Three years in North Korea as a foreigner (2021) • Hacker News Board

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

#291

Post by samus » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 7:52 AM UTC

sho wrote: post #287

samus wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TA mentions that they shipped in construction materials via diplomatic containers.

Yeah. I'm still not sure how to parse the GP's comment, "it created an attack vector of one". On its face, that sounds like a good thing, less attack vectors! I mean, not like sourcing materials locally alleviates things. Apparently the US embassy in Moscow was discovered to have listening devices mixed in the concrete used to construct it...

> I mean, not like sourcing materials locally alleviates things. Apparently the US embassy in Moscow was discovered to have listening devices mixed in the concrete used to construct it...

I think this was the main reason why they shipped construction materials in. And then it makes sense to use containers that are tamper-resistant enough to be able to trust its contents.

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

#292

Post by GuB-42 » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 10:57 AM UTC

CAPSLOCKSSTUCK wrote: post #289

GuB-42 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being an astronaut on the ISS is the most "in a prison" setting imaginable. Get out of that small box and you will die in seconds. It is also a dangerous, unhealthy and demanding job. And yet, it is also one of the most sought after job. Less prestigious jobs but also desirable to some are sailors, or worse, submariners, and people working in Antarctica and other remote, hostile places. Speaking about countries, Nort…

I can't tell if this comment was AI-generated.

It is not, but as a non native English speaker, and considering how good LLMs are at the technical aspects of writing (spelling, grammar, syntax, choice of words, etc...), I take it as a compliment.

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

#293

Post by philodeon » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 11:48 AM UTC

geoffreymcgill wrote: post #251

tptacek wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you’d like to see a pervasive cult of personality in South Korea, check out the Unification Church.

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

#294

Post by michaelcampbell » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 12:48 PM UTC

rob74 wrote: post #190

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...

> while some North Koreans were actually starving at the time...

"some"

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

#295

Post by inglor_cz » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 1:49 PM UTC

Propelloni wrote: post #159

bell-cot wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's government. Security Theater/"Look, we're trying" is usually more important than reality.

It's weird. On the one hand governments are devious and brutal oppressors of freedom, on the other hand governments are calculating masters of subterfuge faking moon-landings and implanting microtransmitters by vaccination, on a third hand governments are money-wasting incompetent douches who can't even tie their shoes, and on a fourth hand governments are morally bankrupt and do everything to get re-elected. A stran…

With a creature as big as a modern government, there isn't as much contradiction in such claims as it sounds, especially if considered with regard to the task at hand. Tasks differ.

If a modern government wants an $unpopular_group exterminated, they can probably do so with brutal efficiency, given the tools at their disposal and the overall balance of power between the state and individuals.

If a modern government wants to win a war, well, half of those governments lose, because the other side is usually way more powerful than a random $unpopular_group.

If a modern government wants to achieve some nebulous goal such as "defeat disinformation" or "root out racism", I would bet on a spectacular bumbling failure with a lot of graft every time.

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

#296

Post by meitham » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 4:48 PM UTC

I find it amusing the author lists several reasons to why the DPRK is poor not mentioning the severe economic sanctions that’s imposed on them over for their nuclear program! Economic sanctions are designed to make a country poor as a non militaristic method to force them politically towards a decision and the single major reason for that country’s misery! Whether you agree the sanctions are necessary or not is one thing but to mention every cause why the DPRK is poor blaming them without mentioning the embargo is nonsense!

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

#297

Post by gwbas1c » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 6:09 PM UTC

ein0p wrote: post #153

gwbas1c wrote: post #6

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.

I doubt what I hear about North Korea is propaganda. The problems in their government are very obvious without any need for propaganda: The "propaganda" is just oversimplifying a topic that doesn't fit nicely into soundbites.

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

#298

Post by maxglute » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 7:08 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #280

maxglute wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's hours and hours of NK footage if you search for North Korea Travel / Vlog in simplified chinese. They tend to have much laxer guides/minders, fluent in mandarin vs western travellers with minders with shit English (and I presume more suspicious / cautious). Very few of Chinese vlogs have auto subtitles which can be translated to english unfortunately. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZgzAquCs-o&list=…

They won't let Americans in, except during the mas games, and even otherwise you can usually get in with a Chinese tour group. One of my American coworkers in Beijing went back in 2011 or so, and didn't have any problem, although I got the feeling it wasn't as interesting as she thought it would be. Educationally speaking, the DPRK would catch up pretty quickly if they were able to liberalize their economy as much as…

IMO NK in the unfortunate geographic situation where Kim's inherited the half of the peninsula with just not enough ariable land, but not so not enough that juche isn't viable. NK with water access could probably be an alright middle (or even upper middle) income country exporting their 5-10T mineral reserves. They had enough prexisting/rebuilt industry to perhaps even export higher value processed goods + not unserious effort at socialism to avoid dutch disease. Kims playing a solid hand poorly, but the cards are still enough not to fold. Which is sad.

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

#299

Post by ein0p » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 8:12 PM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #297

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 doubt what I hear about North Korea is propaganda. The problems in their government are very obvious without any need for propaganda: The "propaganda" is just oversimplifying a topic that doesn't fit nicely into soundbites.

I don’t doubt it at all. I’ve been to a couple of countries the US propagandizes heavily against (China and Russia) and what you hear about them in the US is almost entirely horseshit. My expectation is NK and Iran will be similar.

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

#300

Post by hakfoo » Sun, Jul 14, 2024, 7:36 AM UTC

laverya wrote: post #245

SuperNinKenDo wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another aspect of it could be that this retards foreigners' capacity to sneak into shops they're not supposed to be in and buy things they're not supposed to buy. Not sure though, as apparently many shops are run pseudo-privately and I imagine any shopkeeper would be happy to accept some foreign currency.

Unless, of course, it's illegal for normal citizens to own foreign currency. If foreigners can only own foreign currency, and normal citizens can only own local currency, then it makes it a lot harder to bribe the locals!

Interesting fact: the DPRK used to issue three parallel sets of coins and banknotes. One was for locals, one for visitors from other Socialist states, and one for visitors from Western states.

The three-tier model was a little but unusual, but the idea of a secondary currency for foreigners was not that uncommon.

One other reason for it is to ensure "minimum spend" -- some countries required you to buy a certain amount of the foreigner currency at the official exchange rate as part of the entry process, even though the black-market rate for "local" currency was far more competitive.