Matthew - the reaction to the Dear Leader's death

[repentance]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment. 

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

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[Phinnaeus Gage]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment. 

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

Good question! Matthew would be able to supply us firsthand knowledge of what's going on over there, even though he's currently in the states.

[FlipPro]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment. 

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

Good question! Matthew would be able to supply us firsthand knowledge of what's going on over there, even though he's currently in the states.

Is he? I thought he was in SK.

[repentance]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment. 

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

Good question! Matthew would be able to supply us firsthand knowledge of what's going on over there, even though he's currently in the states.

I thought his post the other day said he'd just got back from the US.

The posts I'm reading elsewhere from other people in South Korea at the moment are all pretty pessimistic.  All of the "what happens now" options regarding North Korea are pretty fucking terrible and many of the people who are posting from South Korea see an orderly transition of power as the best of a truly bad set of options.

[Bitcoin 100]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment. 

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

Good question! Matthew would be able to supply us firsthand knowledge of what's going on over there, even though he's currently in the states.

I thought his post the other day said he'd just got back from the US.

The posts I'm reading elsewhere from other people in South Korea at the moment are all pretty pessimistic.  All of the "what happens now" options regarding North Korea are pretty fucking terrible and many of the people who are posting from South Korea see an orderly transition of power as the best of a truly bad set of options.

Need not worry. President Obama will gain support from all 57 states, then...then...then just watch what happens. I believe that is why he made sure the US military had proper funding in case something like this were to transpire. Most of the Generals are behind him.

[FlipPro]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment.  

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

Good question! Matthew would be able to supply us firsthand knowledge of what's going on over there, even though he's currently in the states.

I thought his post the other day said he'd just got back from the US.

The posts I'm reading elsewhere from other people in South Korea at the moment are all pretty pessimistic.  All of the "what happens now" options regarding North Korea are pretty fucking terrible and many of the people who are posting from South Korea see an orderly transition of power as the best of a truly bad set of options.

Need not worry. President Obama will gain support from all 57 states, then...then...then just watch what happens. I believe that is why he made sure the US military had proper funding in case something like this were to transpire. Most of the Generals are behind him.

Why are you peddling that same old gaffe conservatives always cry about. One of the Presidents rare gaffes...

[Bitcoin 100]

I'm reading reports that both North and South Korea have closed their borders and that China's doing the same.  North Korea seems to be in lockdown right now with citizens being told to stay home.

I imagine there must be a great deal of nervousness in South Korea at the moment.  

Could you share your insider's perspective when you have a spare moment?

Good question! Matthew would be able to supply us firsthand knowledge of what's going on over there, even though he's currently in the states.

I thought his post the other day said he'd just got back from the US.

The posts I'm reading elsewhere from other people in South Korea at the moment are all pretty pessimistic.  All of the "what happens now" options regarding North Korea are pretty fucking terrible and many of the people who are posting from South Korea see an orderly transition of power as the best of a truly bad set of options.

Need not worry. President Obama will gain support from all 57 states, then...then...then just watch what happens. I believe that is why he made sure the US military had proper funding in case something like this were to transpire. Most of the Generals are behind him.

Why are you peddling that same old gaffe conservatives always cry about. One of the Presidents rare gaffes...

Does gaffe = satire?

[Matthew N. Wright]

The day Kim Jung Il died, everyone in South Korea was glued to the TV. The tensions in this country have been high for the past 2 years especially considering North Korea sunk one of the South's boats and shot and kidnapped several tourists.

That day there was a sigh of relief and a new anxiety in expectation of his replacement. Anything now would be speculation, but just like when anything else happens in the world, life goes on, businesses still open, and everyone keeps chasing those dollars.

There were no extra police or military on the streets anymore than there already were on a daily basis. In contrast, I didn't notice anyone singing or dancing in the street either. I'm sure it's been hard to be constantly on edge for 50 straight years and still be able to jump whenever something changes, but I guess if anything was ever going to change, it stands a chance to do so now.

The real issue in this country hasn't changed though-- reunification costs more than the North is worth and the North is still being treated like they don't have a right to be a closed country. America, Fuck yeah!

[repentance]

The real issue in this country hasn't changed though-- reunification costs more than the North is worth and the North is still being treated like they don't have a right to be a closed country.

I think that a lot of Westerners don't understand that the desire to be a closed society is as much cultural as it is political, let alone the genuine nostalgia which exists for life under the rule of Kim Il-sung.  The role of the West in the partition of Korea is either unknown by many or rarely acknowledged.

[Rassah]

I think South Koreans wishing for reunification should ask West Germany how that went for them. NK would likely be dead weight to drag and support for many many years.

[repentance]

I think South Koreans wishing for reunification should ask West Germany how that went for them. NK would likely be dead weight to drag and support for many many years.

There are much bigger obstacles to the reunification of North and South Korea than the reunification of East and West Germany.  It's true that the economic gulf is much wider but the cultures have also greatly diverged over the last 60 years, to the extent that they no longer even speak a common dialect. 

I'm not seeing a lot of Koreans expressing a wish for reunification.  A forced reunification would be just as disastrous for both nations as their forced partition was.  North Korea pretty much needs to be propped up as an independent state and changed from within before reunification could take place without a total clusterfuck - and if it changes to that degree then it's likely that the desire for a unified Korea would be diminished rather than intensified.

[Matthew N. Wright]

I think South Koreans wishing for reunification should ask West Germany how that went for them. NK would likely be dead weight to drag and support for many many years.

There are much bigger obstacles to the reunification of North and South Korea than the reunification of East and West Germany.  It's true that the economic gulf is much wider but the cultures have also greatly diverged over the last 60 years, to the extent that they no longer even speak a common dialect. 

I'm not seeing a lot of Koreans expressing a wish for reunification.  A forced reunification would be just as disastrous for both nations as their forced partition was.  North Korea pretty much needs to be propped up as an independent state and changed from within before reunification could take place without a total clusterfuck - and if it changes to that degree then it's likely that the desire for a unified Korea would be diminished rather than intensified.

+1

And that's exactly how Korean's feel as well. Every president is eager to take a stab at reunification because it will prove their worth in the history books, but like a bad dream they have underestimated the North's hatred for the US and the US's lack of interest in leaving the South alone.

This may sound a bit harsh, but the world might have been a better place had we not stepped in. All the big mouths would have already died in the war and we would know where everyone stands.

[repentance]

This may sound a bit harsh, but the world might have been a better place had we not stepped in. All the big mouths would have already died in the war and we would know where everyone stands.

Some appalling decisions regarding the fate of other nations were made following the end of WWII and in many cases the West has only compounded its mistakes by it's interventions since then.  It's not hard to understand the desire for a closed society and isolationist policies when you look at what the intrusion of outsiders has meant for some nations over the last century (especially those cultures which pre-date European civilisation).