N.K. denied unaffordable luxuries (AP) - that'll show 'em!

[jarab]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/16119910.htm

U.S. bans sale of iPods to North Korea

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration wants North Korea's attention, so like a scolding parent it's trying to make it tougher for that country's eccentric leader to buy iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters.

The U.S. government's first-ever effort to use trade sanctions to personally aggravate a foreign president expressly targets items believed to be favored by Kim Jong Il or presented by him as gifts to the roughly 600 loyalist families who run the communist government.

snip...

But the list of proposed luxury sanctions, obtained by The Associated Press, aims to make Kim's swanky life harder: No more cognac, Rolex watches, cigarettes, artwork, expensive cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles or even personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis.

snip...


"If you take away one of the tools of his control, perhaps you weaken the cohesion of his leadership," said Robert J. Einhorn, a former senior State Department official who visited North Korea with Albright and dined extravagantly there. "It can't hurt, but whether it works, we don't know."

snip...

Kim is reportedly under his physician's orders to avoid hard liquor and prefers French wines. He also is said to own an extensive movie library of more than 10,000 titles and prefers films about James Bond and Godzilla, along with Clint Eastwood's 1993 drama, "In the Line of Fire," and Whitney Houston's 1992 love story, "The Bodyguard."

more...

...O...

[crispini]

1. Actually, this is a really good tactic.

This kidn of thing hits directly at Kim Jong Il, who loves this stuff, and not the ordinary people, who can't afford it. Smart!

[originalpckelly]

3. I know...

that little fucker won't be getting any new iPods.

:rofl:

[okoboji]

2. sounds so childish

Like this will stop Kim from getting his iPods? I would imagine that he will call up a buddy in China and have what ever he wants shipped to them, and then shipped to N Korea .... so it takes a week longer.

[originalpckelly]

4. It's not just us...

all the world is supposed to be enforcing these sanctions.

It isn't childish, it's a way to make Mr. Il feel the pain of his people. He might just do something about their pain, if he experiences enough of it.