BILD VISITS THE MYSTERIOUS STATE
North Korea is one of the world's most mysterious countries. BILD paid a visit and asks in this special report just how dangerous the nuclear state really is
Two North Korean soldiers cycle past cloudy grey rice fields. The dripping wet uniform clings to the body of one, the other is just wearing a vest. Only one of them has a gun. Water runs from their hair into their eyes as they squint to see the road under their very old bikes.
That is the army which the world is so frightened of.
The regime shocked the world by carrying out a “successful” underground nuclear bomb test on May 25, 2009. The blast was as powerful as the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
There is enough plutonium for six nuclear bombs stored in bunkers, and the North Korean Unha-2 missile could carry a warhead to the United Stateswith its 10,000 km range.
But just how dangerous is North Korea really? Would the ailing state start a war against the US? And how powerful is dictator Kim Jong-il? BILD has spoken with experts and politicians in North Korea.
THE ARMY
The most important policy in North Korean politics is ‘Songun’, which means ‘military first’. The army is served by 1.2 million soldiers. There are allegedly thousands of missiles pointed at Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
North Korean TV shows heavy artillery firing on manoeuvre. The propaganda boasts of fighter pilots who would fly into their targets as Kamikaze fighters.
A diplomat from a western embassy said: “The truth is that the regime wouldn’t have enough petrol for a war. The soldiers’ supplies would diminish after a short time”.
The desolate condition of the military can be seen all over the country. There are dilapidated barracks, only every other soldier has a gun and there are not enough uniforms. Some recruits only have an army hat.
More broken-down army trucks can be found on the streets than functioning ones. The soldiers’ faces are covered in black soot because the trucks are powered by woodgas – if they work at all.
THE ATOMIC WEAPON
It is an arsenal of fear. The warheads are stored in underground bunkers. But where they exactly are is the biggest riddle for secret services around the world. American submarines move in the waters off North Korea’s coast, ready for a retaliatory attack.
An expert who has been visiting North Korea for years said: “There is no regime in the world which is as unpredictable as the leaders in Pyongyang”.
BILD received the rare opportunity to speak to a government minister. He didn’t want to be named. He very politely answered the reporter’s questions about the nuclear program.
The minister said: “Our military policy is based on a simple concept. If someone pulls out a knife against us, we raise a sword.” He added: “If someone points a weapon at us, we answer with guns.
“Therefore the nuclear programme is very important for us. The Koreans are proud of it. We feel threatened from our neighbours. The US doesn’t want us to exist as a social state any longer. We only want to be able to protect ourselves”.
The minister then poured the BILD reporters champagne. He lifted his glass saying: “For socialism! Because socialism is life!”
America will of course never start a nuclear war against North Korea. But the power of the rulers in Pyongyang is based on exactly this myth, fuelled by never-ending propaganda.
North Korea is a dark masterpiece of fear.
THE ARMS TRADE
Most of the secret services do not believe that North Korea will actually fire an atomic missile at another state.
A British diplomat warned: “The much bigger problem is that North Korea will only too willingly sell on their nuclear and weapon technology to other states.” Pyongyang has become an atomic bazaar. North Korea built an nuclear reactor, which was bombed by Israel in 2007. Now North Korean engineers are currently building a secret reactor in the military dictator state of Burma.
North Korea's main customer is Iran, which threatens Israel with annihilation. Photos prove that Iranian and North Korean missiles have been nearly identically built. The BILD team saw many Iranians on the plane on their way to North Korea who were picked up from the airport by Mercedes limousines with darkened windows.
The world has cause to worry when two countries, which produce nothing of quality apart from weapons (and carpets), trade with one another.
THE RULER
The head of state is a tyrant, a dictator and a mysterious old man. Kim Jong-il (69) is an absolute ruler. The North Korean people fall into a fearful whisper when they talk about him.
Kim Jong-il’s North Korea is less a state than a mafia-type organisation. He doesn’t think like a statesman, but like a criminal. Dark limousines can be seen gliding through the capital city. You can see boxes at the airport carrying a DVD player and alcohol for the bosses and fat cats. The streets where the powerful live are sealed off by the military.
Socialism is the façade of Kim Jong-il’s criminal scheming. North Korea earns around $700 million per year with fake cigarettes and $500 million-$1 billion per year with the most convincing fake hundred dollar notes that can be found in the world. An one hundred dollar note costs $30 on the black market.
David Asher, who was responsible for North Korea in the Pentagon under Bill Clinton, said: “Kim Jong-il is contorted, a tyrannical playboy. He is a very crafty mafia godfather. He is a world-class criminal and a world-class dictator”.
The BILD team spent ten days in North Korea. They saw terrible poverty, obscene palaces and absurd statues which hungry children had to bow to.
They felt as though they were walking through a madman’s brain
Bild.com
