Christian Returning From North Korea, Tells The Truth...

[protest_dude]

“Upon trespassing on the border, I thought I would be either shot to death by soldiers or thrown behind bars. However, the moment I crossed the border, the attitude of soldiers toward the trespasser made me change my mind about the false propaganda I had believed.

“Not only service personnel, but all those I met in the DPRK treated me in a kind and gentlemanly manner and protected my rights."

http://www.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?secName=proletarian&subName=display&art=617

Notice he did not make these statements under torture, and has not "recanted" them upon returning to the U.S. It seems the media lies about the DPRK a lot.

[maxsolomon]

1. do you really want to be known as DU's NK apologist?

it's a fucked up place; the people are starving and utterly misinformed about the outside world. there is no reason for this but Dear Leader's ego.

[Name removed]

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[NoPasaran]

6. Seems like an unnecessary effort

As a stroll through GD on just about any day will demonstrate.

[protest_dude]

8. I'm not a freeper...

I do actually support the DPRK, and I will point you toward numerous books documenting my views:

"North Korea, Another Country" by Bruce Cummings

"Korea" by Martin Hart-Landsberg

I also reccomend the BBC documentary "Crossing the Line", where a soldier who defected and moved to the DPRK tells the truth about the country.

I know its hard to believe, but I am in fact, a real, live, communist.

[grantcart]

15. You would have been better off admitting that you were a clever freeper

than admitting that you were a guiless communist apologist. I have negotiated with representatives of communist countries in the past and they aren't apologizing for North Korea.

Your as in touch with reality as the cute traffic wardens are in touch with the traffic they are directing:

[Turbineguy]

2. The source

is the Communist Party of great Britain.

We know of course that Communists never ever stretched the truth. That's one of the reasons communism was so eagerly embraced around the world.

[protest_dude]

9. Video: Ella Rule Defends the DPRK on BBC News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqll4EH3xpQ

This is a woman from the dreaded source defending her views.

[Turbineguy]

11. I was sarcastic.

I should have couched my language as skeptical.

[protest_dude]

10. Here's a "source" for you:

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/12/21/2009122100197.html

Above you will see a South Korean newspaper talking about how in the DPRK they are building houses, not foreclosing them.

I doubt if I were a freeper I could defend my views so well. I know my shit, whether you agree or not.

[Turbineguy]

12. On reflection:

Thanks for posting. That's the thing about DU. This is a reminder it's not like the RW echo chamber where you only see stuff you like and that confirms your view. With your post you imply that I should open my mind.

[protest_dude]

13. It's cool....

I'm used to not being taken seriously.

[grantcart]

3. lol no North Korea is still a Stalinist nightmare and yes I have close

friends that have been there.

The thing about Stalinism, whether in Stalinist Russia, or Iraq (Saddam Hussein had the largest collection of Stalinist biographies and literature and was a careful student of Stalin) or North Korea is that by using brutal force in the right situations an overwhelming atmosphere of fear is established requiring that less actual force is needed.

The fact that the guards were polite does not take away the fact that North Koreans suffer and that their caloric intake is 30% less than other poor Asian countries.

[protest_dude]

7. Asside from "Argumentum Ad Hominem", Nothing

So, aside from "everybody knows" the DPRK is evil, and "don't believe this article, they are commies", I see no refutation of any of the content.

You can lead a horse to the water, but unless you are Chuck Norris, you can't make him drink.

[grantcart]

14. Really lol you want documentation that NK has turned into the worlds

largest prison camp?

OK while the rest of Asia has experienced increase in agricultural production over the last 4 decades North Korea's continues to decline and their beligerent attitude makes the donation of food problematic:

http://www.wfp.org/countries/korea-democratic-peoples-republic-dprk

WFP/FAO assessments confirmed a significant deterioration in food security in 2008. Close to three quarters of respondents had reduced their food intake, over half were reportedly eating only two meals per day (down from three) and dietary diversity was extremely poor among two thirds of the surveyed population. Most North Koreans sustain themselves by consuming only maize, vegetables and wild foods, a diet lacking protein, fats and micronutrients. Food is scarcest during the “lean season”, the five-month period prior to the autumn rice and maize harvests when stocks of the previous year’s crops rapidly run dry.

The impact of food shortages has been unevenly divided amongst the population, with urban households in areas of low industrial activity (particularly the Northeast) being the most affected. These groups have been hard hit by higher food prices, reductions in public food rations as well as lowered employment and salaries caused by industrial recession. Vulnerable groups including young children, pregnant and lactating women and elderly people remain particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition due to their particular dietary needs.

Meanwhile the elites live in places like:



Note the traffic cop directing the imaginary traffic

And Kim lives here with the worlds largest 'reportedly' personal porn collection:

The NK caste system is well documented

In a pattern very much like that of ancient Korean societies, people in today's communist North Korean state are categorized by a three-tiered caste system.

The top echelon is the class of core loyalists to the ruling dynasty begun by North Korea's late leader Kim Il Sung and extended by his son, current ruler Kim Jong Il.

Most workers and peasants belong to the middle, or neutral, class. The hostile class, at the bottom rung of North Korean society, includes those who have in any way expressed dissatisfaction with the state, whose relatives may have escaped to South Korea, or whose ancestors were landowners. Experts on North Korea and refugees now abroad say members of this class and their families are often in prison camps, far from view.

Only members of the loyal top class are allowed to live in the showcase capital city - mostly in towering, austere apartment blocks.

It is difficult for foreign observers to see what their everyday lives are like. People are forbidden to invite foreigners to their homes. All international aid workers and diplomats interviewed in Pyongyang said they have never seen the inside of local residents' homes.

A peek inside apartment windows from a speeding bus shows neatly painted rooms, each with twin portraits of the late so-called "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il, who is known as the "Dear Leader."

That loyalty pays off in many ways. Aid workers report dire shortages of food and medicine in the North Korean countryside, but residents of the capital have privileged access to consumer goods such as packaged foods and washing machines.

Only those who hold high positions in the regime have access to the few motor vehicles - including some luxury cars - seen in Pyongyang. Residents also have access to better medical care.

I know how can we trust the UN and well photographs.

How about we let North Korea speak for itself:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/north-korea-apologizes-for-japanese-abductions/243555.html

North Korea Apologizes For Japanese Abductions

18 September 2002
Reuters
North Korea on Tuesday apologized to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for kidnapping Japanese citizens, promised to extend a moratorium on missile tests and, leaving the door open to talks with the United States, said it would honor commitments on its nuclear program.

I wonder if the kidnappers were polite too?

We have quite a few posing as Troskyites around here but haven't had a Stalinist apologist in a long time.

[Name removed]

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[cliffordu]

16. Oh, FFS.

WTF are you lying through your teeth about this for?

Oh, yeah...

Welcome to DU and enjoy your stay!!!!

:hi: