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Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

mydiplomaticlife.com

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Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#251

Post by geoffreymcgill »

tptacek wrote: post #139
geoffreymcgill wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to both and can report a positive experience. The DPRK trip was fascinating. The thing I remember most about Iran is how friendly everyone was to us.

If you've been to South Korea (and I haven't, only have a bunch of friends who have), was there anything fascinating about North Korea that you couldn't have gotten from South Korea and that didn't hinge on how messed up North Korea is? Genuinely curious.

> was there anything fascinating about North Korea that you couldn't have gotten from South Korea

yes, a different perspective.

EDIT/ADD:

Witness one of the world’s most secretive states, firsthand experience of a communist regime, dynastic leadership, and a pervasive cult of personality.

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#252

Post by red-iron-pine »

gre wrote: post #237
Taek wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth keeping in mind that NK has one of the most active / visible cyber teams on the planet, presumably including astro-turfing and propaganda. Which means any conversation on the internet about NK is likely to be polluted with propaganda, even if none of the participants themselves are operatives - all it takes is someone unwittingly ingesting a bad fact once for that bad fact to get circulated.

Are you suggesting that boyboy, an Australian youtube channel that posts about everything, is a North Korean propagandist? Or is it me? Anything said about north Korea that is not absolutely bonkers is propaganda?

boyboy doesn't have to be propagandist to regurgitate some factoids that were put out deliberately elsewhere as agi-prop.

that's the point, you poison the well once and everyone keeps drinking from it, forever.

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#253

Post by red-iron-pine »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #225
gverrilla wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a group from Brazil (so portuguese - you can use yt's autotranslate) who supports and studies NK - they have visited and on this live they show the pictures/videos and talk about life there, food, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQNQWwXA6_0

I clicked that and skipped through it and now YouTube's algorithm thinks I want to watch a whole bunch of Brazillian neo-hyper-Stalinist-cult tankie videos.

sounds like one to watch from my work account

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#254

Post by geoffreymcgill »

tptacek wrote: post #138
kstrauser wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iran doesn't chill my blood in the same way imagining being in North Korea does. I have no desire to go there. I wouldn't go if offered. It still strikes me as a more or less rational country that stridently disagrees with my own country's politics (and my own), not a boot stamping on a human face — forever.

Iran is a bucket list country for me. The politics are a disaster, obviously, but it's an amazing, deep culture. The government of Iran is a disaster, but it's a real, functioning country, in ways North Korea isn't. Ironically, Iran is probably much more dangerous than North Korea is (not least because you apparently basically can't do anything in North Korea), at least for an American. But like, if you want Korean c…

I met plenty of Americans in both Iran and North Korea. American tourists often receive extra interest and admiration from the locals, who express a genuine warmth and fascination towards them.

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#255

Post by kennyloginz »

themaninthedark wrote: post #236
kennyloginz wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His fellow travelers say this was impossible, the “recording” was fake, and the timestamps are at a time when he wasn’t even in the hotel. Why would you assume n. Korea is being honest here?

I would not say that I would assume that North Korea is being honest but what makes you think that his fellow travelers are being honest either?

His fellow travelers were from many different countries

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#256

Post by dheera »

shiroiushi wrote: post #155
dheera wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder who works in those embassies. Are there some British dudes just living there that go to the embassy every day for work? Where do they buy food? What do their residences look like? Do have spouses and children? Where do they work and go to school? Do they enjoy life there?

Why would anyone in their right mind accept a job like this? It's a lot like taking a job that requires you to live in a prison for several years.

In my grade school years I moved with my parents to Saudi Arabia for a couple years. It was voluntary on their part, my father had the opportunity to move their for his work (for a US company).

Saudi Arabia isn't North Korea, but it's still a lot less free than most developed countries, especially for females like my mother, who were not allowed to drive or work, could not go out alone, and legally forced to wear a stupid black thing in insanely hot weather while all the males of the country wore comfy white clothing.

I don't know the full story of their financials, but all I know is we got free housing, 1 free trip to the US every year, and 3 free vacations per year anywhere in the world, flights, lodging, and all expenses covered. We did lots of things that I believe they wouldn't have been able to do on their own money at the time. They also rented out their house in the US for extra income.

I wouldn't be surprised if diplomats who voluntarily take posts in North Korea also get a shitton of compensation benefits like that.

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#257

Post by ein0p »

Mistletoe wrote: post #207
ein0p wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I’m not sure that’s true based on Persians I know that live in the USA and are extremely angry about what happened to the country. I love looking at their old photos of Iran before it was consumed by a theocracy. They look like this. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47032829

Yes, I’m aware. But that can’t be what most of the population in Iran thinks, since some of the Persians I know in the US support a full scale war and regime change in Iran, while acknowledging that hundreds of thousands of their country people would die as a result and chance of success is near zero. More disturbingly they also seem to suggest that people outside Tehran and other large cities should have no say in how Iran is run, and when I say there’s no way they’ll allow that, there’s a blank stare. Also BBC is not a reliable source for information about either country. It’s quite literally government affiliated media.

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#258

Post by smcl »

pixxel wrote: post #128
smcl wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like they loved their whisky

If you’re going to be anal, explain why: “Whisky (no e) refers to Scottish, Canadian, or Japanese grain spirits. Whiskey (with an e) refers to grain spirits distilled in Ireland and the United States.” Johnnie Walker Black Label is Scottish, hence no ‘e’.

Oof turning that around a bit - when you are gonna be snarky, try to be correct. Outside of Scotland and Ireland it's not that black & white. There are also Canadian whiskeys (Benjamin Chapman, Masterton's) and there are US whiskys (like Makers Mark).

I was trying to be light-hearted and playful - most people know Scotch is "whisky". If I was being anal I'd have corrected their misspelling of "Johnnie"

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#259

Post by justsomehnguy »

ceejayoz wrote: post #24
ThrowawayTestr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just diplomacy.

Long history of it, too. The US made special clear coke in nondescript bottles for Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov so he could look like he was drinking vodka instead of the illegal Western drink. https://www.businessinsider.com/us-secret-clear-coca-cola-fo... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Coke

> so he could look like he was drinking vodka

Ah, yes, the famous Russian carbonated vodka.

Re: Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021)

#260

Post by tptacek »

geoffreymcgill wrote: post #254
tptacek wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iran is a bucket list country for me. The politics are a disaster, obviously, but it's an amazing, deep culture. The government of Iran is a disaster, but it's a real, functioning country, in ways North Korea isn't. Ironically, Iran is probably much more dangerous than North Korea is (not least because you apparently basically can't do anything in North Korea), at least for an American. But like, if you want Korean c…

I met plenty of Americans in both Iran and North Korea. American tourists often receive extra interest and admiration from the locals, who express a genuine warmth and fascination towards them.

Oh, 100% my understanding as well! Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that ordinary people in like Tehran were hostile to Americans, but I can see how it came across that way.
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