Cheonan Aftermath

Well unlike the North when someone cries "heads will role" the South government doesn't actually kill them. They do however fire people from high level positions, even when they have cute Dixie cups.

There was a recent inquiry (watchdog group) into the official military report on the sinking of the Cheonan (which I am surprised they actually did an inquiry).

""Military officers deliberately left out or distorted key information in their report to senior officials and the public because they wanted to avoid being held to account for being unprepared," a BAI official said. (source)

Some choice quotes:
"Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lee Sang-eui was heavily intoxicated on the night of March 26 when the sinking of the Cheonan took place. This represented an effective surrender of his command responsibilities."

"...military authorities willfully revised the time of the incident in order to avoid criticisms about an improper early response..."

"Park refused to disclose the extent of Lee’s personal responsibility, saying it would be “inappropriate” to do so, leading observers to contend that the announcement only presented an abbreviated version of the findings. "

"...following a military leaders’ forum...he traveled to Seoul by KTX in a heavily inebriated state...and, after spending about ten minutes attending a situation assessment meeting...(he) effectively abandoned his duties and fell asleep."

There are reasons why people don't trust their governments. Stating again I am proud though that people looked into the official story and held people accountable.

Finiances and Purges in the North

I had heard a lot about the currency reform last November north of the 38th. The idea was to exchange the 'old' currency for the new one at the rate of either 100 Won -> 1 Won or 1,000 -> 1 Won. The changes caused people's savings to disappear and will likely cause a rift with the people.

Being fare, this was no the first time their currency was re-evaluated. And actually I was surprised that there used to be an official exchange rate between North Korean Won and the US Dollar.

So with a tight economy they are looking for investors, like from Germany. There already is an industrial city open to outside investment but workers do run the risk of arrest for trying to preach what the outside looks like (true story, don't have time to find the link). And with the recent boat sinking hasn't helped matters much either.

But reading some (not exactly new news), I discovered the finance chief was executed by firing squad for the currency reform. Official statement "a son of a bourgeois conspiring to infiltrate the ranks of revolutionaries to destroy the national economy". Some people believe that this could mark the start of another purge within the North.