christians were executed in a stadium for owning bibles.

All music in North Korea is controlled by the state and must glorify the regime. All western music is seen as a crime against the state and will get you killed.

International calls will incur the death penalty. In 2013, a North Korean man was publicly executed by firing squad for calling his friend in South Korea... (End excerpts)

3. There is a Chinese saying, "Working under the emperor is akin to being near a tiger." In December 2013, Fatboy Kim's uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow the communist regime. It was reported that Jang's direct relatives have been put to death upon the orders of the fat boy. Jang's children, brothers and grandchildren have been condemned to death.

On 30 April 2015, North Korea's former Defence Minister Hyon Yong-chol was executed by anti-aircraft fire in front of an audience of hundreds. Mr Hyon was reported to have fallen asleep during an event attended by Kim Jong-un and had not carried out instructions. The news came weeks after the reported execution of 15 senior officials.

In 2013, it was reported that leader Kim Jong-Un had an ex-girlfriend executed in front of her own family for partaking in a sex tape.

4. In conclusion, let us see why some Korean businesses dare to defy China's shutdown order as though China is their own territory.

(a) Let's consider the first factor. When we look at the reign of terror in North Korea, we can see that North Koreans will not dare to do anything, whether inside or outside the rogue state, without the tacit consent of their fearsome "emperor". The fact that Fatboy Kim lets his citizens break Chinese law shows that he does not give a damn about China's sovereignty.

Another example of his disrespect and defiance against the Chinese leadership was the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 13 February 2017. Many international observers believe that Kim Jong Nam was under the protection of China as potential leverage against the rogue state's dictator. In a daring show of defiance and challenge, Kim Jong Nam's body was transported back to Pyongyang via Beijing. It was akin to mocking the Chinese leadership: "See, your chosen king is now lying lifeless before your eyes!"

(b) The second factor is China's half-hearted attempt at applying UN sanctions on North Korea. China could exert enormous economic pressure to bring North Korea down to its knees if it chooses. In contrast to its iron-fist policy towards Taiwanese separatism, Hong Kong's pro-democracy activism and South Korea's Lotte Group over the THAAD deployment, China remains extremely reluctant to apply strict sanctions on North Korea. Such tolerance of the North Korean nuclear threat, which could bring China back to the tragic era of the late Qing Dynasty, is beyond comprehension.

China is reportedly targeting at least 2,000 missiles at Taiwan, a non-nuclear-armed region whose inhabitants are of Chinese descent. In order to protect its people from nuclear obliteration, how many missiles is China targeting at nuclear-armed North Korea? Perhaps none at all.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/17/north-korea-is-a-major-threat-to-china.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/27/asia/kim-jong-nam-north-korea-killed/index.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Un-executes-family-uncle-Jang-Song-Thaek.html

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/ar...-un-north-korea-dictatorship-execution-killed

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/19/otto-warmbier-dies-coma-student-north-korea-prison

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32716749

http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opini...hina-wont-exert-economic-pressure-north-korea

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/asia/china-lotte-thaad-south-korea.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...h-in-hong-kong-in-protest-at-beijing-meddling

http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/china-to-target-taiwan-with-more-missiles-study-finds/