• bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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    24 days ago

    Turns out South Korea was a brutal military dictatorship under the backing of the US way longer than you’d think

            • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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              23 days ago

              People always say this to but I don’t think it’s even true, or misrepresents greatly the situation.

              1. North Korea was the better place to live until the collapse of the USSR and mid-90s famine. That’s not up for debate. Their living standard and quality of life were overall much higher than ROK thanks to Russian subsidies.

              2. North Korea has far less farmland than the ROK, which has many more river valleys and warmer latitudes. North Korea also lacks trading partners due to sanctions, while ROK currently imports around 80 percent of its food.

              3. The US and ROK time their military drills specifically to fuck with DPRK’s planting and harvesting seasons, forcing them to divert manpower to defense positions when they need able-bodied men to be on farms.

              Given these three points, I think North Korean hunger is almost entirely due to the US and its policies. But nobody likes to hear that the Kims might not be horrible monsters

        • FundMECFS@anarchist.nexus
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          23 days ago

          Lets just say “superpowers and brutal dictatorships”.

          Whoevers dominating in a period in history generally didn’t get there by advocating for peace and self determination.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      24 days ago

      Okay, but have you heard the President of North Korea claimed he scored a perfect golf game and doesn’t poop? That’s pretty bad, too.

      • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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        24 days ago

        Or North Korea’s imprisonment of entire generations of a family as a form of collective punishment.

        Two things can be bad, you don’t have to rush to defend one side.

        • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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          23 days ago

          Real question: Is this even true?

          If it’s true, how true is it? Who actually receives those punishment? For what crimes?

            • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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              9 days ago

              Actually this is somewhat true.

              People who escape North Korea have zero prospects here in the ROK where I currently live. It’s the most competitive economy and job market you can imagine.

              Defectors have no professional certifications, no college degree, and no plastic surgery (pervasive in ROK where a photo is required to add to your CV).

              Moreover, ROK people are highly judgmental toward anybody different. North Koreans “talk funny” so they are immediately outcast.

              (Recently, to address the situation, the ROK government has started a program to get NK refugees jobs as bus drivers)

              The best way for these refugees to make money is to tell their stories. And the more sensational, the better. They get speaking gigs, book deals, and small fame with their faces on TV.

              Here’s a news story addressing its directly: Why do North Korean defector testimonies so often fall apart? | North Korea | The Guardian https://share.google/fqpw81A1uZwXk0lR7

              TL;DR NK refugees are “paid actors” in a sense

                • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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                  9 days ago

                  Please address my points or stop replying 🤷🏻‍♀️

                  “horseshoe theory” is another thought-terminating cliché

                  • 1985MustangCobra@lemmy.ca
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                    9 days ago

                    Thought terminating…no it’s describing the conspiracy theorists that both shine on both sides, this is like Alex Jones with sandy hook saying it was paid actors.

      • subversive_dev@lemmy.ml
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        23 days ago

        Here’s a fun game - try sourcing that absurd claim without using any media source funded by NED/USAGM

        • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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          24 days ago

          If poop somehow magically teleported from my colon to the sewer I’d save so much time and toilet paper.
          :)

          But then I’d have no excuse to be alone in an otherwise empty room 30 minutes every day
          :(

      • naeap@sopuli.xyz
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        24 days ago

        Ah, that’s why he is so fat and instead of exploding, he just talks so much shit, to at least get rid of some of it