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North Korea Advertises Military Hardware On Twitter and YouTube, Defying Sanctions (vice.com)
eatmorekix shares a report from Motherboard: Glocom, a front company for the government of North Korea that sells sanctioned equipment, isn't giving up. In 2017, before YouTube quietly removed Glocom's channel, the company was advertising missile navigation and other military products on the video platform. But Glocom has returned. It setup a new channel, and also had a presence on Twitter, until Motherboard flagged Glocom's accounts to social media companies. The news not only signals the perseverance of parts of the North Korean's money-making enterprises, but also a slice of the content moderation issues that tech platforms constantly face. Glocom "is using them as platforms to market sanctions violating products," Shea Cotton, research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and who has a particular focus on North Korea, told Motherboard in an email. A United Nations report says that Glocom is run by North Korean intelligence agents, even though it pitches itself as a Malaysian company.
Cotton said "this company continues to operate openly. Most DPRK [Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea] fronts, when exposed, usually fold or at the very least shut down and move their operations to another country and re-open under a new name. This one hasn't done that. We've seen them try to create this spin off brand called 'FACOM' and sell a few of their products under it but as you've seen their main brand is still thriving apparently."
Cotton said "this company continues to operate openly. Most DPRK [Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea] fronts, when exposed, usually fold or at the very least shut down and move their operations to another country and re-open under a new name. This one hasn't done that. We've seen them try to create this spin off brand called 'FACOM' and sell a few of their products under it but as you've seen their main brand is still thriving apparently."
Sanctions make it illegal to buy from them, but they don't make it illegal for them to try to sell. The real question is, who is buying all that hardware?
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
...seriously, that is what they're going to push for, isn't it?
Do you suppose the NSA doesn't track who goes to these sites, orders product etc? Granted, you are not tracking the villains at the top of the food chain, but hey, take the easy wins when you can get them, right?
Anyone who didn't sign the UN treaty on the sanctions. Probably Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, etc...
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
Missile technology is being sold on the facetweets. What a time to be alive.
Twitter? Isn't this kind of thing more appropriate for Etsy?
"Handmade by local artisans, not by a big corporation. Our carbon footprint is 5x lower than other countries in the region."
Is it some sort of religion or something? "Do exactly as we say or get sanctioned"? The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Apparently, this "freedom" thing only goes if you toe the capitalist party line.
Yes, playing devil's advocate here. But do try and explain this one, like I'm five if that makes you feel better. Go on, try it.
Short of waving his pecker in Donald Trump's face, is there anything more blatant Kim Jong Un could to to show the US he will do whatever he likes, and because he has nukes, there's sweet FA the US can do about it?
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Kome on down! Big discount on ballistic - err- "model" rocket tubes. Only used once! @KrazyKimsSurplus
A villain is very useful, when it's not going so well at home. You need him more than he needs you.
Stupid Bush already took the villain out of the closet It took a lot of work, and all of the Talba...err...IS and even Russia to come back from the dead, to get bet a viable "threat".
Don't do it again. When left without some abstract vague scapegoat to hate, people will start finding their real enemy. And that will be you, dear NSA.
-- An unnamed NSA international intelligence strategy consultant. ... Maybe. ;)
Why is North Korea not allowed to sell military hardware but the US can sell trillions of dollars worth to Saudi Arabia?
Oh yeah, cuz HYPOCRISY!
Malaysia sucks NorK dick.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Warmonger much?
Facom was a Fujitsu brandname selling IBM-compatible mainframe computers in the 1980s. I'd expect Fujitsu still owns the trademark, and they'd probably be peeved that North Korea was infringing on their trademark.
Some wars are justified. Others are not. Knowing the difference is more than Trump has the mental capacity for - or you.
What I find humorous is that they don't give potential customers like me a means of placing and order. I don't want to buy US arms given my fight is with the US government. Nowhere on the site did I find anything about payment or Bitcoin or a Tor onion site. Am I actually expected to email them for that information? shh I'll go elsewhere. But defying the US is a great joy of mine. Fuck those who bow down and give up every ounce of freedom for the promise of a little temporary safety [which is also total bull shit].
I'm guessing North Korea doesn't keep tabs on exactly who doesn't care about UN treaties. Rebel and guerilla groups, terrorist organizations, shady governments - there are all kinds of potential customers for their weapons. I don't think they particularly care to whom they sell.
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
In fact Kim's autocratic regime of goons has been LEGITIMIZED
How?
Was that like during the Olympics the Koreans marching under a "united flag" (when Trump? Or when the media fawned over the NK singing troupe?
when trump was threatening Rocket man*
Are you suggesting that David Pecker, head of American Media Corp., is actually a stooge for Kim Jong Un?
Cool! Terrible! Cool! Terrible! Er, I'm a little conflicted here...
Anyone with a military background able to comment on the validity of the parent post?
arrest of commerce = communism