US Bans sale of iPods to North Korea

[Katharine]

It is being done in an effort to annoy the leader by denying him luxury items.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061129/ap_on_go_pr_wh/nkorea_ipod_diplomacy

[Queso]

Somehow I would think Kim Jong-Il and the ruling elite won't be at all effected by this, but a few North korean diplomats across the Western world will lose their lunch hours as they head to electronics shops.

Away from Kim Jong-Il I imagine the market for consumer electronics amongst North Koreans to be rather tiny, considering the country turns off the power at 9pm anyway.

[thewhitehart]

I'm sure that most North Koreans have never even heard of the iPod. However, they have heard of Sputnik. Dear Leader makes them perform mass scale card turning exercises at Kim Sung Il sports stadium, and "Space and Aviation" is one of the favorite themes. It shows a picture of a sputnik type satellite flying through a camp 1960s astro-montage straight out of the Jetsons.

[ChickenSwartz]

Well North Korea has to change its to do list:

1. Perfect nuclear weapons
2. Figure out how to make own "IlPod"
3. Feed its citizens

[Sherman Homan]

They are eating mud and bugs cooked over grass fires and we are going to prevent them from charging a $350 dollar iPod that syncs to a $5000 MacPro? Gosh.

[Max Payne]

Amazing. I'll be waiting for His Highness Kim Sung to beg George Bush the a$$h0le for an iPod or two.

Best of luck NK.

[MacBoobsPro]

What I want to know is how they recharge them with no electricity?

[Queso]

What I want to know is how they recharge them with no electricity?
Heat from nuclear testing. Either that or they just buy new when it runs down ;)

[princealfie]

Looks like the North Koreans will be switching to Zune eh? :D :D :eek:

[Queso]

Looks like the North Koreans will be switching to Zune eh? :D :D :eek:
Yeah, they can burn them to generate electricity :D

[Eraserhead]

Amazing. I'll be waiting for His Highness Kim Sung to beg George Bush the a$$h0le for an iPod or two.

Best of luck NK.

Except he will surely be able to get one on the black market, so the ban has no effect, other than more free advertising for Apple.

[KipCoon]

Looks like the North Koreans will be switching to Zune eh? :D :D :eek:

I see a huge business opportunity for M$ here.. Absolutely.


But seriously, thats just a dumb move, will it honestly have any affect? Not likely with the economic status of that country.

[thewhitehart]

Well North Korea has to change its to do list:

1. Perfect nuclear weapons
2. Figure out how to make own "IlPod"
3. Feed its citizens

HAHA, Il-Pod :D

[Thomas Veil]

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration wants North Korea's attention, so like a scolding parent it's trying to make it tougher for that country's eccentric leader to buy iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters. The U.S. government's first-ever effort to use trade sanctions to personally aggravate a foreign president expressly targets items believed to be favored by Kim Jong Il or presented by him as gifts to the roughly 600 loyalist families who run the communist government.

Kim, who engineered a secret nuclear weapons program, has other options for obtaining the high-end consumer electronics and other items he wants.
But the list of proposed luxury sanctions, obtained by The Associated Press, aims to make Kim's swanky life harder: No more cognac, Rolex watches, cigarettes, artwork, expensive cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles or even personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis.

The new ban would extend even to musical instruments and sports equipment. The 5-foot-3 Kim is an enthusiastic basketball fan; then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright presented him with a ball signed by Michael Jordan during a rare diplomatic trip in 2000. Kim's former secretary, widely believed to be his new wife, studied piano at the Pyongyang University of Music and Dance.

Experts said the sanctions effort - being coordinated under the United Nations - would be the first ever to curtail a specific category of goods not associated with military buildups or weapons designs, especially one so tailored to annoy a foreign leader. U.S. officials acknowledge that enforcing the ban on black-market trading would be difficult....

"It's a new concept; it's kind of creative," said William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official who oversaw trade restrictions with North Korea during Bill Clinton's presidency. Reinsch predicted governments will comply with the new sanctions, but agreed that efforts to block all underground shipments will be frustrated.

"The problem is there has always been and will always be this group of people who work at getting these goods illegally," Reinsch said. Small electronics, such as iPods or laptops, are "untraceable and available all over the place," he said. U.S. exports to North Korea are paltry, amounting to only $5.8 million last year; nearly all those exports were food.Seattle P-I (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_NKorea_iPod_Diplomacy.html)

I have to agree. Creative but totally ineffective. It's not like someone can't get this stuff for Kim. It's an annoyance to him, but that's all.

[leekohler]

Seattle P-I (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_NKorea_iPod_Diplomacy.html)

I have to agree. Creative but totally ineffective. It's not like someone can't get this stuff for Kim. It's an annoyance to him, but that's all.

Quick! Somebody at Microsoft! This could save the Zune! Bill! We gotta get our foot in that Korean market! :D

[bearbo]

i swear there's another very similar thread...

[Dont Hurt Me]

Sanctions never hurt the dictators they are aimed at, and allways hurt the people. Thats my view. Look at all the sanctions on Saddam, his quality of life never diminsihed until troops were knocking on his spider hole.

[MacPanda]

Well i don't think they will care - they will just get a device from south korea ;) - or just go with the zune - i am sure ms will give them some free ones to boost marketshare :D :D :D

macpanda

[jsw]

Note: threads merged....

[MACDRIVE]

What would North Korea do with the iPods without having the computers to download the songs from? :confused:

[solvs]

Well, I guess we had to do something. Our glorious leader seems to have run out of ideas, but I guess that iPod of his gave him something to run with. Not that it will do any good, but what else can we do.