My Visit to North Korea. A Look Inside the DPRK.

[rosco]

Shot 5 times, worms.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/north-korean-soldier-shot-by-border-guards-found-infested-11-inch-worms-206961/

November 2017.

I know your post was no doubt well intended but it kinda reeks of.....look how shit this country is. I bet I could find a few shockers from the US over the last few years.

[rosco]

Billy, I heard back today you can use your own device with that WiFi connection in that hotel.

That's convenient. If you ever go back and use WIFI, let us know if it's internet or intranet. If internet, see if you can view an article criticizing the Supreme Leader without getting blocked. Of course don't do it if it's illegal because they can view everything going through the router.

Come on Billy FFS. Just let your prejudice go and try to learn at face value. You don’t need to be a supporter but every post from you is negative. You’ve become a CNN lap dog.

[Markje]

Billy, I heard back today you can use your own device with that WiFi connection in that hotel.

That's convenient. If you ever go back and use WIFI, let us know if it's internet or intranet. If internet, see if you can view an article criticizing the Supreme Leader without getting blocked. Of course don't do it if it's illegal because they can view everything going through the router.

If you make sure you have a https:// connection, that will only disclose the website you will visit but not the content you're viewing (unless your wifi spoofs the CA-certificate, which some corps do to have their firewall inspect stuff.).

Inspecting the certificate chain though (from the green shield icon) will reveal this, so you can always check yourself if the S in https really means secure.

[Manny]

Billy, I heard back today you can use your own device with that WiFi connection in that hotel.

That's convenient. If you ever go back and use WIFI, let us know if it's internet or intranet. If internet, see if you can view an article criticizing the Supreme Leader without getting blocked. Of course don't do it if it's illegal because they can view everything going through the router.

If you make sure you have a https:// connection, that will only disclose the website you will visit but not the content you're viewing (unless your wifi spoofs the CA-certificate, which some corps do to have their firewall inspect stuff.).

Inspecting the certificate chain though (from the green shield icon) will reveal this, so you can always check yourself if the S in https really means secure.

I’ve just recently got a subscription to Nord VPN for use when travelling. It’s a great service.

For Billy, what use would Korean language intranet be to the foreign traveller? Of course the Wi-Fi is the World Wide Web and it doesn’t have a content block on it like it does in China. Sorry to bust your prejudices as Rosco noted.

[msmoby]

Have you even read the topic? The testimony of 'defectors' is discussed.

Observe my DMZ photos at the blue houses. Multiple NK soldiers just 10m from "freedom". Look on Instagram with #northkorea and you will see many more. A moments dash and they will be in the arms of Uncle Sam. Yet on their posts they all remain........

Curious when The Guardian and the opinions of those who have never been - like you - clashes with reality, no?

Lots of DDR soldiers COULD have walked across to western Berlin and an allied checkpoint ...   The Stasi were v. sympathetic to family left behind ..

[Contrarian]

Shot 5 times, worms.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/north-korean-soldier-shot-by-border-guards-found-infested-11-inch-worms-206961/

November 2017.

I know your post was no doubt well intended but it kinda reeks of.....look how shit this country is. I bet I could find a few shockers from the US over the last few years.

Manny claimed they could leave. They can’t leave without getting shot in the back!

And who knows what happens to their family members.

[Manny]

Cornfed, nobody is claiming the DPRK is a special sort of paradise. I put it to you that there are two versions of life there: The one I saw and the one the western media discusses. As with many things the truth is probably somewhere in between.

What is a fact is that I saw lots of DPRK soldiers within 10 or 15m of the border and none of them were fleeing. Do people occasionally run away? I’m sure they do. Are they fleeing in droves? I’m sure they’re not.

There may be a great spectrum of reasons why some people want to run away. Similarly, there may be a great spectrum of reasons why lots of people would prefer to stay there.

What you can take away from my visit is this: it is not the horrendous totalitarian regime that we are led to believe it is. It is a tourist friendly country - even for Americans. Is life perfect for everybody? I’m sure it isn’t. Is life good for some people? I’m sure it is. I saw lots of people feeling no pain. Look again at my video on the restaurant boat. Middle-class people chillaxing with glasses of (imported) wine cruising around the river in the capital city. Not what you think of when you think about Pyongyang.

[BillyB]

Come on Billy FFS. Just let your prejudice go and try to learn at face value. You don’t need to be a supporter but every post from you is negative. You’ve become a CNN lap dog.

Prejudice against a nation? Am I the first here to do that? I don't watch or read CNN. I can see the two Koreas and understand the enormous talent Koreans have. One of the two Koreas is wasting their talent because of dumb shit policies.

If you make sure you have a https:// connection, that will only disclose the website you will visit but not the content you're viewing (unless your wifi spoofs the CA-certificate, which some corps do to have their firewall inspect stuff.).

Inspecting the certificate chain though (from the green shield icon) will reveal this, so you can always check yourself if the S in https really means secure.

I was having trouble using the UPS shipping website. Made a call to them and the lady asked if she can take over my computer. I gave her permission to do so. She was based in another state but took control of my mouse and closed websites and changed settings in my browser that could affect use of the UPS website. I asked her on the phone is she can see everything on my computer and she said "yes".

If private companies in America can see and take over people's computers through the internet, so can nations such as North Korea.

P.S. She asked who the hunk in the Avatar was. I said his name is Andrew. Andrew should put his photo back up and get rid of the bug.

For Billy, what use would Korean language intranet be to the foreign traveller?

That's a question for the Supreme Leader. He gets to decide what is important for the foreign traveler to read and see, not me. Hopefully someday he'll open the other 99% of the country for foreign travelers to see.

Of course the Wi-Fi is the World Wide Web and it doesn’t have a content block on it like it does in China.

Who has more freedom when it comes to accessing the internet? Although China has blocks, very few N Koreans can even see what is going on in the outside world. The Elite N Koreans are the ones that can access internet and they aren't going to block themselves of any content. China has the second most IP addresses behind America. N Korea is second to last among nations. There are islands, not even countries, in the middle of the ocean possessing more IP addresses than N Korea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_IPv4_address_allocation

[Contrarian]

Confederate, nobody is claiming the DPRK is a special sort of paradise. I put it to you that there are two versions of life there: The one I saw and the one the western media discusses. As with many things the truth is probably somewhere in between.

What is a fact is that I saw lots of DPRK soldiers within 10 or 15m of the border and none of them were fleeing. Do people occasionally run away? I’m sure they do. Are they fleeing in droves? I’m sure they’re not.

There may be a great spectrum of reasons why some people want to run away. Similarly, there may be a great spectrum of reasons why lots of people would prefer to stay there.

What you can take away from my visit is this: it is not the horrendous totalitarian regime that we are led to believe it is. It is a tourist friendly country - even for Americans. Is life perfect for everybody? I’m sure it isn’t. Is life good for some people? I’m sure it is. I saw lots of people feeling no pain. Look again at my video on the restaurant boat. Middle-class people chillaxing with glasses of (imported) wine cruising around the river in the capital city. Not what you think of when you think about Pyongyang.

Considering the utmost cruelty and pettiness of North Korea in the Otto Warmbier case, I think I’ll believe Western stories about the totalitarian regime there.

In my mind they killed a man for stealing a damn poster. Naturally you will argue otherwise.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Warmbier

[Manny]

The Otto thing has been discussed back thread and elsewhere here.

If we are discussing cruel and petty things surely the US takes the award for that for putting sanctions on the country the last 70 years because they couldn’t beat them in war.

[msmoby]

The Otto thing has been discussed back thread and elsewhere here.

If we are discussing cruel and petty things surely the US takes the award for that for putting sanctions on the country the last 70 years because they couldn’t beat them in war.

Manny, it's been effective - AND less lives lost ... Not sure any other nation could carry it off...

[Manny]

The Otto thing has been discussed back thread and elsewhere here.

If we are discussing cruel and petty things surely the US takes the award for that for putting sanctions on the country the last 70 years because they couldn’t beat them in war.

Manny, it's been effective - AND less lives lost ... Not sure any other nation could carry it off...

You probably mean fewer lives, but you’ll still have to elucidate a little as your statement is quite vague.

[dcguyusa]

The Otto thing has been discussed back thread and elsewhere here.

If we are discussing cruel and petty things surely the US takes the award for that for putting sanctions on the country the last 70 years because they couldn’t beat them in war.

Manny, it's been effective - AND less lives lost ... Not sure any other nation could carry it off...

You probably mean fewer lives, but you’ll still have to elucidate a little as your statement is quite vague.

Not to put words into anyone's mouth, this is how I "read" the statement.

It's been effective (i.e., the sanctions),  AND less lives lost (when compared to more fighting in NK)….   Not sure any other nation could carry it off  (which refers to applying sanctions on a global level in lieu of an armed conflict).   

[BillyB]

American General MacArthur been through two world wars but the amount of death he seen between Koreans made him vomit.

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/macarthur-witnessed-fire-and-fury-style-fight-in-korea-and-it-sickened-him-1.482412

[Manny]

The Otto thing has been discussed back thread and elsewhere here.

If we are discussing cruel and petty things surely the US takes the award for that for putting sanctions on the country the last 70 years because they couldn’t beat them in war.

Manny, it's been effective - AND less lives lost ... Not sure any other nation could carry it off...

You probably mean fewer lives, but you’ll still have to elucidate a little as your statement is quite vague.

Not to put words into anyone's mouth, this is how I "read" the statement.

It's been effective (i.e., the sanctions),  AND less lives lost (when compared to more fighting in NK)….   Not sure any other nation could carry it off  (which refers to applying sanctions on a global level in lieu of an armed conflict).   

I don’t believe sanctions have been effective, all they’ve done is hurt the man in the street. And about lives is only speculation.

North Korea seeks to protect itself from more US aggression. Nothing more nothing less.

[msmoby]

I don’t believe sanctions have been effective, all they’ve done is hurt the man in the street. And about lives is only speculation.

North Korea seeks to protect itself from more US aggression. Nothing more nothing less.

@DCguyusa - my thanks for your explanation - bang on !

@Manny

Examples of successful sanctions: 

1/ South Africa - Sporting sanctions

2/ Cyprus - 'north' - no direct flights - from third countries

3/ Russia - 'Crimea' - no direct flight - from third countries ...'Man in the street' suffering ... Let's not pretend certain Oligarchs are suffering - as planned

[Markje]

3/ Russia - 'Crimea' - no direct flight - from third countries ...'Man in the street' suffering ... Let's not pretend certain Oligarchs are suffering - as planned

Give it a rest moby, perhaps you should visit Crimea before posting and making an ass of yourself.

Nobody in Crimea is suffering, i have noted down the numerous improvements to their living environment, their situation and the overall happyness of these people concerning all that.

The sanctions on Crimea meanwhile are wrong, whichever way you look at it:

1) The people voted democraticly to not remain a single state-peninsula in the black sea, but rather to join Russia.
Isn't democracy all that you want as a westerner? Isn' a fair and balanced rule of law with democratic vote not aspired here? You're punishing them for just that which we love to see.

2) the people were told what to vote and got screwed over by Putin/Russia et.al.
So you're punishing the victims of a horrible crime again! and again! and again!.
Nice going there.

Mark.
 

[shakespear]

North Korea seeks to protect itself from more US aggression. Nothing more nothing less.

There is a tv documentary called "The Korean War: Fire & Ice" that is playing on the History Channel right now.

It is very well done and historically accurate. 

I'd recommend you watch it.

[2tallbill]

I don’t believe sanctions have been effective, all they’ve done is hurt the man in the street. And about lives is only speculation.

North Korea seeks to protect itself from more US aggression. Nothing more nothing less.

A couple of questions,

You think they have no desire to annex/incorporate South Korea
under their management?

I get that they could view the USA as a threat, but does Japan
threaten them as well?

North Korea fires second ballistic missile over Japan
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41275614

[Manny]

You think they have no desire to annex/incorporate South Korea
under their management?

Not at all. They want reunification but with a two system model like China and Hong Kong. It is covered on Wiki >here<.

Indeed, if you read that entry, it says:

South Korean president Moon Jae-in had proposed reunification of the two divided nations in the Korean peninsula by 2045.

The original two systems model was written by one of the deceased Kims (I forget which one).

I get that they could view the USA as a threat, but does Japan
threaten them as well?

Japan occupied them between 1910 and 1945. Korea claims they committed various war crimes and have never apologised to this day. Like China does, NK has a strained relationship with Japan. Firing a test missile over the top of them and into the sea on the other side was explained to me like an indifferent middle finger - nothing more.

NK was occupied by the Japanese till 1945, then invaded by the US in 1950 and pretty much destroyed by 1953. Because they wouldn't surrender to the US, they had to rebuild under sanctions that remain to this day. So it's not hard to see why the US remains an imperialist hostile aggressor and Japan is regarded disdainfully at best. The country has never been able to flourish on its own merits and efforts without occupation, war or sanctions. That they have come as far as they have is quite remarkable under the circumstances.

[Contrarian]

The one thing I agree with Manny about is that economic sanctions of North Korea and Iran are harmful for World peace.

[2tallbill]

NK was occupied by the Japanese till 1945........ and Japan is regarded disdainfully at best.

The USA was invaded twice by the Brits but we got over it. Nobody
from the Japanese regime survived but that disdainful regard explains
why they lob inaccurate wanna be ICBM's at them?

[Manny]

NK was occupied by the Japanese till 1945........ and Japan is regarded disdainfully at best.

The USA was invaded twice by the Brits but we got over it. Nobody
from the Japanese regime survived but that disdainful regard explains
why they lob inaccurate wanna be ICBM's at them?

I am not aware they fired at Japan, I only recall over Japan. Hardly the same thing. It's not like they took out foreign generals on overseas soil or invaded dozens of countries and funded regime changes..... 

Perspective, Bill.

[2tallbill]

I am not aware they fired at Japan, I only recall over Japan. Hardly the same thing. It's not like they took out foreign generals on overseas soil or invaded dozens of countries and funded regime changes..... 

Perspective, Bill.

Did Japan take out any foreign generals on overseas soil or
invaded dozens of countries or fund regime changes any
regime changes in the last 75 years or are you trying to
change the subject?

Do you know anything about missiles? ICBM missiles? Shooting
ICBM missiles over somebody's head is an act of war.

If I remember correctly, you didn't know what Patriot antimissile
missiles were either.

[andrewfi]

Don't worry Bill. North Korea has not fired missiles at Japan. There have been launches that passed, in space, over Japan. The heights were around 500 km at a minimum above the Earth at that point.

Given North Korea's location (check it on a map) satellite launches and rocket flights can only be made by flying high above the Japanese archipelago.