View Full Version : North Korea
Pretty cool doc on the front page of CNN today about North Korea for anyone who hasn't been there. Oh wait...that's everyone.
http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-14
It's in 14 parts that run anywhere from 3-5 minutes, but it's pretty interesting.
Theseventhson
02/10/10, 05:12 PM
That was a decent watch, and it gets bonus points for using a Fucked Up song.
how epic is their marching!
I JUST watched this. I thought it ruled too. Such an eerie place...it makes me want to re-read 1984 and point out all the similarities.
Jasper112
02/11/10, 08:21 AM
I went to North Korea
how epic is their marching!
Haha I feel the same way.
Metal Now
02/11/10, 08:51 AM
I wanna rewatch MASH just talking about North Korea.
Jasper112
02/11/10, 12:02 PM
I JUST watched this. I thought it ruled too. Such an eerie place...it makes me want to re-read 1984 and point out all the similarities.
It was fucking creepy being there man. It definitely feels like 1984, you have no idea.
It was fucking creepy being there man. It definitely feels like 1984, you have no idea.
Under what circumstances did you get to go? I'm pretty jealous.
jenkkem
02/13/10, 11:56 AM
whoa
nateRLP
02/13/10, 07:19 PM
I was blown away by this. I can't believe how closed off North Korea is from the rest of the world!
nateRLP
02/13/10, 07:19 PM
I'm also surprised that guy was allowed to bring his camera.
Jasper112
02/15/10, 11:35 AM
Under what circumstances did you get to go? I'm pretty jealous.
We went from the south korean border. There are basically 2 places where you are officially allowed to cross with a guided tour. Of course they only show you what they want you to see and every single road, alley, or any other kind of path has soldiers on it fully armed. We were hardly allowed to take pictures of anything, especially the propaganda. The guides that led us around were North Korean and handpicked by the government. All of their stories were so full of shit and we wernt allowed to ask them anything about their country, especially about how they felt towards their government. If they were to answer such a question in the wrong way they would go to prison. They all had the same creepy haircuts. We were checked very intensely at the border. No papers or books with english writing on it were allowed. Nothing that could give them an impression of the outside world. No crazy tshirts either (not the best day to be wearing a Black Dahlia Murder shirt or something, hehe). All of the pictures that we took were checked upon leavin the country (and i mean EVERY single one). The pictures they didnt like were deleted instantly. We couldnt stray from the path that were told to walk.
The one thing that was very refreshing is that there were ZERO adds to be found anywhere. It was all completely commercial free, which is an absolute rarity in the western world. But you could tell that everything was presented to us as if they had it all, as if all of the buildings were in great shape and as if there were no problems whatsoever. Of course it was all a facade. But the propaganda was very scary looking. It was totally like 1984. There were also huge statues of their leader everywhere (and i mean huge). There is so much to say about it, it was an incredible experience.
My dad thought it would be awesome to go there. We all thought he was crazy, because we read about someone who did the same tour and got shot for no reason by a north korean soldier on another entry point on the border. They closed that point off. So we were kind of shitting ourselves. The tour is pretty much meant for old south korean people to be able to view some of the places where some of them originally came from. There were almost no tourists on our bus, except for 2 really dumbass obnoxious americans who were pretty much asking to be taken to a prison camp....
derekmoyer4
02/15/10, 11:52 AM
Pretty cool doc on the front page of CNN today about North Korea for anyone who hasn't been there. Oh wait...that's everyone.
http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-14
It's in 14 parts that run anywhere from 3-5 minutes, but it's pretty interesting.
thank you for supplying this link. fascinating stuff.
how epic is their marching!
the marching is simply breathtaking. my goodness.
TotalCollapse
02/15/10, 12:12 PM
I'm watching this right now. As other people said, it does remind me a lot of 1984, especially the part where they have to agree to not bring any type of publications into the county. They obviously do not want their citizens knowing anything about the outside world. I wonder what people do there. As in, do children go to school? Are people basically assigned their job? I'm curious how many people are in the military.
derekmoyer4
02/15/10, 12:46 PM
I'm watching this right now. As other people said, it does remind me a lot of 1984, especially the part where they have to agree to not bring any type of publications into the county. They obviously do not want their citizens knowing anything about the outside world. I wonder what people do there. As in, do children go to school? Are people basically assigned their job? I'm curious how many people are in the military.
think about this: 20% of men ages 17–54 are in the regular armed forces of North Korea.
Cuddleworthy
02/15/10, 01:37 PM
We went from the south korean border. There are basically 2 places where you are officially allowed to cross with a guided tour. Of course they only show you what they want you to see and every single road, alley, or any other kind of path has soldiers on it fully armed. We were hardly allowed to take pictures of anything, especially the propaganda. The guides that led us around were North Korean and handpicked by the government. All of their stories were so full of shit and we wernt allowed to ask them anything about their country, especially about how they felt towards their government. If they were to answer such a question in the wrong way they would go to prison. They all had the same creepy haircuts. We were checked very intensely at the border. No papers or books with english writing on it were allowed. Nothing that could give them an impression of the outside world. No crazy tshirts either (not the best day to be wearing a Black Dahlia Murder shirt or something, hehe). All of the pictures that we took were checked upon leavin the country (and i mean EVERY single one). The pictures they didnt like were deleted instantly. We couldnt stray from the path that were told to walk.
The one thing that was very refreshing is that there were ZERO adds to be found anywhere. It was all completely commercial free, which is an absolute rarity in the western world. But you could tell that everything was presented to us as if they had it all, as if all of the buildings were in great shape and as if there were no problems whatsoever. Of course it was all a facade. But the propaganda was very scary looking. It was totally like 1984. There were also huge statues of their leader everywhere (and i mean huge). There is so much to say about it, it was an incredible experience.
My dad thought it would be awesome to go there. We all thought he was crazy, because we read about someone who did the same tour and got shot for no reason by a north korean soldier on another entry point on the border. They closed that point off. So we were kind of shitting ourselves. The tour is pretty much meant for old south korean people to be able to view some of the places where some of them originally came from. There were almost no tourists on our bus, except for 2 really dumbass obnoxious americans who were pretty much asking to be taken to a prison camp....
sounds like a really interesting experience--i'd totally go on that tour some time
coryatlarge
02/15/10, 02:13 PM
Posting in here so I can remember to watch this after work.
We went from the south korean border. There are basically 2 places where you are officially allowed to cross with a guided tour. Of course they only show you what they want you to see and every single road, alley, or any other kind of path has soldiers on it fully armed. We were hardly allowed to take pictures of anything, especially the propaganda. The guides that led us around were North Korean and handpicked by the government. All of their stories were so full of shit and we wernt allowed to ask them anything about their country, especially about how they felt towards their government. If they were to answer such a question in the wrong way they would go to prison. They all had the same creepy haircuts. We were checked very intensely at the border. No papers or books with english writing on it were allowed. Nothing that could give them an impression of the outside world. No crazy tshirts either (not the best day to be wearing a Black Dahlia Murder shirt or something, hehe). All of the pictures that we took were checked upon leavin the country (and i mean EVERY single one). The pictures they didnt like were deleted instantly. We couldnt stray from the path that were told to walk.
The one thing that was very refreshing is that there were ZERO adds to be found anywhere. It was all completely commercial free, which is an absolute rarity in the western world. But you could tell that everything was presented to us as if they had it all, as if all of the buildings were in great shape and as if there were no problems whatsoever. Of course it was all a facade. But the propaganda was very scary looking. It was totally like 1984. There were also huge statues of their leader everywhere (and i mean huge). There is so much to say about it, it was an incredible experience.
My dad thought it would be awesome to go there. We all thought he was crazy, because we read about someone who did the same tour and got shot for no reason by a north korean soldier on another entry point on the border. They closed that point off. So we were kind of shitting ourselves. The tour is pretty much meant for old south korean people to be able to view some of the places where some of them originally came from. There were almost no tourists on our bus, except for 2 really dumbass obnoxious americans who were pretty much asking to be taken to a prison camp....
That's crazy dude. Yeah, it seems like those tour guides are hardcore. They go through all of this training to essentially deliver bullshit information to any tourists (especially Americans). I'd love to go there, but like you said, I'm also scared shitless haha.
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