Strange doin's are afoot

Kim Jong II disappears in China amid financial woes
By Andreas Landwehr Jan 11, 2006, 15:38 GMT

Beijing - North Korean leader Kim Jong II has disappeared in China. His luxurious special train which reportedly crossed the border into China Tuesday morning at Dandong was nowhere to be found Wednesday.

'We really would like to know where he is, but we simply don't have a clue,' said a South Korean military attache, who added he felt he was left in the lurch by his own intelligence services.

Although the train was seen travelling in the direction of Beijing by officials at two railway stations, Kim did not show up in the Chinese capital, sparking a torrent of speculation.

Some wondered whether Kim had only travelled through China on his way to Russia - a scenario 'almost ruled out' by one South Korean diplomat, given the fact that a direct rail connection exists between the North Korean capital Pyongyang and Moscow.

South Korean news agency Yonhap said it learned that the despotic North Korean leader had overcome his deep-rooted fear of flying and had flown to Shanghai, without explaining why his personal train would be travelling across China without him.

'He's not in Beijing at any rate,' the diplomat said confidently.

Instead of visiting Shanghai or Beijing, Kim Jong Il would do better to get to Macao as quickly as possible, observers joked, referring to an investigation into North Korean deposits in a bank in the southern Chinese enclave formerly administrated by Portugal.

In 1999, Macao was reintegrated into China as an autonomous region with special status. Macao is famous not only for its casinos and its mafia but also as a stomping ground for shadowy characters from North Korea. It's no coincidence there is a direct flight to Macao from Pyongyang. Investors from Macao even run a casino in the heart of the Stalinist state.

Kim Jong II's financial problems began in September when the United States took punitive measures against Macao's Banco Delta Asia, which allegedly helped North Korea distribute counterfeit U.S. dollars. The U.S. authorities are said to have seized fake U.S. bank notes produced by North Korea estimated at 45 million dollars.

The U.S. Treasury Department in September banned any deals by U.S. banks with Banco Delta Asia. The bank closed all accounts belonging to North Koreans, including accounts belonging to 20 banks, 11 trading firms, and 9 individuals, the Washington Post reported.

An investigation by Macao authorities into the bank triggered a rush on deposits and the Macao government had to take over the bank. Banco Delta Asia is believed to have managed substantial amounts of money for the family of Kim Jong Il. The sanctions would mean these stashes have dried up.

The U.S. also froze the assets of eight North Korean companies suspected of involvement in the proliferation of technology used for weapons of mass destruction.

The measures struck at the heart of the North Korean regime. The U.S. wanted to destroy the North Korea system with the sanctions 'by stopping its blood flow', the North Korean foreign ministry complained bitterly.

If the sanctions were not lifted, North Korea would not rejoin six-party talks on its nuclear programme with the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, the ministry said, raising the stakes.

As host of the talks, China is worried that these 'new, complicated factors' might impede the resumption of the talks originally scheduled for the beginning of this year.

Experts said Kim probably hoped to discuss the sanctions and his financial predicament with China's government during his surprise secret visit. But he may find little understanding.

'We support the investigation by the authorities in Macao,' said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan. China firmly opposed money laundering or other illegal activities, he stressed, adding possible criminal offences would be dealt with 'according to the law'.

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We needed to add a few more to that train.

I have not been able to find this story anywhere else...so it might be BS.

If a world leader is missing I would think cnn, fox or someone would be talking about it.

Here's to hopin he doesn't show back up!



-K

Bout time those B-2's started taking out bridges

Knock on wood, crossed fingers hoping he is dead!

Maybe the Chinese have decided it's time for him to take a dirt nap.

If a world leader is missing I would think cnn, fox or someone would be talking about it.

what world leader.  I thought he was talking about Kim Jong II.

Do you think maybe the Chinese decided that this guy was more trouble than he was worth?

He's done stuff like this before, taking a train ride through the USSR or Russia unannounced.

They found him...

Hopefully he is dead, doubt it though.

He'll turn up. Several years ago when his daddy was still alive, he was caught trying to get in to Japan. He likes to travel but few places want him around.

Kim Jung II Arrives in Shanghai by Jet

Quoted:

No

BUT all it probably means is the train is parked in a tunnel for security reasons.

I sure would like to think that he's bugging out to either Russia or China.  Has the potential to solve a lot of problems.  The only problem is what are the contingency plans that would cut in if the various factions in the DPRK thought that "the war" had started.  I have no doubt that there are some "If not told NO roll south"  and If not told NO execute the following people" plans in place.  I doubt they have a continuity of operations plan and I doubt unfortunately we will see a neat clean collapse of Communism like we did in Germany and Eastern Europe.

They really have some convoluted cross hatched paranoia up there.

And you can't get from Korea by land to Russia without crossing a least some China.

There's a good joke here, but I can't think of any that won't get me banned.

Quoted: Quoted: Kim Jung II Arrives in Shanghai by Jet Yonhap reported it.

This report is from Itar-Tass, and makes no mention of a "Yonhap".

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Kim Jung II Arrives in Shanghai by Jet Yonhap reported it.   This report is from Itar-Tass, and makes no mention of a "Yonhap".

it did for me:

...has arrived in Shanghai by jet, Yonhap news agency said quoting well-connected sources...

Let us pray that his dictatorship is over and that the North Koreans can finally discard the discredited socialist theory for a modern monarchy - Me.  

First thing I'd do is sell the nukes to the U.S. for food to feed the people.  Then I'd trade the nuke making equipment for power generators and industrial development so I could begin to compete with Japan.  Then I'd pay off Congress to overturn the full auto ban so I can sell AK-47s to you guys.

What if he's in hiding b/c he's about to strike the US?  We can't kill him if we don't know where he is...

He may not have nukes, but he has chem/bio, doesn't he?

Quoted: What if he's in hiding b/c he's about to strike the US?  We can't kill him if we don't know where he is... He may not have nukes, but he has chem/bio, doesn't he?

But no missiles that can reach us... Yet...

Quoted: Quoted: What if he's in hiding b/c he's about to strike the US?  We can't kill him if we don't know where he is... He may not have nukes, but he has chem/bio, doesn't he? But no missiles that can reach us... Yet...

But he can use the established drug smuggling routes to sneak in chemical and biological weapons.  Then they can be dispersed in the cities of his choice.

Or he can manufacture them here in the United States with sleeper cells,  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What if he's in hiding b/c he's about to strike the US?  We can't kill him if we don't know where he is... He may not have nukes, but he has chem/bio, doesn't he? But no missiles that can reach us... Yet... But he can use the established drug smuggling routes to sneak in chemical and biological weapons.  Then they can be dispersed in the cities of his choice. Or he can manufacture them here in the United States with sleeper cells,

SSDD, ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I find the idea of bio weapons smuggled in via Mexico or S. America much easier to swallow than manufacturing them here.  A bio lab, from my research, simply isn't something you can hide very easily.  Sure, you can make low-grade anthrax and such, but to do anythign big, you need a decent amount of space with proper equipment.  This is not to say it cant' be done, simply that it would be much easier, IMO, to make it elsewhere and ship it in.

Considering that toxins kill you in the <200 microgram level,  I doubt they would need anything more then an "apartment" type bio lab.  They make a few batches over time and pretty soon they have enough to disperse over a few square miles.

Manchurian Candidate?

Do we have any Predators flying in China?

publicity stunt

Anybody hear if he's shown up lately?

hmm... Hans Brix has his day.

Quoted: Quoted: What if he's in hiding b/c he's about to strike the US?  We can't kill him if we don't know where he is... He may not have nukes, but he has chem/bio, doesn't he? But no missiles that can reach us... Yet...

Uhm Speak for your self bro .

Quoted: Quoted: No BUT all it probably means is the train is parked in a tunnel for security reasons.

Yep.
Maybe because the last train he left out in the open suddenly blew up. I'm sure it had nothing to do with it carrying Syrian rocket scientists/advisors, missiles and rocket fuel. I think sharks with frikkin' lasers on their heads must have gotten it.

Quoted: And you can't get from Korea by land to Russia without crossing a least some China.

Umm, actually...

Quoted: Quoted: What if he's in hiding b/c he's about to strike the US?  We can't kill him if we don't know where he is... He may not have nukes, but he has chem/bio, doesn't he? But no missiles that can reach us... Yet...

Just use UPS or Fedex


Edited to use the right smiley.

Quoted:

The satellite cameras know where the train went.