City Sees Parking Tickets Pile up…Then Notice the North Korea Connection

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It’s likely not a surprise to many observers that the streets of Pyongyang aren’t exactly jammed with cars. In fact, most of the country’s roads are barren, thanks to the fact that — well, that’s what always happens when you’re a communist country. So, perhaps the North Koreans don’t understand the niceties of parking regulations.

Still, that doesn’t explain why the Kim regime’s diplomats have been allowed to pile up more than 1,300 unpaid parking tickets in New York City since the 1990s. According to WNBC-TV, the Hermit Kingdom is not only courting war with the United States, it currently owes $156,000 to Gotham for parking violations.

Keep in mind that if you try this for yourself, you’ll end up getting your license suspended and your car impounded. These guys are threatening us with nukes and they’re allowed to let $150,000 in parking violations pile up, with very few people noticing the connection.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly for a country that insists it can wipe the United States off the map with a few nukes and ICBMs notorious for bad aim, North Korean officials insist that the whole thing is a brutal lie by the imperialist running dogs at the NYPD.

“It’s not true,” said a man identifying himself as Jong Jo, who’s apparently the head of North Korea’s U.N. mission. “It is false. Whenever we have a ticket, we pay. Because, you know, if we have three tickets, the city does not allow us to renew their permission.”

This is technically true. A 2002 memorandum of understanding between the State Department and New York City stipulates that diplomatic stickers for a vehicle can be suspended if the vehicle racks up three unpaid tickets. However, WNBC points out that the majority of the debt occurred during the 1990s, before the memorandum.

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And, surprisingly, they’re not the only international scofflaws depriving New York City of parking ticket cash by refusing to pay up. You may not be astonished to learn the chief offender is China, racking up nearly $400,000 (!!!) in unpaid tickets. Syria has $362,000 in unpaid tickets, Iran has $184,987 in fees, and Russia has $104,231 in tickets, which will buy you at least 1,042.31 Russian-made Ladas.

“The Department strictly enforces the rules and associated consequences concerning our extension of driving privileges to foreign mission members in the United States,” a statement from the State Department read.

“This is a responsibility that we take very seriously, meaning we ensure that, irrespective to an individuals’ entitlement to immunity, there are consequences when a foreign mission member fails to comply with U.S. motor vehicle laws… . With this said, it is important for police to treat foreign diplomatic and consular personnel with respect. It is not an exaggeration to say that police handing of incidents in this country could have a direct effect on the treatment of US diplomatic and consular personnel serving abroad.”

That may indeed be true, but it’s still fairly outrageous — and something the Trump administration ought to look into cracking down on. After all, diplomats are getting away with things that everyday Americans never could. That’s not right.

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H/T Newsmax

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