Inside North Korea (Part 2)

I think what people fail to realize is that for the most part, North Koreans are genuine in their worship and praise of Kim Jung Il and Kim Il Sun. Think about it-these people have never known anything outside of North Korea. The government makes sure that there is no outside influence, and they control every aspect of life. How can the people be discontented with something when they have no way of finding a measure of comparison? Most, if not all, North Koreans truly believe that their way of life is the best, and that it is their duty to educate and spread their way of life to the rest of the world. That's kind of what the Juche ideology is about as well.

North Korea...such a complicated nation. How can we help a peoople so far gone, so firm in their beliefs that they don't need any help? Hm...

Inside North Korea

This is the first part of a National Geographic documentary about North Korea.

Part 1


Quite possibly one of the most depressing video clips I have ever seen.

Just one thing--according to Micheal Breer, "the juche philosophy basically means 'up yours' to the outside world. We can make everything ourselves, we don't need you."

The Juche ideology is much more than just that--it is a religion, a way of viewing the world. It is God's gift to the North Koreans, for them to spread throughout the world. They believe that they are some kind of Jerusalem of the East, that it is their destiny, their duty, their calling, to share with the world what God has blessed them with. And they want to start by dominating the South and indoctrinating them as well.

Part 2 to come later.

U.S. Says Macau to Release $25M in Frozen N. Korean Funds

Nuclear North Korea + Money = bad idea


(Photo from http://flapsblog.com/)


How wise is it, really, to trust the North Koreans? Yes, I realize that nobody has much of a choice and that we need to cooperate with the upper half of the Korean peninsula...but still. How can we even know for sure that they'd really stop production and what not? North Korea may be poor, and the people starving, dying and disappearing...but that doesn't mean that the government is stupid. In fact, the fact that this nation still exists goes to show just how smart the government officials are. They've managed to keep a dying nation alive for far longer than it should have been. We have a hard time finding any real figures and stats about this place, because it is so closed and so private. How can we rest assured that they would stop nuclear production? Even if they stop the physical production, we don't know that they would go and improve their technology on paper.

Then again, what can we do? Not much. I say we gather all the North Korean officials and send them off in a rocket up onto Mars. Maybe they'll figure out a way for human life to subsist on this planet, a mystery yet to be solved, simply as a result of their belief that they are superior than all others. And I'm half kidding. I suppose that the only way we can really deal with this insolent group is to just go about doing what we're doing--though we may trip, fall, and totally destroy ourselves in the process of groping around in the dark, there's actually a chance that we might find the light switch and be able to deal with this matter in a better informed and well guided way.

Until then, I say we put Kim Jong Il on a one way rocket to Mars.