Jacoby wrote:
Millions of North Koreans have died of starvation since the collapse of the Soviet Union who they received substantial aid from and which their economy was totally dependent on. That picture of North Korea at night speaks for itself. All of North Korea's resources are funneled to its military while its people eat dirt. Their are hundreds of thousands of people(men, women, and children) imprisoned in slave labor camps, most of whom will never leave alive. There is no worse country in the world than North Korea.
The division of Korea is artificial, they are the same people. All you need to do is look at the South, they were a military dictatorship and one of the poorest countries in the world in the 60s and now they're free and one of the largest economies in the world.
South Korea has built a seperation wall, so clearly drawing a frontier to keep both countries separated. Plus, they are equally good in propaganda as their neighbours. South Korea is a police state where lies about the North are omnipresent and defending the North a punishable act.
Fnord wrote:
Why even discuss North Korea as if it is anything other than a feudal dictatorship?
They're no threat to anybody, economically, militarily, or politically.
It is even worse than Somalia.
It isn't. Somalia is the most dangerous and lawless state on earth, even a short walk is lethal sometimes as gangs shoot and bomb each other constantly and no police force has any control on what happens. Except the province of Somaliland, Somalia is one big lawless place where killings are daily events. As bad as North Korean oppression goes, I'd rather be a slave than dead... I mean, I'd rather be surveilled all days than dying in a gun fight on the street I live in. Somalia is lawless while North Korea is the ultimate police state, they're opposites.
Saudi Arabia by the way is also a lot worse than North Korea. But granted, I can only think of these 2 countries where life would be worse than in the DPRK.
Tequila wrote:
91 wrote:
I had the displeasure to meet Alejandro cao de Benos at Kumsusan Palace, the man was total scum. Unfortunately there are far worse out there than internet contrarians.
I'm sure for some here Alex is living the dream.
91 wrote:
There are those restaurants. You go to them a lot and then everyone pretends not to notice when the power goes out.
The person that went on the tour said that that was almost a running joke, but that he also realised that by being in such a restaurant he felt incredibly guilty for obvious reasons.
91 wrote:
It certainly does, the place is very ugly and makes liberal use of concrete.
The city looks so grey and quiet.
And the roads! There are roads, but nearly no vehicles on them!
91 wrote:
That being said, the People's Study House looks quite nice when viewed from the fountain park (it looks appalling from Kim Il Sung square and is pretty rubbish on the inside). The Ryugyong Hotel also looks quite attractive, it would fit nicely anywhere else. But the interior is not finished and it is too big and opulent for the city, also its dimensions are the same as Orwell's Ministry of Truth (they don't like it when you mention that).
I think I might have seen that, not sure.
91 wrote:
They have pictures of the leaders in their houses and music is played through speakers in the cities. They play it on Air Koryo as well. But propaganda pretty much equals any music there. The Moranbong band is played everywhere, its their answer to K-Pop, they are the only women allowed to wear miniskirts. The only time I heard western music was when they played Yellow Submarine for me at the Study House after I gave a short introduction to my university, what I research and what I was doing there.
I'm sure the North Koreans would love to hear K-Pop on a regular basis.
I suppose that after such a length of time, even though the two Koreas have the same language, that definitions and the way that they use the language has changed so much that they find it difficult to really communicate ideas.
91 wrote:
Most of the tourists are either sympathisers or adventure oriented, either way I don't think they leave a good impression.
I don't think the guy who went was a sympathiser.
91 wrote:
The South has a that can grate westerners but it is pretty spectacular. After about the first week there I would wake up and realise I was still inside the country and then I would wish I was somewhere else. I get the feeling that I was not the only one in the country doing that. It felt really weird crossing into China and feeling free. My first time out, I went to Shenyang and went straight to Pizza Hut.
I'm not surprised.
The guy I interviewed who lives in Pyongyang half of the year and calls it a pleasant place to be, says traffic issues are resolved and there is even traffic jams in rush hour now. The fuel shortage left roads empty for long time but the number of traffic has increased a lot. Road blocks when driving between different cities are still an issue though, and I seem to recall non-residents of Pyongyang have to ask permission to visit their own capital.
North Korea has formed a first pop group, an all female Spice Girls esque band. Kim Jung Un himself selected the girls to be part of the group. Dictator, army controller AND music manager ; the man knows how to multitask. (needless to say the lyrics will be praising the regime in one way or another)
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Do what Thou wilt shal be the whole of the Law.
Love is the Law, Love under Will. And...
every man and every woman is a star
(excerpt from The Book of the Law - Aleister Crowley)
"Od lo avda tikvateinu" (excerpt from the Israeli hymn)
30 Oct 2013, 7:42 am
