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'Captured: Journey To North Korea'

Ahhhhhhhhhh yes,....the Hermit Kingdom. Fascinating country. Brainwashing wouldn't even come close in describing the indoctrination the average person is fed from the beginning of life to the end. The part I treasure most is their fact the US and the ROK invaded North Korea,....not the other way around. Heck,...it says so in their official war museum!
 
CybrSlydr said:
...Fascinating series.
Click to expand...
Absolutely brilliant...I was transfixed.
I have sent the link to all my liberal friends in Britain, as they cower behind the barricades in Brixton, so they can see the kind of life they missed out on...
 
Wing_Z said:
Absolutely brilliant...I was transfixed.
I have sent the link to all my liberal friends in Britain, as they cower behind the barricades in Brixton, so they can see the kind of life they missed out on...
Click to expand...
Honestly, the only word I can think of to describe it is surreal.

Check out their series on Liberia. It makes Afghanistan look like an amusement park. Horrifying living conditions.
 
If you're into reading books on North Korea,.....check this one out. Written by Barbara Demick,....the surreal story of North Koreans who made a break for greener pastures. "Nothing to Envy" gives first hand accounts what it's like to exist day by day,...not knowing if you'll be eating grass roots for sustenance. Many Koreans have added 2+2=4 and decided to defect somehow from the Workers Paradise. Not an easy thing to do in a police state run by Dear Leader.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/03/nothing-envy-korea-barbara-demick
 
Re 'Captured: Journey To North Korea

The carpet in that Hotel sure was loud, Couldn't sleep in that Lobby. In spite of everything it still looks Bleak.
 
SpitXIV said:
You would think that looking at how well S. Korea was doing that the N. would want to improve their lifestyle.
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Actually the North Koreans can't look at South Korea to compare lifestyles, the media is so tightly controlled. Obviously the party elite are aware of the differences, but they have perks and privileges in the Commie regime that they wouldn't have in a democratic state. It's hard for us to get a grip on just how totally the North Korean people have been indoctrinated. For that to be successful they have to be isolated from the outside world so they have no clue how screwed they are compared to people in free countries.
 
Re: Same

TARPSBird said:
Actually the North Koreans can't look at South Korea to compare lifestyles, the media is so tightly controlled. Obviously the party elite are aware of the differences, but they have perks and privileges in the Commie regime that they wouldn't have in a democratic state. It's hard for us to get a grip on just how totally the North Korean people have been indoctrinated. For that to be successful they have to be isolated from the outside world so they have no clue how screwed they are compared to people in free countries.
Click to expand...


Two words come to mind "Iron Curtain"
 
There is an excellent documentary by the BBC out there on James Dresnok, a U.S. GI who defect to DPRK in the 1960's. He made a life of sorts there, though reading between the lines you can tell if he could re-live his life he would not have made the same choices.
Sad and poignant tale. Interesting doc if you can track it down, I think it may have been on You Tube I saw it about 1 year ago. Some good footage of authorised "life" in Pyonyang.
Well worth tracking down.

Check out the Beeb review thing http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6267645.stm
 
TARPSBird said:
Obviously the party elite are aware of the differences, but they have perks and privileges in the Commie regime that they wouldn't have in a democratic state. It's hard for us to get a grip on just how totally the North Korean people have been indoctrinated. For that to be successful they have to be isolated from the outside world so they have no clue how screwed they are compared to people in free countries.
Click to expand...

It is unfair on communists and communism to call the DPRK communist at all. Christopher Hitchens, respected journalist and author, calls it a Necrocracy, because the official ruler of the country Kim Il Sung is dead. Kim Jon Il only runs it in his stead. Crazy but true.
 
In all of this you have to feel deep sympathy for Koreans, be they of the
Northern or Southern flavour.
After a hundred years of occupation, slavery, and slaughter of one type or another, it is remarkable that there is such a thing as "Korean" at all!
 
Re: Same

Wing_Z said:
In all of this you have to feel deep sympathy for Koreans, be they of the
Northern or Southern flavour.
After a hundred years of occupation, slavery, and slaughter of one type or another, it is remarkable that there is such a thing as "Korean" at all!
Click to expand...

True, I still wouldn't want to be there when the political situation goes south. No pun intended.
 
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