The North Korea thread.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Speaking of North Korea, I was looking at some pictures taken on a trip to North Korea, and the author/photographer made a comment that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Not only are the North Koreans shorter on average because of malnutrition (Christopher Hitchens called them a nation of racist dwarfs) [4], it also makes one in four of young men too mentally retarded for military service [5] - too slow to even follow orders...

25% too mentally retarded for military service?! WTF? I mean the whole army can't be high tech specialists, gotta be some grunts.

So I immediately... no that's a lie, I looked at a couple more pictures before it bothered me so much I had to come back to this statement. Now I know it's on the internet so it must be true, but I had to look up the footnote. The footnote is a quote from a book called, "Getting to Yes in Korea" By Walter C. Clemens Jr.



Yup, that's what it says on Google Books. My only question is define young men, but that doesn't matter much.

The book is on Amazon for $155 hardcover, $29.46 paperback, and $27.99 Kindle.

So who the hell is this guy and does he know his shit?

About the Author

Walter C. Clemens, Jr. is Professor of Political Science at Boston University and Associate, Harvard University Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. He is the author of America and the World, 1898–2025: Achievements, Failures, Alternative Futures (2000) and a dozen other books including the highly praised Dynamics of International Relations (2d ed. 2004). His op-eds have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Clemens has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense, State Department, and Arms Control Disarmament Agency, and has lectured in Asia, Europe, and Latin America for the U.S. Information Agency and Fulbright programs.

Hmm, that doesn't make the statement true, but the guy has creds. 25%