5 Foot is average

Joel Brinkley, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, wrote an opinion piece in the Denver Post the other day about the current situation in North Korea:

"UNICEF reports almost half of North Korea's children are so malnourished they grow up stunted, both physically and mentally. The problem is irreversible and so prevalent the military had to lower its height requirement for new troops, to meet its recruiting goals. The average height for a 17-year-old boy now is 5 feet."

What makes this more interesting is the China angle.  He writes:

"Over the last several years, China has given North Korean government officials jewels and precious stones worth $4 million, perfume and cosmetics worth $4.7 million, furs valued at $3.8 million as well alcohol and tobacco products worth $44 million, all in direct violation of a 2006 United Nations Security Council sanction China voted to approve."

 China shipped 20 percent more caviar to Kim Jong-il the next year, and North Korea tested another nuclear weapon in 2009.

Caviar for the rich, starvation for the poor.  Why?  According to Brinkley and every other source I have read:

The Chinese worry about millions of refugees pouring over the border, about a new government in Pyongyang dominated by South Korea and its ally, the United States.

Those that hate America's influence in the world should look at North Korea (not to mention Iran, Myanmar) and South Korea and decide who is a better influence on the world.