This is North Korea

[Delenda Carthago]

6lz8-iJYfek

[hetz]

First-grade roads with horse carriages and trucks that run on wood. :(

[Delenda Carthago]

First-grade roads with horse carriages and trucks that run on wood. :(
Thats not an unseen view even for eastern Europe villages.

[hetz]

Indeed, but the roads are worse. :laugh:

[Delenda Carthago]

You know what we can do? A post to learn North Korea!:)

[Delenda Carthago]

THIS POST IS NOT POLITICAL.

I m opening this post to have a space to share things about North Korea, maybe one of the worlds most unknown countries in the world. A country that we only learn through the media stories and from I have understand, it does not have anything to do with what we know.

This does not mean I m supporting the political situation. Dont bust my nuts about it.

To start with, lets take a tour in a rural area.

6lz8-iJYfek

WPwKh1u-Ksg

[Delenda Carthago]

The famous NK song "No fatherland without you" in a parade.

HqGYt8DtjJM

[Delenda Carthago]

http://nokojeans.com/

[Delenda Carthago]

6YVIBawHaQY

Ze1_D1F5NjI

euf4BTl3-yI

http://64.19.142.12/www.nkeconwatch.com/nk-uploads/Yanggak-health-complex.jpg
(new hospital that is being builded as we speak)

If6VSrX_cKc


http://64.19.142.12/www.planepics.org/reiseberichte/nordkorea/025.jpg
Pyonyang at night, being lighted more and more.

[Delenda Carthago]

http://64.19.142.12/inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/best_2011_part_1/bp25.jpg

http://64.19.142.13/desktoplinuxreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/bootsplash1.png

http://64.19.142.12/www.linux-community.de/var/ezwebin_site/storage/images/internal/artikel/print-artikel/linuxuser/2010/05/red-star-os-2.0/abbildung-9/993272-1-ger-DE/Abbildung-9.png

Pulgunbyol, the NK Windows


MyF-QPef3ys
NK cartoons

0O2FYQ2Dy4Q

[Delenda Carthago]

GUExDEK_nxw

Pi01MW-e4c0

n_5It9w4pjw

[Q]

Pulgunbyol, the NK Windows

Linux.

[Delenda Carthago]

_UpXMVwjzXY

http://64.19.142.12/farm3.staticflickr.com/2166/2485992393_4dd22013c4_z.jpg?zz=1

http://64.19.142.10/english.chosun.com/site/data/img_dir/2009/10/12/2009101200371_0.jpg

DEUqHYL4AGA

8d5iojFl9wk

[Delenda Carthago]

CfKiLVzVzoU

OAY5j5m9sTk

http://64.19.142.12/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Ryugyong_Hotel_-_August_27%2C_2011_%28Cropped%29.jpg/345px-Ryugyong_Hotel_-_August_27%2C_2011_%28Cropped%29.jpg
Ryugyong hotel


fApt3QpbIb0
Pyonyang central zoo


http://www.kcna.kp/kcnadata/kor/photo/2012/1/190502-1.jpg

[Delenda Carthago]

http://static7.businessinsider.com/image/4e3165c1eab8ea9772000001-900/a-pool-at-kim-il-sung-university-in-pyongyang.jpg

University of Pyonyang


http://www.kcna.kp/kcnadata/kor/photo/2012/1/191860-1.jpg

Optical Fiber factory

http://static7.businessinsider.com/image/4e316638eab8ea8072000003-900/commuters-at-a-subway-station-in-the-capitol.jpg

Pyonyang metro station

[piet11111]

Thats not an unseen view even for eastern Europe villages.

I was shocked by the state of roads near antwerp it seriously looked like what i would expect in a 3rd world country.

Every 200 meters on the highway there was a blown out truck tire sometimes on the driving lane.
I saw road signs hanging down because the bolts holding them in place had rusted through.
And those metal fence thingy's means to prevent cars in a crash from getting on the other side of the highway one of them clearly had a car through it ages ago and was not fixed.

As a dutchman i am used to highways being in tip top shape and i would not have thought any country in western europe would be any different.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Look at all those rich slavemaster hotels!

[Delenda Carthago]

Wsvy4Q_RxGo

:w00t::laugh::laugh:

[p0is0n]

fuck them north koreans know koreagraphy. (sorry)

some day in the future if i ever get the money i will visit... caricature stalinist state with hammers and sickles and glorious monuments and shit. interesting feeling i'm sure to relate to the art/monuments/whatever the fuck

[Delenda Carthago]

fuck them north koreans know koreagraphy. (sorry)

some day in the future if i ever get the money i will visit... caricature stalinist state with hammers and sickles and glorious monuments and shit. interesting feeling i'm sure to relate to the art/monuments/whatever the fuck
NK is not by far "stalinist". Except "stalinism" means "anything I dont like in the Left". NK official ideology is Juche, something that is not even m-l.

But lets not get into politics, shall we?

[Delenda Carthago]

http://elcuartoplayer.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/pyongyang-racer-gameplay1.jpg

http://www.pyongyangracer.co/

[Delenda Carthago]

U_QiiWyijCY

[Delenda Carthago]

http://nimg.sulekha.com/others/original700/north-korea-election-2011-7-24-3-20-0.jpg


Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland (687 seats):

- Workers' Party of Korea (606)
- Korean Social Democratic Party (50)
- Cheondoist Chongu Party (22)
- General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (6)
- independents (3)

[Delenda Carthago]

yOYMA2upuJ8

[Delenda Carthago]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k2O4CMfcPjM/T0LUvjXesaI/AAAAAAAAAUo/YSsQGt2IAIo/s640/northkorea0509210eote.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V-S41Awfsik/T0LUyqI9Z6I/AAAAAAAAAVA/IP7j3eaymJk/s640/northkorea0509289eote.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PjE8RoMU46s/T0LU2I7VdWI/AAAAAAAAAVU/7d1wr12kXhQ/s640/trek030809.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hCx8_faAOBg/T0LUsldoHyI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/cU0EZyCsoz4/s640/north-korean-cheerleader-girls.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u1_4vR7J4KM/T0LUrwnecRI/AAAAAAAAAT8/4szWO2LMy0E/s640/koryo-hotel.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-88KK9g_gEWc/T0LUoxLbimI/AAAAAAAAATw/mAWmEozpUlo/s640/kaeseong.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgTVvjsofgY/T0LUnfu0pYI/AAAAAAAAATo/rkJPNfHMLKc/s640/img_8652.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TqK_1dtuxMM/T0LUlw0Pq_I/AAAAAAAAATY/KD_wzrqpd3s/s640/i3UkpDm8WsAY.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C6NUcqPrjBc/T0LUkht47tI/AAAAAAAAATQ/-m3Bvj3J2NQ/s640/arirang200k.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twpjYJSlFgY/T0LUhGW8_uI/AAAAAAAAAS4/7OtSJBrZZDU/s640/6335733761_0b68109daf_o.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FlRsNSCcgjE/T0LUbEarysI/AAAAAAAAASg/iApHX1RUQbA/s640/6329221515_72533012d7_o.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M7LcQNFiPEg/T0LUW9-P9gI/AAAAAAAAASQ/JvWVNzetA1M/s640/6316817910_686fe9d2d9_o.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GaL53k5sKK8/T0LTLTBd1-I/AAAAAAAAARg/5njOAgCLOno/s640/6332848996_6aa76dbdec_o.jpg

[B5C]

Delenda Carthago, are you North Korea's ambassador to Revleft?

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwfmasJ4Ap1qzjefho1_1280.jpg :lol:

[Delenda Carthago]

Nah, not even close man.:laugh:

I m just sick of the bullshit propaganda they keep feeding us about NK to feed the scarecrow of anticommunism in general(or does anyone think its beeing said in an antirevisionist way?:lol:). We have heard anything up to massive child-cannibalism from the western media. Plus I really like how they stand on an international level, not taking shit from noone. Not USA but not China too.

[Delenda Carthago]

And I think their women are HOT!:blushing:

[Yet_Another_Boring_Marxist]

I sort of have to agree with Del here. Obviously I oppose North Korea and think it needs to be overthrown just like every other capitalist state, however we also need to acknowledge that imperialism would be worse. All the anti-dprk propoganda does is internalize this idea of North Korea being inhabited by "savages" to justify exterminating them. To prove my point, let's look at the Anti-Japanese posters

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTc6CGpX-VdU0-Mf48R0ohnflYkx2R8b1bYgZ_j0-jNR9DNDdFt

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZn_b3kXoiL_d_ACek6IZnfD4BAoqo2 Opf52zcuB07S8QX6oRi

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSPKxLeMmO-peIoUThYNMJNlGp2j2X3gTtKDYZRA8zfLcStgQPx

....Sure you can say that we shouldn't try to expose this propoganda as racist because that'd be "defending the bourgeois" or whatever. But let's drop the bullshit theoretical excuses. This propaganda was racist, and this racism was used to justify nuking Japan, an event that killed 10 million people. So don't give me abstract "Marxist" reasons to not oppose racism consistently, racism and imperialism kill real live people and should be opposed at all cost. So while I do not defend North Korean state capitalism I commend my comrade for humanizing the Korean people so we think twice before laughing at "North Korean jokes" that will one day be used to justify concentration camps.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Well some of those performance art pieces are pretty cool, but nothing you've posted so far has really changed my opinion that North Korea is a shithole. I'm not even very impressed with the landscape itself, although I've heard it's quite beautiful so maybe there are just some better pictures out there...

[Delenda Carthago]

Well some of those performance art pieces are pretty cool, but nothing you've posted so far has really changed my opinion that North Korea is a shithole. I'm not even very impressed with the landscape itself, although I've heard it's quite beautiful so maybe there are just some better pictures out there...
I dont know what "shithole" means, but if this is the picture of a country that people massively eat their children, well...

[GoddessCleoLover]

DPRK may not feature child cannibalism, but folks there sometimes are required to consume weeds. DPRK labor camps are hellholes and the DPRK uses firing squads to deal with people who try to flee the Juche "paradise". IMO the Kim dynasty has more to do with fascism than proletarian rule.

[Delenda Carthago]

DPRK labor camps are hellholes and the
Prisons in USA are hellholes too. Are USA a shithole?

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Prisons in USA are hellholes too. Are USA a shithole?

Yes. Yes, they are.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Then Americans should invade the USA first. I mean, they do have some oil reserves, and their nuclear policy is an obvious threat to the civilised world.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I would really love for americans to attack the USA.
After all, revolutions are kind of our thing.

[Delenda Carthago]

Yes. Yes, they are.
Well then, thats a broad definition of "shihole", but I ll take it. NK is a shithole too.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Well then, thats a broad definition of "shihole", but I ll take it. NK is a shithole too.

Well, they are shitholes for different reasons. But shitholes none of the less.

[Delenda Carthago]

Well, they are shitholes for different reasons. But shitholes none of the less.
Is there a place on Earth thats not a shithole?

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Some places are, arguably, less shitholy than others. But, I would say with the economic crisis, unemployment through the roofs etc. most places are shitholes in one way or another.

Then again if every place is a shithole places like the DPRK are special kind of shitholes.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

One thing I like about DPRK is the architecture.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2gsmrs4.jpg

Anyone hating on massive housing blocks is a philistine criminal.
Mmmmm housing blocks

[B5C]

North Korea sounds like the best place for prisoners:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_North_Korea#Reeducation_camps

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

I will admit to having a massive, raging stiffie for massive housing blocks, and massive, high-rise architecture in general.

Anyway, concerning shitholes and so on, the DPR Korea is often portrayed as some totalitarian nightmare where the sort of life most of us take for granted is not possible. I am not exactly enthusiastic about the Kim dynasty, Juche or Songun, but these images demonstrate how thoroughly wrong this portrayal is. And it is important to resist attempts to dehumanise the Korean workers in order to justify another war of imperialist plunder.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

While obviously we should not dehumanise workers, or support a war from either side. These picture do not prove anything.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

While obviously we should not dehumanise workers, or support a war from either side. These picture do not prove anything.

They portray a society that is closer to the bourgeois societies of east Asia and of Europe and America than either side is willing to admit.

[Captain Ahab]

This reminds me of Omsk's DDR thread right here: h t t p://www(dot)revleft(dot)com/vb/photos-depicting-life-t153071/index(dot)html?t=153071
Honestly, using Delando's method you can make any repressive and horrible state look not that bad.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

They portray a society that is closer to the bourgeois societies of east Asia and of Europe and America than either side is willing to admit.

They do not prove that DPRK is not a repressive state.
If it was an authoritarian hell-hole they wouldn't let pictures get out that would portray that anyways.

As for the pictures proving that the DPRK is portrayed as being closer to a bourgeois society, they are a bourgeois society so no surprises there.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Once again, no one is claiming that the DPR Korea is not oppressive, or that it is not horrible to some of its citizens. Far from it. But these pictures belie the picture, chiefly due to the propaganda machine of certain imperialist powers, of the state as a wasteland where modern amenities and modern industry do not exist and people eat each other before being dragged to concentration camps by the omnipresent thought police.

Democratic Germany is another matter entirely. I know people that have lived in it, and have some knowledge of its history, and from what I know, living in the DDR would be far preferable to living in modern bourgeois Germany.


As for the pictures proving that the DPRK is portrayed as being closer to a bourgeois society, they are a bourgeois society so no surprises there.

Indeed; the DPRK is at least semi-bourgeois. It was certainly not my intention to portray the DPRK as the shining beacon of - what? Socialism in one country? I don't even think that is possible.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Does it though? I mean, these pictures show a part of the country. Only when we see the whole, or a major part, of the country can we really say if these things are true or not.

I doubt that they are fully true, but these pictures are not full proof that the claims aren't true.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Does it though? I mean, these pictures show a part of the country. Only when we see the whole, or a major part, of the country can we really say if these things are true or not.

I doubt that they are fully true, but these pictures are not full proof that the claims aren't true.

The pictures doesn't purport to show that somehow no abuses are being committed. It's just that, as anywhere - most people go about their daily lives and try to do the best they can, one way or the other. There's this mythologising, trying to present the population of DPRK as somehow different from other people, which becomes a sort of Orientalism with this nebulous "otherness". The people in DPRK do not everyone constantly just do nothing but suffer. It's a vast panorama of different things, something that is often forgotten, especially as regards DPRK.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.081273,125.728837&spn=0.004822,0.008272&t=k&z=17

This is a new housing development in Pyongyang, under construction as a part of the 100,000 new flats plan for 2012 (imagery from october 2012, good progress has been made on a vast number of new housing blocks around the city, and a number in a few other cities as well.)

[Os Cangaceiros]

One thing I like about DPRK is the architecture.

Anyone hating on massive housing blocks is a philistine criminal.
Mmmmm housing blocks

*vomit*

A lot of pictures of Pyongyang makes it look like a city-wide banlieue. But unlike a real banlieue it doesn't even get the benefit of some colorful graffitti or the occassional bout of civil unrest. Talk about depressing. :rolleyes:

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

*vomit*

A lot of pictures of Pyongyang makes it look like a city-wide banlieue. But unlike a real banlieue it doesn't even get the benefit of some colorful graffitti or the occassional bout of civil unrest. Talk about depressing. :rolleyes:

Yes, using a french word for suburban periphery is always such an illustrative point (especially considering that actual blocks make up a small percentage of the French suburban periphery!).

Your seething danchi-hate is because you are simply a philistine who cannot appreciate the unequalled beauty of the blocks and their wonderful proportions and most alluring symmetries; where the entire district turns into a manifestation of architecture, not limited to that of small buildings separate spheres, but into a vast whole where the angles and alignments of the building bodies become as important as every stroke of a painters' brush on a vast panoramic scene. The nasty filth of graffiti that soils and makes vile the cityscape is to the danchihaters a pleasant speck of colour in "the vast grey"; "Grey" they say, and then start raving on about DDR, "so grey it was!".

Balcony upon balcony of white pure concrete poured in elements through dedicated labour the towers rise beautiful, thirty, forty stories tall; slabs, points and star-shaped, cruciforms and now and then long interconnected building bodies; walkways at height, service towers; the balconies and the contours of the façades draw the lines of this spectacular show; each one a stroke of harmonious monolithic beauty; and though the contemporary taste might spit in the face of the utilitarian and useful blocks, deride them constantly as monstrosities and "inhuman", these are only the product of their immature reaction to something so beautiful they lack the ability to it fathom.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Whatever dude. This philistine thinks they look ugly as sin, and probably always will. :cool:

[Delenda Carthago]

I really dont get what some of you people are trying to prove here. You are saying that I m not convinsing you that DPRK is not a represive state. But on the first post of the thread, I said I m not gonna go into politics. And if you dont count the picture I posted from the elections, I stayed compeletly out of it.

That would be another discusion maybe. And I dont know about your countries, but in mine, the people of DPRK are been presented as a massive circus of poor insane asians. And I dont think thats the case.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

You can't talk about North-Korea without delving into politics.

[Delenda Carthago]

You can't talk about North-Korea without delving into politics.
Just as much as any other country.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Just as much as any other country.

You can't make a thread called 'This is North Korea' and demand to leave out such an important adpect of North Korea, politics.

[Delenda Carthago]

You can't make a thread called 'This is North Korea' and demand to leave out such an important adpect of North Korea, politics.
Ok. But if I opened a thread "This is Netherlands", would I have to mention the country's politics as well?

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Ok. But if I opened a thread "This is Netherlands", would I have to mention the country's politics as well?

Yes.

The only reason you made a thread about North Korea was because it has a special political situation though, so the comparison isn't really a fair one. But yes, I'd say you should talk aout the politics of the Netherlands if you made such a thread.

[Leftsolidarity]

You can't talk about North-Korea without delving into politics.

As long as this thread is in Non-Political it can and will be able to continue without talking about politics.

I don't know what bone you have to pick with the DPRK that you can't get out in the other billion threads for trashing the DPRK but I don't care.

I'll start giving out warnings if people de-rail this thread.

[Orange Juche]

One thing I like about DPRK is the architecture.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2gsmrs4.jpg

Anyone hating on massive housing blocks is a philistine criminal.
Mmmmm housing blocks

It's so... bland. Now, if you had some snazzy, colorful graffiti, that might purty up the picture.

[MarxArchist]

I enjoyed watching Rick Steve's Iran documentary. It seems like a nice place with really nice people but do I support Ali Khamenei? Na.

D61uriEGsIM

[Flying Purple People Eater]

I enjoyed watching Rick Steve's Iran documentary. It seems like a nice place with really nice people but do I support Ali Khamenei? Na.

[YOUTUBE]D61uriEGsIM[YOUTUBE]

Nor do most people living there.


I sort of have to agree with Del here. Obviously I oppose North Korea and think it needs to be overthrown just like every other capitalist state, however we also need to acknowledge that imperialism would be worse. All the anti-dprk propoganda does is internalize this idea of North Korea being inhabited by "savages" to justify exterminating them. To prove my point, let's look at the Anti-Japanese posters

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTc6CGpX-VdU0-Mf48R0ohnflYkx2R8b1bYgZ_j0-jNR9DNDdFt

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZn_b3kXoiL_d_ACek6IZnfD4BAoqo2 Opf52zcuB07S8QX6oRi

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSPKxLeMmO-peIoUThYNMJNlGp2j2X3gTtKDYZRA8zfLcStgQPx

....Sure you can say that we shouldn't try to expose this propoganda as racist because that'd be "defending the bourgeois" or whatever. But let's drop the bullshit theoretical excuses. This propaganda was racist, and this racism was used to justify nuking Japan, an event that killed 10 million people. So don't give me abstract "Marxist" reasons to not oppose racism consistently, racism and imperialism kill real live people and should be opposed at all cost. So while I do not defend North Korean state capitalism I commend my comrade for humanizing the Korean people so we think twice before laughing at "North Korean jokes" that will one day be used to justify concentration camps.

So wait - propaganda posters by a supposedly 'marxist' government protraying Hirohito as giving workers shorter hours!? The irony!

Also, is this really a picture of Korea?:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twpjYJSlFgY/T0LUhGW8_uI/AAAAAAAAAS4/7OtSJBrZZDU/s640/6335733761_0b68109daf_o.jpg

Because I'd thought N-Korea outright banned hanja.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

As long as this thread is in Non-Political it can and will be able to continue without talking about politics.

I don't know what bone you have to pick with the DPRK that you can't get out in the other billion threads for trashing the DPRK but I don't care.

I'll start giving out warnings if people de-rail this thread.

Please mate.
The thread is called 'This Is North-Korea', we were still talking about North Korea.
De-railing it by staying on subject? I see, welp if that is how non-political works. My bad.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

So wait - propaganda posters by a supposedly 'marxist' government protraying Hirohito as giving workers shorter hours!? The irony!

Hm, I'm fairly sure those are old American posters. The point was how dehumanising propaganda can be used to gain public support for murderous policies and imperialist wars.

[Durruti's friend]

Also, is this really a picture of Korea?:
I don't think it is. The red flag with a star in the back and the Chinese writing should be enough to support that.

[Delenda Carthago]

About the famines...



In this April 10, 2012 photo, North Korean workers tend an apple orchard at a large-scale communal apple farm on the outskirts of Pyongyang. South Korea's central bank said Sunday, July 8, 2012, that North Korea's economy grew for the first time in three years, thanks to a boost in agricultural production. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
http://washingtonexaminer.com/gallery/feedid/2009903/50/pictures/2507723#.UVooHFeWdfuhttp://cdn.washingtonexaminer.biz/cache/r620-a8e81a9d446d357c9fa115150f9d1f82.jpghttp://farm7.staticflickr.com/6044/6364509661_4ff451495a_b.jpg



Agriculture

The task of increasing agricultural production beyond simple recovery from the Korean War was not easy. The country's sparse agricultural resources limit agricultural growth. Climate, terrain, and soil conditions are not particularly favorable for farming. Only about 18 percent of the total landmass, or approximately 2.2 million hectares, is arable; the major portion of the country is rugged mountain terrain. The weather varies markedly according to elevation, and lack of precipitation, along with infertile soil, makes land at elevations higher than 400 meters unsuitable for purposes other than grazing. Precipitation is geographically and seasonally irregular, and in most parts of the country as much as half the annual rainfall occurs in the three summer months. This pattern favors the cultivation of paddy rice in warmer regions that are outfitted with irrigation and flood control networks. Where these conditions are lacking, however, farmers have to substitute other grains for the traditional favorite.

Farming is concentrated in the flatlands of the four west coast provinces, where a longer growing season, level land, adequate rainfall, and good, irrigated soil permit the most intensive cultivation of crops. A narrow strip of similarly fertile land runs through the eastern seaboard Hamgyng provinces and Kangwn Province, but the interior provinces of Chagang and Yanggang are too mountainous, cold, and dry to allow much farming. The mountains, however, contain the bulk of North Korea's forest reserves while the foothills within and between the major agricultural regions provide lands for livestock grazing and fruit tree cultivation.

Since self-sufficiency remains an important pillar of North Korean ideology, self-sufficiency in food production is deemed a worthy goal. Another aim of government policies--to reduce the "gap" between urban and rural living standards--requires continued investment in the agricultural sector. Finally, as in most countries, changes in the supply or prices of foodstuffs probably are the most conspicuous and sensitive economic concerns for the average citizen. The stability of the country depends on steady, if not rapid, increases in the availability of food items at reasonable prices. In the early 1990s, there also were reports of severe food shortages.


Poman-ri Fish Farm - North Korea

http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://farm5.staticflickr.com/4078/4917275569_a88d19b649_b.jpg
http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://farm5.staticflickr.com/4118/4917885118_7e60b25ba9_b.jpg
http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://farm5.staticflickr.com/4099/4917894532_3fa93aa8eb_b.jpg
http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://farm5.staticflickr.com/4114/4917296193_6880ee5f4f_b.jpg

[Delenda Carthago]

http://media.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/photos/images/2012/apr12/north_korea_040912_sm/north_korea_040912_02.jpg



North Korean women work in a thread factory in Pyongyang, North Korea on Monday, April 9, 2012. AP / David Guttenfelder



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A North Korean woman reads from a book on a street in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, April 9, 2012. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Snow blankets the town of Samjiyon, North Korea at the foot of Mt. Paektu on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. AP / David Guttenfelder



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North Korean children run through the village of Rimyongsu near Rimyongsu Falls in North Korea, on Wednesday April 4, 2012. AP / David Guttenfelder



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A North Korean soldier working as a guide walks through a forest that is said to be a former camp site where the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung overnighted while leading a battle against the Japanese at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. AP / David Guttenfelder



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A North Korean man clears snow from a path next to a monument at the site of the Samjiyon Grand Monument in Samjiyon, North Korea on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. AP / David Guttenfelder

[Delenda Carthago]

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (1991 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html

Back to th pics...


Samjiyŏn

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http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5272/7220377966_593e108227_c.jpg



Pyongyang

http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nkorea041712/n01_RTR30KUS.jpg
http://www.phorum.gr/images/spacer.gifhttp://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/nkorea041712/n02_16025811.jpg
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[Drosophila]

why should we care about this again

holy shit, pics of a state capitalist military dictatorship. awesome

[Leftsolidarity]

why should we care about this again

holy shit, pics of a state capitalist military dictatorship. awesome

Verbal warning for trolling

[Drosophila]

Sorry, I'll contribute to the picture fest instead of questioning why this thread exists.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xF2XLKTuFRQ/UMHWL1SX7DI/AAAAAAAAAAM/DPhnH3JW9C4/s1600/bild+koreabro.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l4oYsnp2xCE/UMHYJcPMpBI/AAAAAAAAAAU/RNmV0Fmag64/s1600/bild+korea.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01948/north-korea-3_1948182c.jpg

[Delenda Carthago]

Sorry, I'll contribute to the picture fest instead of questioning why this thread exists.


Nice. You proved that they have cops over there. Amazing. And of course the poverty is due to the fact that they are bad people running the country.

Lets take a ride through through beautiful
Pyongyang :cool:

io6il7n-XRI

[Yet_Another_Boring_Marxist]

Normally the comment sections of newspapers are pretty shitty, but I think this one touched the heart of the issue very well:

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57577407/north-korea-vows-to-restart-yongbyon-nuclear-complex-capable-of-making-bombs-worth-of-plutonium-per-year/


Yes,a lot of commentators are behaving like Americans - focus on the little guy,ignore the giant.

This whole episode is about Communist Red China.

The Marines wiped out the North Korean Army.Made it all the way to the southern border of China. That's when Mao poured a tidal wave of Red Army soldiers over into North Korea.

As long as there was no crossing of the 38th Parallel,China and the Soviets
did nothing. They did more than cross,they went up to China.The Communist would not allow a Capitalist nation at their border.Khrushchev would build the Berlin Wall in 1961.

When the Red Army pushed the Marines back to the 38th Parallel,the Chinese went home,our guys came home,and the North Koreans were still standing there
asking,"Hey,but,what about us"?

It was never about them,so,they want to know,what do they do now?They are lost in 1950.

I suppose there is a bit of truth in this, what a tragic people, stuck between two imperial powers and ruled by a megomanic, I don't think there is a people worthy of sympathy more than the Korean people.

[Delenda Carthago]

W3ZvbzhqG5E

[TheRedAnarchist23]

why should we care about this again

holy shit, pics of a state capitalist military dictatorship. awesome

Because they say they are communists, and therefore we should support their country and love their leader.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we actualy realised state socialism is impossible.

[LeonJWilliams]

It looks a lot like central China.

[Leftsolidarity]

Because they say they are communists, and therefore we should support their country and love their leader.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we actualy realised state socialism is impossible.

You're close to getting a warning for trolling.

[Delenda Carthago]

nQSIEAz3rws

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Holy shit, the pictures of the snow village Carthargo posted are fucking awesome, it's like the Alps.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

http://www.ap.org/Images/North-Korea-family.jpg
In this photo taken Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012, two North Korean men pour a glass of wine as a family visits their ancestor's tomb in Pyongyang's Ryongsong district on the Harvest Moon Day. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/03/29/northkorea1_custom-9a89dde87f9b3941c7c6174f5f1682aa2b6de4e0-s40.jpg
University students march through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, on Friday. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms.

[RHIZOMES]

Anyway, concerning shitholes and so on, the DPR Korea is often portrayed as some totalitarian nightmare where the sort of life most of us take for granted is not possible. I am not exactly enthusiastic about the Kim dynasty, Juche or Songun, but these images demonstrate how thoroughly wrong this portrayal is.

how

i really don't see how you logically went from point A to point B there

there's nothing in these images that disproves the notion of North Korea being a totalitarian nightmare

whats with this simplistic enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend rubbish that passes for serious discourse about the DPRK on this site?

[RedHal]

Moranbong Band:wub:, North Korea truly is best Korea:lol:

cBwDVRPWZWg

[Delenda Carthago]

http://www.northkoreatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/130701-samjiyon-giftshop-copy.jpg

http://www.northkoreatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/130701-apps-homescreen1-english-570x972.jpghttp://www.northkoreatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/130701-apps-homescreen2-english-570x972.jpg



Review: Samjiyon tablet

North Korea, like the rest of the world, is getting hooked on tablet computers. In the last year, state media has highlighted three different tablet computers (http://www.nknews.org/2013/05/a-recent-history-of-north-korean-computers/) that are now, according to the reports, available in the country.
The latest of these, the Samjiyon (삼지연), is also on sale to foreigners and one of the tablets was recently purchased by a tech-savvy tourist. The tourist, Michael, doesn’t want to use his surname, but I’ve spoken extensively with him via e-mail, phone and Skype video chat about the tablet and how it performs.
The Samjiyon first appeared to the world (http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/09/28/samjiyon-android-tablet-debuts-at-pyongyang-trade-fair/) at the 8th Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair in September 2012. Supposedly developed by the Korea Computer Center (조선콤퓨터쎈터), the tablet is the first from the country to support reception of TV broadcasts (http://www.northkoreatech.org/2013/01/14/dprk-tablet-pc-can-receive-tv-broadcasts/).
[See also: "Exclusive: North Korea's Samjiyon tablet -- Made in China? (http://www.northkoreatech.org/2013/08/04/exclusive-north-koreas-samjiyon-tablet-made-in-china/)"]
“The tablet was just sitting there”
“We had just finished lunch at a hotpot restaurant in Pyongyang and had time to kill while some of us smoked, etc,” said Michael. “The restaurant has a gift shop on the ground floor which mostly sold cheap manufactured stuff that wasn’t overtly for tourists but was likely sold almost exclusively to them.”
“The tablet was just sitting there next to some trinkets inside of the glass case in front at the register. At first, I just asked to take a couple of photos of the box, excited to be able to add just a bit more info to the small amount out there in the world. I asked if it was for sale as more of a joke than anything and I was surprised to have the woman behind the counter tell me it was for sale for just US$200. That simple.”
With that, it was purchased. Taking it out of the country proved no problem, he said.
“When I filled out my customs form at the Pyongyang airport, I even declared that I had an electronic device with me that I didn’t have when I arrived but no attention was paid whatsoever.”


“The Samjiyon is surprisingly impressive”
So, how does the tablet stack up against the many Android tablets available in developed markets like the U.S.? Our tech-savvy tourist was well placed to make that distinction because of a job that affords regular access to many high-end Android tablets, like the Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Nexus tabs and Amazon Kindle.
“I can honestly say that the Samjiyon is surprisingly impressive. In terms of responsiveness and speed, it can almost compete against the leading tablets out there. Tapping and launching apps feels fairly fluid, instantiating the camera is as fast as the world’s leading tablets, and there is no noticeable lag when playing games I’m familiar with, like Angry Birds.”
If you believe the specs on the Samjiyon’s box, it’s got an 1.2GHz processor (which is more than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7″‘s 1.0GHz processor) and 1GB of RAM (the same as the Samsung).
The software
All of the typical Android apps are present on the tablet, but don’t look for any Google software. That’s because the basic version of Android, which is available at no cost to any company that wants to use it, doesn’t include Google apps like Gmail, YouTube and Navigation. To get the Google apps, hardware developers need to sign an agreement with Google. That wasn’t done for the Samjiyon and for good reason: with no Internet access, the Google apps are pretty much useless anyway.


Web Browser
North Koreans might not have Internet access, but they do have the ability to connect to a nationwide internal intranet. A web browser in the Samjiyon comes equipped for the task. It’s programmed to default to a home page at a numeric IP address, 10.76.1.11. The address sits within a private address block, specifically designed for use on internal networks and not globally.
There are several pre-programmed bookmarks.


Rodong Sinmun (www.rodong.ref.kp)
Korean Central News Agency (www.kcn.inf.kp)
Korean Central Television (www.krt.rep.kp)
Grand People’s Study House (www.gpsh.edu.kp)

These are linking to sites on the domestic intranet. In the case of the Rodong and KCNA sites, which also have sites on the global Internet, the URLs are different.
WiFi
However, despite the Web browser, Michael says there doesn’t appear to be any way to connect the WiFi. Some of the settings in the tablet’s configuration files refer to a hardware WiFi adapter, so it appears to have the ability to connect built inside it.
It’s possible the configuration entries are erroneous, that WiFi exists in hardware but has been disabled in software, or that it’s hard-coded to work on a certain network and cannot be changed like conventional tablets.
North Korean Apps
Several of the apps on the Samjiyon appear to be domestically made. Perhaps the most interesting of these is a version of Adobe’s PDF reader that’s been repackaged by the Korea Computer Center. It’s not immediately clear what changes if any were made, but the name of the PDF reader software package contains a clear reference to the Korea Computer Center. The names of other foreign-souced software packages haven’t been changed, so it apparently signifies some level of repackaging or modification.
Games
There’s a number of games on the Samjiyon, and some are from international developers.
Among them, a Korean-language version of Angry Birds Rio. It’s interesting to think that this most addictive of Android games have reached as far as Pyongyang. How it got there is a mystery. Rovio, the Finnish maker of the game, hasn’t responded to several requests for comment.
And, if you hadn’t figured it out from Dennis Rodman’s January trip to Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un is a big basketball fan. So it’s interesting to see the Basketball Shot game as one of the apps on the Samjiyon.
Here’s the games found on the tablet:


Angry Birds Rio (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rovio.angrybirdsrio) (Rovio, Finland)
Basketball Shot (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droidhen.basketball&hl=en) (Droidhen Games)
Field Runners (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.subatomicstudios) (Subatomic, U.S.)
Fishing Joy (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cocos2dx.FishGame&hl=en) (Punch Box, China)
Tank Recon 3D (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonedwarfgames.tanks.android&hl=en) (Lone Dwarf Games)
Air Control (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.logisoft.aircontrolfull&hl=en) (Four Pixels Games)
Racing Moto (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droidhen.game.racingmoto) (Droidhen Games)

Educational software
A promotional video for the Samjiyon highlights its usefulness as a tool for students. That’s underlined by the inclusion of several educational and reference software apps.
On the left side of the top shelf are elementary school books: music, computers, mathematics and Kim Il Sung’s childhood. On the right side are middle school books covering language and the arts. The bottom shelf has more middle school books on the left concerning English, biology and chemistry. The right side has reference books.
Specifications
The main specifications of the tablet are listed on the box:


1.2GHz CPU
1GB DDR3 memory
8GB or 16GB internal storage
7-inch screen with 1,024 by 768 pixel resolution
2 megapixel camera
187 by 124 by 10 millimeters
250 grams

Once switched on, the settings screen gives away a little more detail:


Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Kernel 3.0.13
Baseband A70MTK_D1_default_V1.0.0
Build number 20130311.154649

The build number is the date and time when the system software image loaded on the tablet was finalized: March 11, 2013 at 3:46pm.


Form factor
“The device’s form factor leaves some things to be desired, as the power and volume buttons protrude with some rough edges and trying to open the SD card slot is a bit awkward. Perhaps the biggest misstep in the hardware is the TV antenna and the way that one’s fingernails play a critical role in being able to extract it. Reminds me of pulling a stylus out of a Palm Pilot but even more frustrating,” said Michael.
“The speaker is nice and loud and clear although the headphones jack has some serious issues, requiring quite a bit of jiggling to get both channels coming in without interruption. The screen is also bright but only when viewed straight on. Otherwise, it’s fairly dim. That said, 1024 by 768 pixel resolution is on par with Samsung’s best 7-inch tablet and the iPad Mini.”
“The tablet is running Android 4.0.4 and aside from no obvious way to enable WiFi (although investigation suggests that it supports it), the tablet really would stack up against 80 percent of the tablets sold in the U.S.”
TV Reception
The tablet comes with a built-in analog TV tuner. North Korea uses the European PAL color system and the Russian channel system.
Hitting the TV button on the display starts the TV function and allows the user to choose between four preset channels: VHF channels 5 and 12 and UHF channels 25 and 31.
According to a list of North Korea’s TV transmitters in the most recent edition of the World Radio TV Handbook, channel 5 is used by Mansudae TV in Pyongyang and channel 12 by Korea Central Television.
The same book says Pyongyang’s other TV station, Ryongnamsan TV (former Korea Educational TV), uses channel 9 and lists no UHF channels at all for any North Korean TV outlet. Given the difficulty in getting accurate information from North Korea, it could be that the list is based on old information or incorrect. It could also be the case that UHF broadcasting is now in use in Pyongyang.
Manual tuning isn’t possible. This is inline with North Korea’s policy of fixed tuners on radios and TVs so people cannot listen to foreign broadcasts, but also means the TV function is of little use outside of Pyongyang because KCTV uses other channels in different parts of the country. Perhaps that’s no so much of a problem given the $200 price tag and the lower incomes in the provinces.



http://www.northkoreatech.org/2013/08/01/review-samjiyon-tablet/