A Glimpse Of North Korea

[MA-Caver]

This series of photos show just a fleeting glimpse of life in North Korea.
One of the most militarized societies on the planet.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/09/north_korea.html

 

[granfire]

My comp would not open it...
a couple of years ago I saw a documentary about it: a few journalists traveled on a steam locomotive... it was a special for tourists, since pretty much every where else on the world those things are done for. Disguised as tourists those people risked a lot to film as much as they could about real life North Korea. It was depressing, to put it mildly!
A lot of sick and starving people there...propaganda 'radio' and PAs as only source of entertainment...people dieing in the streets...

 

[NSRTKD]

Very thought provoking, in so many ways... not even sure where to begin.

 

[Cyriacus]

The Order.
Is Quite Beautiful.

 

[NSRTKD]

And quite sobering, as in the picture of the town with almost ONLY apartment style cubes of buildings. I wonder... what do they feel about the chaotic yet opportunistic land many of us live in? Do they think about us much at all, with the limited flow of information? They seem very excited to have commerce and tourism boosted, but only in the pictures of celebrations and formal gatherings or in the economic district do you see much emotion on the faces. Is the general population represented here?I suppose a glimpse is only a glimpse after all. Lovely pictures, lovely people, and the coast at keumgang is unbelievable. Gorgeous!

 

[Flea]

The city views are the ugliest I've ever seen, but I would love to hike in those mountains.

 

[MA-Caver]

And quite sobering, as in the picture of the town with almost ONLY apartment style cubes of buildings. I wonder... what do they feel about the chaotic yet opportunistic land many of us live in? Do they think about us much at all, with the limited flow of information? They seem very excited to have commerce and tourism boosted, but only in the pictures of celebrations and formal gatherings or in the economic district do you see much emotion on the faces. Is the general population represented here? I suppose a glimpse is only a glimpse after all. Lovely pictures, lovely people, and the coast at keumgang is unbelievable. Gorgeous!

If they are anything like former Soviet communists... they hate us and our capitalistic ways. As far as the general population... it's all the same. Militaristic. Enlistment by compulsion. You can't be a good soldier if you don't hate your enemy, even after your tour is finished and you go back to working for the people, you will still hate your enemy.
The children are even taught at a very young age to serve the state (evident by the military costume worn by a small child (see photo). The kid may be too young to even comprehend what it's wearing (only that it's probably quite warm with all those layers), but it'll remember the colors and fit. It will grow up seeing adults dressed in the actual manner and everything else that goes with it.

The city views are the ugliest I've ever seen, but I would love to hike in those mountains.

Aye, so would I, very much and of course to see what's under them as well... :uhyeah:

 

[granfire]

I finally got to see the pictures.

Even with the 'bad' views, it's pretty much a resemblance of what you got to see through official channels from East Germany when the wall was up.
Real people were pretty much segregated from tourists, and as tourist you would never know if the native was not in fact a secret police member.

I think it is a nice wakeup call for us westeners to see how really good we have it.

(as to the hate and enemy pictures, I am sure that the constant propaganda since the 1950s have taken their toll, but as shut off as the country is, there is minimal contact to the south. I am hopeful that some information about the outside world infiltrates. On a personal level the 'hate' is probably not as prevelant as one ought to suspect)


But yeah, it looks like East Germany tours, Soviet Russia tours, China tours...
I suppose Chinese tourists are a better choice than the South Korean brothers to spark the economy....they don't ask pesky questions....or bring in ideas of free speech and such nonsense...

from a train trip.
There are more related videos. (I wish i could find the documentary the German TV aired a while back. Those journalists posing as tourists and train enthusiasts risked a lot to get that footage out!)

 

[MA-Caver]

I finally got to see the pictures.

Even with the 'bad' views, it's pretty much a resemblance of what you got to see through official channels from East Germany when the wall was up.
Real people were pretty much segregated from tourists, and as tourist you would never know if the native was not in fact a secret police member.

I think it is a nice wakeup call for us westeners to see how really good we have it.

(as to the hate and enemy pictures, I am sure that the constant propaganda since the 1950s have taken their toll, but as shut off as the country is, there is minimal contact to the south. I am hopeful that some information about the outside world infiltrates. On a personal level the 'hate' is probably not as prevelant as one ought to suspect)


But yeah, it looks like East Germany tours, Soviet Russia tours, China tours...
I suppose Chinese tourists are a better choice than the South Korean brothers to spark the economy....they don't ask pesky questions....or bring in ideas of free speech and such nonsense...

from a train trip.
There are more related videos. (I wish i could find the documentary the German TV aired a while back. Those journalists posing as tourists and train enthusiasts risked a lot to get that footage out!)

Granted that probably there isn't a "kill every American/Westerner" written in stone on the hearts of every North Korean. From conversations with South Koreans that I've had the pleasure of meeting who have relatives on the opposite side of the 38th, a lot of them do have an inherent mistrust of outsiders but only see them as an unenlightened people. As for the "poorer" members of the population (if any) they couldn't care less about the politics which separate them from the outside world. They just want to live their lives and/or farm their crops (where applicable) and go on living life. Probably like a lot of "unenlightened" Americans and Brits do.

 

[granfire]

Not everybody in that type of society is as lucky as the Hungarians were...

But it is a crying shame to see massive military parades when you know the population is essentially starving do to drought and misharvests, like a few years back.
Humanitarian aid is not likely to reach the intended peasants, because the military will be fed first.
(not to mention the families are expected to support the drafted soldiers because the pay is notoriously bad...)

 

[oftheherd1]

I noticed the workers taking a break had wrist watches. Something amiss there. The common people are thought to be too poor for that. Also, there was a photo of a woman in a pantsuit with high heels. Very Western-decadent.

Of course, who can trust those pesky journalists anyway? I didn't see a single starving person. All looked well dressed and well fed.

As to the apartments, they looked rather bleak. South Korea has a lot too, but they tend to look better and are usually taller. I don't know what they fertilize the ground with in Korea, but is sure grows apartments well.

I don't think those journalists were allowed to see the part of N. Korea that shows the poverty and suffering. Note how all the little school kids were well dressed and fed. Had nice costumes as well. Not what the average N. Korean citizen can afford from all I have heard.

 

[granfire]

that is just absolutely mind blowing!

Somewhere between Ghost in the Shell and Michael Ende's Momo....