uhuh? in the us, i noe alot of ppl who are in from the south i think its pretty rare to find anyone from the north in the us
I read this article that north koreans boil grass to survive winters! @-@ im guessing south is good???
Well, the same can be said of many other countires, North Korea is not the only less-than-desirable place to be born in. Like Wind says, one would either adapt to it eventually, or the option is die prematurely.
i'm pretty sure everyone would choose South because it's just plain better. i'm not criticizing the north, believe me, but if you're only way out of a country is by escaping and maybe dying, where would you rather live? but i would like to go to North to hel if i couldD:
South of course...hands down this thread should be re-named: Life or Death instead of South or North list of reasons: dictatorship famine slavery (yes slavery is legal there) nuke testing disease government corruption brainwashing citizens( people think he is a living god) i think one day korea will be unified, as a result, there will be no distinction between south or north as long as kim jung il rules, not ganna happen soon well, theres my 2 cents
I don't say this to be insulting, but what really strikes me about this thread is the depth of ignorance that pervades most overseas Koreans about the conditions in the DPRK. People here seem to talk about it as if it were simply the difference between getting gravy on your potatoes or not. The DPRK is probably one of the world's most repressive regimes. It would make Nazi Germany under Hitler seem like a democracy by comparison. People there were so poor that they used to eat tree bark. And after several years ago, when they ran out of trees (they denuded their forests in search of food), they've started to eat dead bodies now. Mothers of young girls regularly stand on the roadside pimping their own 12 year old daughters to passing Chinese truck drivers for food. Regardless of its title, the government there is a strict dictatorship but is run like a personality cult (remember Waco, Texas?). Kin Jong Il, like his late father Kim Il Sung, is presented in their media as a living god. This is not dissimilar to how Showa era Japanese viewed their Emperor Hirohito. The Chinese imperial dynasties too, were based on the personifications of God on earth types of religious interpretations, allowing for unchallenged rule. I would suggest that anyone who has a real interest in their Korean heritage take the time to find out about the post World War 2 Soviet - US partitioning of the northern and southern regions; how Chinese and Soviet military backing kept the Kim regime in power and closed to the west; how millions have already starved to death there; and how the north's current interest in nuclear weapons to reach Japan and the US could destabilize their entire region. Even China, the political patron of the north, has tightened its border controls with the north as several hundred thousand North Korean refugees have gone over the border and are living secretly in China, under constant threat of repatriation (which could mean death by firing squad). To answer the question about which to pick, north versus south? The difference is liken to being between heaven (in the south) and hell (in the north), rather a Hobson's Choice (that is, not really a choice at all)... And some light reading for those who are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11332771 http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/1143/ http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2007/03/05/nkorea15438.htm http://freekorea.us/2001/11/27/defining-genocide-down-2/ And some YouTube clips of North Korean 'Vacation' video smuggled out at risk of death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R3UeqYinF4&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCK_HjAyuRs&NR=1 Ralph
This just in: Things aren't getting any better. BTW, for if anyone wants more background, here's the BBC short guide on North Korea: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456994/html/default.stm Ralph
14 part series (~5 mins each) on a reporter's trip into North Korea. http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1438428757 Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with. After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, “No, nobody can come.” Then they said, “OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists.” We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. They already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when you’re supposed to be a tourist you go to jail. We don’t like jail. And we’re willing to bet we’d hate jail in North Korea. But we went for it. The first leg of the trip was a flight into northern China. At the airport the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs. We were thinking, “Look, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. We’re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed?” but this guy with our group who was from the LA Times told us, “Everyone in here besides us is secret police. If you don’t act excited then you’re not going to get your visa.” So we got drunk and jumped up onstage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didn’t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on...
haha damn this thread still exist? anyways i started it to create conversation when pa was small im well aware of the fact that north korea is one of the only country to not have opened up to the outside world and the famine in 90's that killed millions (i hear there is another one happening right now) who would really want to be in north korea? unless ur an elite in their society , no one. Hate the country? well say you love it otherwise your whole family gets sent to concentration camp. I hear their philosophy is somewhat to keep the fed well fed and let the weak die as they are useless anyways, if ur not able to work u don't get fed so international aids usally get redirected to the elites while they starve out the people who really need it. There's almost no economy, other then their ally china the country is mute with propaganda spitting all year round with random blackouts throughout the days. There's a whole underground movement thing organzied by churches and individuals to escape from the north to the south but a big road block lies ahead because china is a bitch and anyone caught in china will be sent back to either be executed or sent to concentration camps to work till you die unless u can bribe. Anyone defecting with family behind will have them sent to the camps too. yes frankly , other then 1 american gi who would really want to live in the north? =P ahh its going to be like the berlin wall going down when they unify, third world meets first.
Exactly, and even he recanted and said that when he finally realized what the DPRK was all about, he wanted to leave but then they wouldn't let him, until after about 40 years. He wrote a short book about his experiences there (The Reluctant Communist by Charles R. Jenkins). Interesting read if you ever get the chance. Ralph
yeah i have seen some photos of north korea and it seems like some place you don't go on vacation..... south korea seems a lot better....
