NK rights abuses 'demand action'

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

There's a running joke that the only reason we are there, is to keep the south from invading the north.

When I was there over 25 years ago, we had the same understanding.

[Wolferz]

I think if anyone wants to do something about this travesty, it has to be the North Koreans themselves.
Rise up and earn your freedom!

[Oberon]

It's a bit hard to rise up when you've got nothing to rise up with and no energy through lack of food to do anything other than survive, or knowledge of the outside world to do...well...anything. Hard to imagine the daily life of someone deep in the DPRK, with no real contact with the outside world other than what the state media tells you.

Anyway, the DPRK isn't going anywhere fast, because the status quo is the best situation for nearly everyone involved in the situation.
Remember when East and West Germany reunified? Remember the economic chaos as the run down heavily industrial East Germany suddenly fell under the same economic portfolio as West Germany? The East/West divide still exists in Germany today to some extent, and it's been over twenty years.
Now, magnify that to the gulf that exists between the economic conditions of North Korea and South Korea. The South Korean economy would collapse under the strain of having to look after both itself and the North.
China wants the North to stay, both as a slight buffer zone between it and the west (although it has no such zone between it, Taiwan and Japan) and to prevent thousands of North Korean refugees crossing the border into China and completely wrecking the Chinese economy which is already starting to run into trouble. That is the only reason Beijing supports Pyongyang, otherwise they can't stand the Kim family, but they have to smile and be nice because if North Korea collapsed, it would be an economic disaster for the whole region, and that includes the US and Japan who trade with both China and South Korea. If those two economies ran into difficulty, Japan and the US will find themselves in difficulties too.
The only nation that would benefit from the unification of Korea is North Korea, but it doesn't have the resources to accomplish this task, and any attempt by Jong-un to order such a thing would likely see him suffer a 7.62mm migraine.

So, sit back and get comfortable folks because neither side are going anywhere for a loooong time.

[Jimbuna]

^ Aye that

[Wolferz]

By the time the DPRK gets finished wiping out the citizens, we won't need to worry about them. China already has a problem with the North Koreans sneaking across their border, same as we do with the Mexicans. Both of these countries are run by elitists who are getting fat off their poor. It's now just a matter of time before they both collapse completely. Then China will annex North Korea and we'll annex Mexico. Neither scenario sounds good.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

I think if anyone wants to do something about this travesty, it has to be the North Koreans themselves.
Rise up and earn your freedom!

That is going to be a little hard for them to do since their government has a monopoly on arms and food.

edit: What Oberon said. :P

[fireftr18]

I read an article some time ago about North Koreans that escaped to somewhere else. It said that the average North Koreans are shorter and have less muscle development than the average South Korean. The article also mentioned other issues such as education lacked compared to South Korea, standard of living lower, average age lower, and so on. A lot of things we expect, but haven't really seen specifically written.

[TarJak]

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/st...06/2945184.htm

This article from 2010 mentioned the height and strength differences. It also painted an interesting viewpoint on life in NK.

Link to the audio of the interview who is worth a listen if you can't see the video. http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/tv/bigid...emick_full.mp3

[MGR1]

Looks like the Kim's also right children's literature:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25816000

"North Korea's leaders are often thought of as ruthless, secretive autocrats but rarely as popular children's authors. However, between issuing instructions about prison camps and the development of nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-un's father and grandfather apparently found time to write stories for the young."

Bizarre......

Mike.

[Jimbuna]

Bizarre indeed!!

I'd have thought they'd be more accomplished at writing horror stories

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by MGR1

Looks like the Kim's also right children's literature:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25816000

"North Korea's leaders are often thought of as ruthless, secretive autocrats but rarely as popular children's authors. However, between issuing instructions about prison camps and the development of nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-un's father and grandfather apparently found time to write stories for the young."

Bizarre......

Mike.

Indoctrination starts at an early age.

[mapuc]

A couple of month ago a Danish newspaper had an article about the norht Korean and the possibility that they had started some kind of a revolt.
It was one of these article that you had to pay to read.

Made a search on the Internet, in english and found this

http://blogs.channel4.com/world-news...volution/26248


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