| Another defector report from North Korea. We all understand that a Nork invasion of the South would get as far as the first big box grocery store. But the Nork army is likely still very capable of suppressing the citizens and preventing a coup. |
Newsnight has spoken to two North Korean defectors about life inside the secretive Stalinist state, one of whom says that he was an anti-tank battalion commander in North Korea's army before fleeing.
Unsurprisingly, voices from inside the country are rare - dissenting voices rarer still - but the BBC's Newsnight programme has spoken to two defectors who paint a grim picture of life inside North Korea. One of them is Joo-il Kim, who says he was an anti-tank battalion commander in North Korea's army for seven years until he fled the country in 2005.
The North has a vast conventional military, which correspondents say is the glue that holds the country together, but it is undermined by ageing conventional weaponry. According to Mr Kim, Pyongyang's lack of access to enough new conventional weaponry is what drives its controversial nuclear programme. |