There’s not really much point in me supplying an OP here, because anything I could say to describe the report is said much better in the report.
Let’s just call it “everything you ever wanted to know about NK’s caste system”
The PDF is here: http://hrnk.org/wp-content/uploads/HRNK_Songbun_FINALFINAL.pdf
It is fascinating how complicated - and how evil - it is.
Cool story, bro.
???
I don’t know what’s going on in that link, but it’s hitting restrictions all over my system. It may have nothing to do with the page referenced, but I’ll notify admins just in case.
One would usually summarize or point out interesting things in a linked article or document so that a discussion may ensue, instead of “I read this, you go read it and tell me what you think.” That way lies madness or at least dullsville, especially considering this document is 133 pages.
Treat an interesting OP as a book report if you want people to read it.
Nevermind. I was being restricted by an external firewall. I’ve fully loaded it and it’s passed a security scan.
It’s an interesting read. I’m about 85 pages into it. Their caste situation is particularly dreadful in that one mistake, by one family member, not even your immediate family… can have horrible repercussions for generations. Since the ruling class is looking for any opportunity to lower the status of other people, the least little thing can foul up a person’s future.
I mean, if I had had the misfortune of being born in North Korea, assuming that I didn’t drink the Kool-Aid or wasn’t too scared shitless of the regime to even contemplate it, I would have probably made my first order of business to GTFO of there and make a run for China.
If I were successful in that endeavor, I could look forward to my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc., being held accountable for my “crimes” and sent off to political re-education prison camps for 10-20 years, maybe executed if they helped me pull it off.
Fifty years from now, when my great-niece applies for a school or a job, it will be noted that her great aunt Sarabellum1976 made a run for the Chinese border way back when. Request denied. Back to the fields, peasants.
Ugh.
“Oh, you’re family likes to run for the border! You get to work at Glorious People’s Revolutionary Taco Bell!”
I’m not going to read that whole pdf. But I will say I am constantly amazed how orwellian North Korea is. According to their propaganda they are the freest, wealthiest nation on earth. People break down the doors to get in, brotherly love and camaraderie are everywhere, the Kim family keeps people free from being ruled by kleptos and dictators, the government is admired globally for its competence, etc. Insane how the lie is so big at this point.
I think people who collaborated with the South Koreans are among those at the bottom (well those who openly speak out against the regime are at the bottom). If your grandparent lived in South Korea it will follow you for life.
One thing I’ve read on multiple occasions is that when North Koreans leave and find their way to rural China they are amazed at how well fed, wealthy and free people are in China. Dogs in rural China eat better than middle class citizens in NK. And a lot of these accounts are from the 80s and 90s, when China’s economy was 1/8 the size it is now.
:eek:
I was cutting up a chicken to roast for dinner earlier today, and I got a little wistful, thinking that the average Joe in North Korea would probably eat a regular, balanced, healthy(ish) dinner like ours (chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas) approximately never.