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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| N. Korean Soldiers' Wives Flee Hardship at Home |
| 2011-03-04 |
| Increasing numbers of wives of North Korean soldiers are fleeing the Stalinist country despite its "songun" or military-first doctrine, Open Radio for North Korea said Thursday. Quoting a source in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, the Seoul-based shortwave station said the wives of active-duty servicemen "are bravely deciding to flee the North, leaving their husbands behind, because they find it impossible to eke out a living there." The source claimed a broker of his acquaintance helped four women who are married to soldiers flee the North in February alone. "They suffered even more severe hardship than ordinary people," the source added. According to the source, platoon leaders (second lieutenant) and company leaders (first lieutenant) are paid a mere 2,000 won (approximately W750 in South Korean currency, US$1=W1,120) a month. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for their wives to buy even a pair of shoes or a suit of clothes. Lieutenant colonels and majors commanding a battalion are paid about 5,000 won, just enough to buy 1-3 kg of rice. Despite this the regime has banned soldiers' spouses from engaging in any independent business, so the only thing they can do is tend kitchen gardens, the source added. Besides these hardships, these women are also apparently motivated by privileged information their husbands can provide, especially by news about South Korea and China from traders who visit military units. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 Rosetta Stone™ doesn't offer an authentic Joe M package. It's too difficult with only a 10 DVDs limit. Don't buy one off CraigsList. It's not likely to work |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-03-04 22:49 |
| #8 No one can really read or speak Joe. A few can decipher Joe. It's a perpetually ongoing process, like working the Rosetta Stone... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-03-04 21:27 |
| #7 Ha! Nobody speaks Joe! Only Joe can speak Joe, but years of study have given a select few the ability to understand Joe. I have such a gift. And frankly it scares me. |
| Posted by: Steve 2011-03-04 20:12 |
| #6 Ha! Nobody speaks Joe! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-03-04 18:44 |
| #5 Chill, grumpky. U NEEDA PIQYORE BADDLES MOOR CARE FOOL HE. "I speak Joe." -- June Cleaver And Not good when women can't shop is funny as hell. |
| Posted by: Pollyandrew 2011-03-04 17:30 |
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| Posted by: gromky 2011-03-04 12:44 |
| #3 Not good when women can't shop. LOL! Joe M. said it. I'd be sharpening my kitchen garden tools into weapons and plotting my escape, if I was a Nork woman. |
| Posted by: Fire and Ice 2011-03-04 12:03 |
| #2 Simple, Don't marry. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-03-04 11:57 |
| #1 Not good when women can't shop. * ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > JAPAN: NO PROTEST [Diplomatic] TO BE LODGED OVER CHINA WARPLANES APPROACHING CLOSE TO THE DAOYUS ISLANDS. * WMF > CHINA FINALLY UNDERSTANDS THE DARK TRUTH OF THE RUSSIA-JAPAN SOUTH KURILES DISPUTE: SINO-RUSSIAN STRATEGIC RELATIONS SINKING INTO THE ABYSS OF RUSS FEAR + ENVY. NEW PRIORITY FOR US-VS-CHINA ANTI-CARRIER WAR IN TAIWAN STRAITS + WESTPAC TO BREAK THE "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-03-04 00:37 |