In mourning, hermit kingdom North Korea seals itself

[ellisonz]

By Andrew Quinn | Reuters – 1 hr 26 mins ago

DANDONG, China/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea was in seclusion on Tuesday, a day after it announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, as concern mounted over what would happen next in the deeply secretive nation that is trying to build a nuclear arsenal.

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In a sign the hermit state was sealing itself off from the outside world even more after the "Dear Leader's" death, few people crossed the Dandong border with China. China is the North's only major ally and one of the few states with which it actively trades.

"We can't go in now, because of the death of Kim Jong-il," Yu Lu, a Chinese trader in Dandong who does business with the North, told Reuters. "It's all closed off, and basically all the North Koreans are heading back. It's very tightly closed today."

However, it was not clear if the border was officially closed.

http://news.yahoo.com/mourning-hermit-kingdom-north-korea-seals-itself-off-045808510.html

[Ferretherder]

1. Man, it may just be me, but,...

....is anybody else getting creeped out by these people's 'devotion' to their late 'dear leader'?

[ellisonz]

2. It's brainwashing...

I posted a couple videos in Video forum you might want to check out.

[Ferretherder]

3. Thanks!

Will do.

[ixion]

4. no different from the fanatic devotion I see to party here in the US.

The level of cognitive dissonance of any True Believer, no matter what the belief, is a constant.

[lunatica]

5. It's always been creepy

The Soviet Union could have learned something about how to really use an iron curtain from North Korea. It's like a Black Hole.

Rachel Maddow showed a Satellite photo of that part of the world at night. Every other country has electricity at night that definitely shows the outline of the country. North Korea is as black as the oceans, with barely a couple of lit up cities. It makes the map look like South Korea is an island separated from the rest of the land area.

And evidently there are satellite photos showing it also has enormous prison camps and the major food problems. The people are starving to death.

[Johnson20]

6. Does this mean that

world leaders will not be able to get in to pay their last respects? (Can't find the sarcasm icon)