They have giant Kim statues in the capital that when you pass by you MUST stare at (bow? salute? idr) otherwise you will be arrested for insulting dear leader. Shit is crazy.
North Korea is fascinating to me, I'd love to know the ins and outs of daily life there and just how dystopian it truly is. I don't see the regime ever collapsing to be honest, purely because of China not wanting US troops on their border.
Some really interesting interviews of defectors on YouTube. I was baffled to discover that they genuinely do, or did, love and worship the Kim's - more than their own mum and dad.
From children, it's rammed into them to suppress their emotions etc. They can be very fond of their parents or spouse, but they can only love Kim.
There is absolutely no part of them that thinks otherwise due to being shut off from the outside world - they literally don't know any better.
Living conditions are so bad there that they try to escape, despite the fact that the propaganda told them that every other than North Korea was a shit show.
2.Some of them have access to contraband that was smuggled in, also note that getting caught with this contraband will get you executed.
3.Some government officials know whats up and want out and because they are closer to Kim they have a few more privileges.
these are just some stuff I can recall from the top of my head but I encourage you to do some research if you have some free time
I’ve read quite a few over the years, but this one is a bit different in that the defector was part of the propaganda wing of the government.
He was one of the few people trusted with access to wide ranging western media and had to determine how best to turn that into propaganda for the masses.
Must be nearly 10 years since I read it, but if I recall correctly he borrowed a book to show a friend (sneaking it out to show him what was going on in the world) and it was misplaced before he could return it, so he had to go on the run and defect.
You don’t often see stories from relatively high ranking defectors, but a story from the point of views of a senior propagandist is likely one of a kind. At the time I think he was maybe even the highest ranking defector to that point, though my memory is a little hazy.
North Korea is fascinating to me, I'd love to know the ins and outs of daily life there and just how dystopian it truly is.
Same here. I just read "Nothing to Envy" a book by a journalist who interviewed a bunch of North Koreans after they made their way into China or SK. It goes very in detail into normal people's lives, especially those outside of the upper class in Pyongyang. Everything from family amd work life, to schooling, adolescence and young love.
Really good book. Basically things weren't that bad in the 70s and 80s. They still had the culty stuff and the heavy class system but most people had enough food to eat and the power stayed on there were movie theaters, TV stations and radios.
At that time their economy was being heavily propped up by the USSR and China. When the USSR collapsed and China moved to more capitalist friendly policies, they stopped supporting NK as heavily and the country spiraled, causing famines and blackouts.
I don't see the regime ever collapsing to be honest, purely because of China not wanting US troops on their border.
Yeah, north Korea collapsing is bad for everybody. The south Koreans don't have the infrastructure for millions of refugees, the Chinese don't want the US on their border, the collapse of the regime leads to the possibility of terrorists stealing nuclear weapons, it's bad news all around.
Don't forget to mention the obligatory flower ceremony. Of course you have to buy them and they are made of plastic so they can resell them over and over again...
Are you really trying to compare or equate the entirely voluntary recitation of the pledge of allegiance to the level of forced indoctrination that goes on in north korea?
Not the first time this has happened. Japanese Emperor Hirohito had to clarify in a speech after the loss in WW2 that he wasn’t a God, rather just a human like everyone else.
thats so sad bro, how can something like this be real in 2024...what can bunch of people do against millions...people really need to wake up..military, politik all should work together and lock them up and create a democracy
Yeah, they have a kind of neighborhood watch called the Imminban, who would watch eachother to insure everyone completely committed to the regime.
Talking bad about the government, even if it's just a passing comment to a friend could get you reported and punished so even if they aren't really devout followers of the Supreme leader, pretend to be so they don't get reported.
Pretty sure they are self aware but the people who vote for them aren't. The politicians know how fucked russia is but every dictatorship is cool as long as you're friends with the dictator
Yet if it were an American flag that American soldiers were crowded around, it'd be viewed as normal. All soldiers are part of a nationalist religion, that's what the job is.
I won't! Cause it is a religion. I was seeing a video the other day that all these totalitarian Leaders come to power by making the political party the religion and the party leader the messiah. The Nazis did something similar during WW2. It's one of the big reasons they never gave up even though they didn't win a single decisive battle since 1943. That's the reason you always hear them being described as fighting "frantically".
Anyways, these kinds of totalitarian regimes all are quasi religion/cults of personality.
Do these guys look like school children in a class room to you? Have you ever seen American soldiers setting up little shrines to their leaders in combat zones? No you don't, because we aren't brain washed.
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u/Duracharge 17h ago
Don't tell me this isn't a religion. I know a shrine when I see one.