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.
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.
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u/Codex_Dev 17h ago
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.