#North Korea Joins the Countries Demonstrating Against the Repressive Regimes

Hundreds of people crashed with the security forces in the town of Sinuiju in North Korea in a demonstration after one of the vendors was beaten unconscious by the police in the town's market (I assume it's an illegal "black" market). Hello Tunisia...

The "unrest" in North Korea must be make the big neighbor and regime-supporter China very nervous.

Bank runs have been happening in South Korea, though not widely reported in MSM. About the only place in East Asia that people would never dream of rising up against their government despite the government's sheer incompetence and grave injury to the citizens is Japan. Everywhere else, watch out.

From Chosun Ilbo (2/24/2011):

Hundreds of people clashed with security forces in the North Korean town of Sinuiju on the border with China on Friday, a source in the Stalinist country said Wednesday.

The military was deployed to quell the demonstration, leaving some protesters wounded.

The source said police officers cracking down on traders in a market in Sinuiju after the public holidays marking leader Kim Jong-il's birthday beat one of them unconscious. The victim's family protested and many other traders went along to support them.

...The source said while the protest was sparked by the crackdown in the market, it was an eruption of long pent-up discontent.

The regime had promised to dole out special rations to Sinuiju residents ahead of Kim's birthday on Feb. 16 but reportedly failed to keep the promise. People were also angry that the regime was once again trying to interfere with their attempts to earn a living in the market.

Chosun Ilbo also reports (2/23/2011) that there have been pockets of protests in North Korea:

Small pockets of unrest are appearing in North Korea as the repressive regime staggers under international sanctions and the fallout from a botched currency reform, sources say. On Feb. 14, two days before leader Kim Jong-il's birthday, scores of people in Jongju, Yongchon and Sonchon in North Pyongan Province caused a commotion, shouting, "Give us fire [electricity] and rice! "

A North Korean source said people fashioned makeshift megaphones out of newspapers and shouted, "We can't live! Give us fire! Give us rice!" "At first, there were only one or two people, but as time went by more and more came out of their houses and joined in the shouting," the source added.

The State Security Department investigated this incident but failed to identify the people who started the commotion when they met with a wall of silence.

"When such an incident took place in the past, people used to report their neighbors to the security forces, but now they're covering for each other," the source said.

The reason for electricity being diverted from these provinces: Kim Jong Il's Birthday Bash on February 16 in Pyongyang, to light up the night sky.

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