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Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

earthnutshell.com

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Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#21

Fascinating pics -- however, his guides in North Korea will likely get in trouble due to their publication.

No they won't. These are the views every tourist gets shown. Some are nearly the same as pictures I took on my visits. These are the parts of the country for show.

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#23
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look in the comments of the computer store video, he is a Diplomat so he can "roam freely" as he puts it. Somewhat interesting anyway!

Yeah, I don't know what to believe. Anyways, streets that aren't littered with advertising is certainly an interesting sight!

>...streets that aren't littered with advertising is certainly an interesting sight!

Personality cult propaganda doesn't count as "advertising"?

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#24
It strikes me how expensive these visits must be for NK. It seems that every tourist gets a dedicated guide, while someone (or multiple people) is probably also monitoring them remotely. Then, consider the little details like that empty restaurant they cleared for the sake of a tourist. In terms of manpower it's probably a factor > 1 relative to the number of visitors.

Imagine every visitor to the US was escorted by a government employee, with background surveillance attached. It would cost a fortune!

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#25

It strikes me how expensive these visits must be for NK. It seems that every tourist gets a dedicated guide, while someone (or multiple people) is probably also monitoring them remotely. Then, consider the little details like that empty restaurant they cleared for the sake of a tourist. In terms of manpower it's probably a factor > 1 relative to the number of visitors. Imagine every visitor to the US was escorted by…

Not when the tourist themselves has to pay for the tour.

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#26

It's immoral to visit such a country. It has concentration camps. It tortures on a large scale. It's citizens suffer and visiting the country gives money to an evil regime.

We've had a strategy of isolationism towards them for 50+ years, and it doesn't seem to have worked. If you wanted North Korea to be as free as possible in 20 years, what would you do today to help enable that? I think visiting might in fact be a net positive. Also, Jimmy Carter went there, so maybe you should too!

That said, I struggle with this question. In some ways you're absolutely correct. My personal struggle: North Korea has a chain of restaurants abroad, and I walked by one quite often while I was in Bangkok. Out of (morbid) curiosity, I would have loved to dine there and talk to the (very attractive) North Korean waitresses. I couldn't stomach giving the regime the $3 for the meal though.

In some ways, going to the NK restaurants supports the quazi-slavery of the workers in the restaurant. But in other ways, that spending enables the restaurant workers to live in Thailand and not North Korea. In the end, I decided not to visit, as I couldn't help but think of how I would feel about someone dining at a Nazi restaurant in the 40s. Difficult ethical questions though.

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#27

Related: A YouTube channel [0] dedicated to videos of "everyday life" in North Korea, from an Indonesian expat living there. Couple of random examples: * Walking around Pyongyang in the winter. [1] * Going to a computer store in Pyongyang. [2] [0] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvCf_q10UZkUJE0lOav0ag [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2ZkXz_1U8 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtDWYzwwuUs

Whoa. At 2:59 on [2] (https://youtu.be/FtDWYzwwuUs?t=179), it looks like that camera is 100,000 won? Thats $111 according to google.

Any idea what's up with that? Am I interpreting the price wrong?

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#28

It strikes me how expensive these visits must be for NK. It seems that every tourist gets a dedicated guide, while someone (or multiple people) is probably also monitoring them remotely. Then, consider the little details like that empty restaurant they cleared for the sake of a tourist. In terms of manpower it's probably a factor > 1 relative to the number of visitors. Imagine every visitor to the US was escorted by…

[deleted]

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#29
This documentary has real footage from inside north Korea, not the usual 'north Korea show' you usually see everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csI1EoMOXXk

Secret footage shot by an activist inside north korea.

eg:

markets inside a north korean town https://youtu.be/csI1EoMOXXk?t=1366

dead bodies of people who tried to escape in the yalu river

https://youtu.be/csI1EoMOXXk?t=1145

Re: Photos from Inside North Korea (2014)

#30
post #27

Related: A YouTube channel [0] dedicated to videos of "everyday life" in North Korea, from an Indonesian expat living there. Couple of random examples: * Walking around Pyongyang in the winter. [1] * Going to a computer store in Pyongyang. [2] [0] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvCf_q10UZkUJE0lOav0ag [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2ZkXz_1U8 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtDWYzwwuUs

Whoa. At 2:59 on [2] ( https://youtu.be/FtDWYzwwuUs?t=179 ), it looks like that camera is 100,000 won? Thats $111 according to google. Any idea what's up with that? Am I interpreting the price wrong?

Actually, Google is quoting the official rate.. but the official rate is basically impossible to convert at. You'd need to convert at the black market rate, which is supposedly about 8,000 north korean Won to $1. If it's actually priced in North Korean Won, that would make it $12? I think we're missing something.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/05/north-korean-e...

https://www.nknews.org/2015/04/north-korea-the-most-expensiv...

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