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Beijing selling weapons to suppress mass demonstrations
by Joseph Yun Li-sun
Kim Jong-il’s regime is scared of the small protests that are starting to break out across the country. To defend itself, it is buying clubs and anti-riot gear. As they run out of everything, people are starting to rebel.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – North Korea has imported large amounts of tear gas, shields and helmets from China in order to cope with any possible unrest, however limited it might be. Fearing protests, ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il reportedly ordered the purchase of quantities of anti-riot gear from his neighbour to use against riots.
Pyongyang “has bought quantities of riot control gear through Chinese traders from Shenyang in Liaoning Province,” South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported today. “North Korean officials are also reportedly trying to buy bulletproof vests and barricade materials.”
A source familiar with North Korean affairs quoted by the paper said, “North Korean officials are also reportedly trying to buy bulletproof vests and barricade materials,”
North Korea’s dictator is concerned that people are become increasingly restive. During the final stage of the great famine in 1998, when more than 1 million people starved to death, workers staged a collective protest to overthrow the government.
The Arab spring has also exacerbated the fears of rulers in North Korea, but also China.
“Mass demonstrations like those in Egypt and Tunisia are unthinkable in the North. However, people don’t know what to do since there is no food or jobs,” a source in Korea told AsiaNews,
“Buying weapons from China is a sign of how scared Pyongyang is. Those in power know that each dictator creates the conditions for his own demise.”