• socialistonion [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    16 days ago

    Every time I see a picture of North Korea I’m left stunned by how much nicer the landscape is to look at without advertising and sleaze covering every corner of the environment.

    • invalidusernamelol [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      16 days ago

      Funnily enough that’s actually one of the reasons so many people feel like there’s something off in all the photos, or that it’s all fake. Literally no context for what an industrial society without need for constant advertisement looks like.

        • alexei_1917 [any]@hexbear.net
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          15 days ago

          Where I live, there’s a lot of advertising, but nowhere near as bad as in the US. When I first visited the US, beyond trips to see Dad’s brother who lives there, during which we were not there long and all of the children were simply left in the home with some of the adults while others went out, I was astounded at the sheer amount of advertising. I’d never seen giant billboards on the sides of the highway before! Streetside billboards, sure. But not on a highway!

      • purpleworm [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        16 days ago

        It’s kind of funny because people remark on there being heavy-handed propaganda everywhere, and they are kind of correct, but it’s way less than the corporate advertising you see in the West and actually has an argument for mostly being for the public good.

    • Sleepless One@lemmy.ml
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      15 days ago

      Don’t be ridiculous. The North Koreans aren’t allowed to stop working. The military police force citizens to work 24/7, and they don’t even get breaks to eat. The guards just attach feedbags full of dead rats and blades of grass to the workers’ faces so they can keep going.

      • Cowbee [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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        15 days ago

        People eat in the DPRK, the Arduous March was 3 decades ago. It’s similar to Cuba, or even better now due to having trading partners on its door in Russia and China.

          • HexFedBot [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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            15 days ago

            That source is extremely biased:

            From their about page " Our Mission By revealing the truth, HRNK is applying pressure not only to the totalitarian regime of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea but the international community at large to effect real change. HRNK’s ultimate goal is to close North Korean gulags, open the borders so citizens can leave the country, and provide access to information throughout North Korea, including breaking the information blockade and preventing widespread access to media and news. We aim to bring about real and substantial change to the policies that obstruct the human rights of every North Korean citizen. "

            In addition, the sourcing from the document you linked are south korean government agencies, rfa, and other USAID linked think tanks. Do you think that South Korea and the United States has a vested, material interest in disseminating propaganda about a country so heavily bombed that they inflicted a genocide?

          • Cowbee [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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            15 days ago

            Yes, western-centric sources indeed over-represent real problems in the DPRK and under-represent their achievements. Again, they seem to be doing about as well as Cuba, maybe a bit better, and considering the brutal sanctions on each that’s quite the feat.

            Your “common knowledge” is just the western viewpoint that clings to the Arduous March and stories, both real and fake, of defectors raised during that era.

            Plus, making a joke about a country having food insecurity, regardless of validity, is monstrous behavior. Even if you were correct, you’d still be a shitty person for that alone.

          • TommyBeans [they/them, he/him]@hexbear.net
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            15 days ago

            Lmao, I’m sure the Bush School did a very serious and thorough investigation

            Research into North Korea will always lack the exact data that would allow for complete certainty.

            Very serious

  • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    16 days ago

    GHOST BEACH CITIES

    Just like China’s “ghost cities” which are now not ghost cities they’re going to pretend this is all some spooky stupid shit instead of acknowledging that they’re being constructed as part of long term plans and expectations in the future.

    The biggest concern the west has about tourism in dprk however is that it undermines the idea it is “closed” and that people know nothing about what is going on there.

  • purpleworm [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    16 days ago

    North Korea gets a fair amount of tourists, just near-zero from America because America banned travel there for its citizens. If the WPK is saying it’s a city for tourism and that’s not just some made up term like the “propaganda city” is, it will probably be mostly tourists, diplomats, and domestic bureaucrats, and capitalists rather than common citizens, but I suppose we don’t know and there’s a good chance they’ll be doing some sort of subsidy thing for at least part of it.

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    15 days ago

    It really is incredible what a difference it can make being North Korea, situated next to China and Russia, compared to Cuba with it being situated next to the US. Cuba would probably look more like this as well if it wasn’t located where it is.

      • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.net
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        15 days ago

        Yes, but there are also power outages and most things are not in good condition. Cuba is still heavily dependent on Mexico, the Pink Tide/Liberal/Conservative friendly governments, China and some European states.

      • alexei_1917 [any]@hexbear.net
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        15 days ago

        It is absolutely popular. I know people who’ve gone. They hate “The Commies”, and refuse to support AES states in any way, directly or indirectly, but they’ve visited resorts in Cuba.

        Liberal cognitive dissonance is one hell of a thing.

    • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.net
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      15 days ago

      I guess you could compare it to Venezuela and Nicaragua. Even under heavy sanctions, Venezuela still have huge shopping malls and resorts, and things have improved since Brazil and Colombia elected Socdems.

  • ryepunk [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    15 days ago

    I’m sorry but maybe-later-kiddo this is obviously fake.

    Everyone knows North Korea doesn’t get the sun. It is always perpetually overcast to give the nation a doom and gloom look to it. Everyone knows the people of North Korea haven’t ever experienced happiness and if they do they are taken by a commissar of emotional regulation and given 5 minutes to control their outbursts before they are killed and sent to work in a gulag.