Shock and Disbelief (Kim Jong-il breaks a promise)

Via Yonhap News:

If your country was Communist, living in poverty and surrounded by countries that were either already quite wealthy or becoming wealthier through market reforms, you might want to change your ways. But this is Kim Jong-il, the Dear Leader. He is more interested in saber rattling than becoming wealthy through the manufacture of cheap electronics or plastic toys. His game is holding the world hostage.

Here is the latest from North Korea’s Dear Leader:

North Korea will not shut down its nuclear facilities despite agreeing to do so last month until the United States unfreezes all of its funds held at a Macau bank, the communist state's top nuclear negotiator said Saturday.

Why?

"If the United States does not remove all of its restrictions on our funds at Banco Delta Asia, we cannot shut down our nuclear facilities at Yongbyon," Kim Kye-gwan told reporters upon arrival here.

So then why was the United States doing that?

Washington announced Wednesday that it has barred U.S. financial institutions from dealing with the Macau bank because of its links to the North's alleged illicit financial activities, such as counterfeiting and money laundering.

Ahh, so North Korea will not honor its agreement because the United States caught its hand in the counterfeiting/ money laundering cookie jar and decided to slap it.

While the People’s Republic of China and Vietnam are successfully improving the lives of their citizens through market reforms and closer ties with foreign nations, North Korea continues to isolate itself from the rest of the world and alienate its neighbors.