Yellow Munchkins From Hell

While doing some reading up on North Korea I found a particularly thorough 2003 article in New Republic that included this fascinating tidbit about the Korean People's Army:

... the height requirement for new recruits is now 1.3 metres, reflecting the effects of nearly two decades of malnutrition.

For the metric impaired, that's 4' 3". In 2005, the average American male was 5' 9 1/2" and the average woman was 5' 4" (source). The New Republic article doesn't make it clear whether the 4' 3" height is there mainly to capture NoKo women into the army, and it is a minimum height, not an average height, but its extreme shrimpiness is proof positive that the poor people of North Korea are being starved by their regime.

The article also makes it clear the NoKo cult culture is fanatical and allegiance to Li'l Kim is practically molecular among the long-suffering people. It is not a country where we can expect a people's uprising ... or, at least, expect a people's uprising to succeed.