[quote=@mdk]well they're not rich. And like.... I mean it's a punchline, but consider the possibility that the DPRK's space program [i]maybe actually was[/i] built by the Kims. Is it really that far-fetched? And would it surprise anybody if it was bloated, short-sighted, and terrible? You know... like all the Kims?
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That's the beauty of NK - don't have to be rich, just have to be in control. When your people are starving you don't need to pay them, you just give them something else, like food or privileges. I'm 100% positive that there are North Koreans crazy enough to go into a mountain that may or may not be leaking radiation to retrieve some assets. Just promise them some food.

I think you're giving the Kim's too little credit, though. It's a carefully orchestrated and engineered miracle that NK is still standing, almost 60 years after the Korea war (or more?). It's not all up to the Kims ofcourse, since they're advised by people who [i]do[/i] know what's up, but to say it's short-sighted and terrible... I don't know. They have survived where other countries in similar situations have fallen. For a longer time than any of them have been around. Short-sighted? I'd say they've been very good at maintaining the status quo from their underdog position for as long as they have.