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We could nuke the nut...

Sounds pretty horrific to me.

 mitch_rifle wrote:
I feel sorry for the millions of Koreans that are going to die when that insane nation eventually implodes and self destructs

Honestly something should've been done before they fething got nuclear weapons

People will likely be saying this about Iran too.

 sebster wrote:

CalSt23 wrote:
The people of N Korea see him as a God, not by choice, but because from birth they are devoid of ANY input except the propaganda fed to them day by day, the multiple wars Kim has fought in, defeating the USA, Japan, everyone (It didn't happen, but they think it did)..

This is largely a myth. People and goods move across the largely porous border with China – people hear what life is like outside North Korea, and there is blackmarket media that shows it really clearly. Most of the population knows they’re living in a dystopian shithole. The problem is actually knowing what to do about it.

Well said.

Obviously there's no impartial or wholly trustworthy information coming out of N Korea but defector accounts indicate that the famine of the 90s pretty much destroyed the myth of the Kim family's godhood. People will mouth the words but their hearts have not been in it for a long time.

Illicit DVDs, radio and TV from the south (watched on illegally unlocked receivers), stories from China all give North Koreans some small insights into life outside.

If anyone's really interested the 2 best books on the topic I've read are 'Nothing to Envy' which tells the stories of defectors

http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Envy-Ordinary-Lives-North/dp/0385523912/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425675728&sr=8-1&keywords=north+korea+books

and North of the DMZ by a Soviet/Russian/American (life is complicated) scholar who has had great access to the North from the Soviet era to today and speak from experience about daily life there.

http://www.amazon.com/North-DMZ-Essays-Daily-Korea-ebook/dp/B002TUTUO6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425675881&sr=8-1&keywords=north+of+dmz+north+korea

There is some pretty interesting stuff I have heard about anti-government movements in NK. The difficulty the autocratic government has, is that in order to improve their economy, they need a level of technology, industry and educated people. These things are the bane of any totalitarian government, the latter for hundreds of years if not more! So, a large number of Chinese mobile phones have been sold there, these allow people to communicate. People watch SK and international TV via concealed satellite dishes. I have heard that 'resistance' (I don't know if that is too strong a word) identify each other with a folded picture of Kim Jong Un, or his father.

I had hoped that after the death of Kim Jong Il we might have had a 'night of the long knives', or failing that the Western education of Kim Jong Un might have led him to opening the door just a crack, to outside influence. Sadly the former didn't happen; the power structure, which was built up around Kim Jong Il and his sister, has maintained its grip and there have been some other powerful individuals, representing different interests, photo-shopped out of existence. I think what a lot of people don't realise is that it's not just a tubby guy with a silly haircut in control of everything, but in essence a 'court' of family members, military officers and powerful industrialists that all have a vested interest in keeping things as they are.

Right now I think the best chance the citizens of NK have is to hope that the West stays the hell out of it, China also. One of the most heartening thing to come out of the Wikileaks releases, was a conversation between Chinese and American ambassadors about the subject of revolution or destruction of the regime in NK. Whether it is believable or not is up for question, but the official 'back door' message to the US was that China wouldn't step in to save the regime if it looked like it was about to be overthrown, and also that no Chinese annex of NK (through military or other means) would happen following it. I can certainly believe the first point, as NK has become something of a problem and embarrassment to China over recent years, to which its patience is fast dwindling, although you would perhaps think that China's industries would seek to benefit from the development opportunities in NK if they ever got a chance to be involved.

Pacific wrote:You've definitely got a 'quality' side to Chinese production these days (some of the top-end hi-fi they are releasing is exceptional quality, for instance) but think there is also still a lot of mass-produced stuff!

I'm actually considering the Xiaomi Mi series as the next phone I'll get, instead of the Sony Xperia range. Shocking.

NuggzTheNinja wrote:
People will likely be saying this about Iran too.

Iran is fighting it's own major war against ISIS, if they don't decide to use nukes then, against people they cannot possibly negotiate with, I don't feel they ever will- Or maybe they just wouldn't nuke their own country.

Pacific wrote:There is some pretty interesting stuff I have heard about anti-government movements in NK. The difficulty the autocratic government has, is that in order to improve their economy, they need a level of technology, industry and educated people. These things are the bane of any totalitarian government, the latter for hundreds of years if not more! So, a large number of Chinese mobile phones have been sold there, these allow people to communicate. People watch SK and international TV via concealed satellite dishes. I have heard that 'resistance' (I don't know if that is too strong a word) identify each other with a folded picture of Kim Jong Un, or his father.

That would make a great TV show or movie... or book...