North Korea diplomats in Beijing, Stockholm ahead of U.S. summit https://t.co/FnrDXduDVs via @upi
— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) March 16, 2018
Like I have said before I have little sympathy for these companies that lose money conducting business with North Korea. Good luck trying to get this money back:
Sweden reminds North Korea twice every year about its 43-year-old debt to the publicly-funded Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN), a government agency serving as credit insurer for company’s trade deals.
Back in 1974 North Korea began importing equipment from Western industrialized countries to expand its access to foreign capital and technology. The country promised to pay their creditors either with future production or mining products, but it soon became clear the regime had no intention of honouring its debts.
An original order of 1,000 Volvo 144 model and other mechanical equipment from Swedish companies worth the equivalent of $73 million has been left unpaid and over the last four decades has quadrupled to around $330 million.
North Korea is the biggest debtor to the Swedish agency, as the EKN end of year 2016 report show. EKN says it has has agreements with all 13 countries that have outstanding claims, with the exception of Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
“During the year the countries with which there are agreements have paid under these. The exception is North Korea, where interest has been capitalised for many years but practically no payments have been made,” the report reads. [Newsweek]
You can read more at the link.
Still going strong. One of the Volvo's from yr 1974 still unpaid for by DPRK. Running as taxi in Chongjin w almost half million km on odo! pic.twitter.com/2FaMpnPow7
— Sweden in Pyongyang (@SweEmbassyinNK) October 21, 2016
Some may say this is victim blaming, but I think it is just common sense to not get drunk alone with people you just met in a foreign country you know nothing about, unless of course they used a date rape drug against her which is an entirely different story. With that said lets hope these three guys are vigorously investigated by Korean authorities which have a well established track record of poorly handling sexual assault cases like this:
Three Korean males have been arrested on charges of gang-raping a Swedish tourist they met at a nightclub in Hongdae, Seoul, police said Wednesday.
The men, in their 20s, allegedly asked the woman to go out the club, saying they would “show her Korean nightlife” on May 14, according to investigators.
The tourist and the men drank until the next morning, resulting in the victim becoming very drunk. The men then allegedly took her to a house, where they raped her and photographed her naked body.
The victim complained to the Swedish Embassy, which asked police to investigate the matter.
The three were arrested on May 24 after police viewed surveillance camera recordings and photos of the suspects left on the woman’s mobile phone, according to Mapo Police Station. [Korea Times]
Why would anyone want the immigration problems that Sweden has?:
A world renowned scholar has called for gender equality improvements in South Korea, saying it lags behind the country’s economic advancement.
In an interview with KBS on Saturday, Swedish medical doctor and statistician Hans Rosling said United Nations’ data proves that South Korea has become an advanced nation comparable to countries like Japan or Sweden.
However, he said that in the area of gender equality, such as birth rate or the percentage of women politicians, South Korea lags behind Sweden by about 50 years.
He said the traditional thinking that women are in charge of childcare and household chores has not caught up with the nation’s economic development.
Rosling also said that accepting immigrants could be a solution to South Korea’s low birth rate and pointed out that more immigrants not only boosts population but also expands social diversity. [KBS World Radio]
Here is what this Swedish scholar wishes to impose on Korea:
Sweden takes in more refugees per capita than any other European country, and immigrants – mainly from the Middle East and Africa – now make up about 16 per cent of the population. The main political parties, as well as the mainstream media, support the status quo. Questioning the consensus is regarded as xenophobic and hateful. Now all of Europe is being urged to be as generous as Sweden.
So how are things working out in the most immigration-friendly country on the planet?
Not so well, says Tino Sanandaji. Mr. Sanandaji is himself an immigrant, a Kurdish-Swedish economist who was born in Iran and moved to Sweden when he was 10. He has a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago and specializes in immigration issues. This week I spoke with him by Skype.
“There has been a lack of integration among non-European refugees,” he told me. Forty-eight per cent of immigrants of working age don’t work, he said. Even after 15 years in Sweden, their employment rates reach only about 60 per cent. Sweden has the biggest employment gap in Europe between natives and non-natives.
In Sweden, where equality is revered, inequality is now entrenched. Forty-two per cent of the long-term unemployed are immigrants, Mr. Sanandaji said. Fifty-eight per cent of welfare payments go to immigrants. Forty-five per cent of children with low test scores are immigrants. Immigrants on average earn less than 40 per cent of Swedes. The majority of people charged with murder, rape and robbery are either first- or second-generation immigrants. “Since the 1980s, Sweden has had the largest increase in inequality of any country in the OECD,” Mr. Sanandaji said. [Globe and Mail]
Why would anyone in Korea want to sign up for this?
President Park Geun-hye (R) meets with Sweden’s crown princess, Victoria, at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on March 24, 2015. (Yonhap)
Swedish royalty is is town giving Welfare advice to President Park:
The heir to the Swedish throne kicked off her official visit to Korea with a meeting with President Park Geun-hye Tuesday, with a focus on sharing knowledge about her country’s welfare policies.
The heir apparent discussed the low birth rate and aging Korean society with the President.
“Sweden set a good example in policies in childcare and balancing between work and family,” Park said.
President Park also paid tribute to Sweden’s participation in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
“The Korean public remembers Sweden played an important role as an ally when security in Korea was at risk,” she said, citing Sweden having been a member of Neutral Nations Supervisory Nations for the past 60 years after the Korean War. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but I wonder if the Princess mentioned anything in regards to it being impossible to have a Welfare state and lax immigration policies which is currently straining Sweden’s social harmony.
