201–210 of 307 posts
I'm mostly surprised about the free admission of bribery: > However, I soon found that a bottle of Johnie Walker Black Label handed out at particularly frustrating moments made things miraculously happen a lot quicker. Oh how the North Koreans loved their whiskey.
I'm mostly surprised about the free admission of bribery: > However, I soon found that a bottle of Johnie Walker Black Label handed out at particularly frustrating moments made things miraculously happen a lot quicker. Oh how the North Koreans loved their whiskey.
Those bottles of whiskey/whisky were NEVER drank, I bet you. They effectively circulate as currency, the only one that actually buys you things in a disfunctional economy: a visit to the doctor, exams, favors or just goods that theoretically can be bought with money but are not in stock. Suddenly found in stock for a bottle of whiskey.
The last paragraph talks about being cut-off and isolated. He didn't mention Internet or phones for private use, so I wonder if they didn't have that. I can imagine smartphones being disallowed, and even if allowed, limited to home WiFi...
I lived more than 40 years without a smartphone, believe me life was not a problem... The couple of years I used Internet before eternal September it was superior to what we have now.
The context being of the author's experience, who back then came from life in the West with (most likely) a "dumb" phone and a home/work Internet for browsing/email/instant messaging, and was then brought to a regime where mobile phones were most likely not allowed, and Internet might not be available, and social contact changed from being able to go out and see friends to having only a few people in the diplomatic compound, and contact with locals being severely limited to the people sent by the regime to watch over you...
The original title of the article ("How To Survive 3 Years In North Korea As A Foreigner") sounds unnecessarily hyperbolic to me considering that the author led a relatively comfortable life (having a swimming pool, being able to play tennis and golf) with only minor inconveniences, while some North Koreans were actually starving at the time...
Everything is perspective; If you're use to certain standards, and the readers are use to certain standards, expressing the travel to a country where such standards are known not to exist, then you might view the situation as something to overcome —survive (to carry on despite hardships).
Years ago, I was lucky enough to listen to a talk from an American who got to be a tourist in North Korea. Ever since then I've been fascinated with stories like this. North Korea is on my bucket list, but hopefully after the state loosens up.
Same. I want to also visit Iran in the next few years. I fully expect that 90% of what I think I know about these countries is CIA propaganda.
Years ago, I was lucky enough to listen to a talk from an American who got to be a tourist in North Korea. Ever since then I've been fascinated with stories like this. North Korea is on my bucket list, but hopefully after the state loosens up.
Same. I want to also visit Iran in the next few years. I fully expect that 90% of what I think I know about these countries is CIA propaganda.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
True, it would be more toward security leadership in things like CISO roles or equivalent. Yet if one takes them, they will certainly help.
Again, just in case you're interested in a second take on this, no.
> There were a handful of shops that catered for foreigners. All transactions had to be in Euros as possession of local currency by foreigners was forbidden This stood out to me in the article, as most countries incentivize foreign visitors to use local currencies to boost its strength. However, NK seems to have long ago come to terms it's currency will never hold value, so perhaps they instill this rule to boost the…
I posted my story a few times about picking up a North Korean shortwave broadcast on my car radio while driving to work at Adobe in San Jose around 2022. Rather than re-tell it again, here it is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38634348
For anyone wondering, the Voice of Korea broadcasts daily on shortwave Worldwide and can be received even inside a house, given your WiFi and Led lights do not produce excessive interference. For frequencies https://shortwavedb.org/cgi-bin/shortwave.cgi ? and search for Country North Korea
I do not know how they relate to what is broadcasted on AM/FM for the general population, though.