# North Korea: A speaker in every home **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 25, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720 "2010-05-25T17:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/1 "2010-05-25T17:25:51Z")
According to the last paragraph of [this article](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_ship_sinks)about the rising tension on the Korean Peninsula, each North Korean home has a speaker in it that can be used for government announcements. Yeah, I know, there’s the semi-annual ruffling of feathers going on and all, but this is the part I find fascinating. I wonder if they have daily announcements, like what’s for lunch in the cafeteria that day. Do they wake you up at 3am with the national anthem so that you get to the collective farm on time? Maybe a bedtime story by the Dear Leader to put the young-ones to bed. What about making spooky ghost noises in the middle of the night, and all manner of subliminal message announcements delivered in a barely audible whisper. If they have a speaker in every house not to far of a stretch to think they might have a microphone too. No wonder the poor North Koreans never say boo about the hell hole they live in. Relevant paragraph quoted: [The group, citing unidentified sources in North Korea, said the order was read by Gen. O Kuk Ryol, a Kim confidant, and broadcast on speakers installed in each house and at major public sites throughout the country last Thursday, hours after the multinational report blaming North Korea for the sinking was issued in Seoul.] ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/2 "2010-05-25T17:28:59Z")
Wow, as surreal as everything you hear bout NK is, that’s about the most 1984ey. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/3 "2010-05-25T17:31:37Z")
That’s not the least of it. I highly recommend reading [Nothing to Envy - Ordinary Lives in North Korea](http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Ordinary-Lives-North-Korea/dp/0385523904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274808643&sr=8-1) if you want to really appreciate not living there. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/4 "2010-05-25T23:13:52Z")
There was a 60 Minutes documentary about Joe Dresnok, the American who defected to North Korea and became a citizen in the 70’s, that showed footage from inside his home in Pyongyang. Yes, the speaker was there and it was noted that it could be “turned down, but not off” and that there was one in every home. I think the broadcasts are mostly your typical kind of news propaganda and speeches from the leaders. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/5 "2010-05-26T00:40:20Z")
Are they really in every home? I know they have them in some homes in Pyongyang, but do they have them in every shack in every poor rural hamlet? That seems like it would be too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/6 "2010-05-26T02:13:29Z")
When I read stories like this I always wonder how total is the control over the people? I mean what are they thinking when the Dear Leader or some General is telling them over the speakers how great life is while they sit there eating a bowl of rice and some cabbage for dinner? Do they roll their eyes? Surely the majority know that they live in a shit hole and their government is crazy, right? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/7 "2010-05-26T02:16:13Z")
… wow. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/8 "2010-05-26T02:17:07Z")
> [@Shark](#): > > Relevant paragraph quoted: > [The group, citing unidentified sources in North Korea, said the order was read by Gen. O Kuk Ryol, a Kim confidant, and broadcast on speakers installed in each house and at major public sites throughout the country last Thursday, hours after the multinational report blaming North Korea for the sinking was issued in Seoul.] Any standard diaphragm & cone -type speaker is a microphone, or, more accurately, can be made to work like one. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/9 "2010-05-26T03:00:13Z")
A speaker in every home, a camera in every bedroom, and a microchip in every brain. Paradise. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/10 "2010-05-26T03:17:22Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > When I read stories like this I always wonder how total is the control over the people? I mean what are they thinking when the Dear Leader or some General is telling them over the speakers how great life is while they sit there eating a bowl of rice and some cabbage for dinner? Do they roll their eyes? > Surely the majority know that they live in a shit hole and their government is crazy, right? A bowl of rice and cabbage? luxury! No, really, I’ve seen documentaries were peasants told how they had to eat grass and bark during the famines. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/11 "2010-05-26T03:33:58Z")
Even if the speakers are in every home, is the electricity supply sufficiently reliable to power them? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/12 "2010-05-26T03:43:53Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Even if the speakers are in every home, is the electricity supply sufficiently reliable to power them? Small (low wattage) amplifiers are cheap and ez to make, and don’t take much electricity to power. Seriously, miniscule amounts. Think about that old transistor radio you had as a kid that ran off 1 9v battery for a month at time. Well, I had one anyway. Think about that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/13 "2010-05-26T04:00:50Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > When I read stories like this I always wonder how total is the control over the people? I mean what are they thinking when the Dear Leader or some General is telling them over the speakers how great life is while they sit there eating a bowl of rice and some cabbage for dinner? Do they roll their eyes? > Surely the majority know that they live in a shit hole and their government is crazy, right? How would they know? Realize that the vast majority of the NK populace is _completely_ cut off from the rest of the world. They have been brainwashed and indoctrinated en masse, from birth, for many decades. NK is, in reality, a gigantic cult compound. Take the whole Jonestown thing or David Koresh thing and crank it up, warp-factor nine, until it’s nation-sized. That’s North Korea. Start digging around on the web and on Youtube. The more you look the more you will be startled, amazed, and alarmed by North Korea. IMHO, North Korea is, by far, the most amazing country in the world when it comes to “Nation Study”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/14 "2010-05-26T05:37:51Z")
Folk, you have to check out the only North Korean video travel guide I’ve ever see. It is surreal, it would be hilarious if it wasn’t all so deadly serious. It’s a terrific program. [The Vice Guide to North Korea](http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3#). They bribed their way into North Korea from China. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/15 "2010-05-26T05:48:07Z")
I sort of imagine that speaker would be kinda like when they used to listen to the radio on _Gilligan’s Island_ and it would talk back to them. “Workers in Pyongyang were sent home early today because of the threat posed by an oncoming monsoon.” “A monsoon?” “Yes, a monsoon.” ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/16 "2010-05-26T06:50:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Folk, you have to check out the only North Korean video travel guide I’ve ever see. It is surreal, it would be hilarious if it wasn’t all so deadly serious. It’s a terrific program. > > [The Vice Guide to North Korea](http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3#). They bribed their way into North Korea from China. I wish that guy had made himself a little more presentable. He looks like a bum. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/17 "2010-05-26T08:46:58Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Folk, you have to check out the only North Korean video travel guide I’ve ever see. It is surreal, it would be hilarious if it wasn’t all so deadly serious. It’s a terrific program. > > [The Vice Guide to North Korea](http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3#). They bribed their way into North Korea from China. That is an awesome video (and in my experience it is largely accurate), but watch the one about Liberia. Holy shit, Liberia makes North Korea look like Disneyland, if you can believe it. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/18 "2010-05-26T11:55:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I sort of imagine that speaker would be kinda like when they used to listen to the radio on _Gilligan’s Island_ and it would talk back to them. > “Workers in Pyongyang were sent home early today because of the threat posed by an oncoming monsoon.” > > “A monsoon?” > > “Yes, a monsoon.” That’s hilarious! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/19 "2010-05-26T12:29:54Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Folk, you have to check out the only North Korean video travel guide I’ve ever see. It is surreal, it would be hilarious if it wasn’t all so deadly serious. It’s a terrific program. > > [The Vice Guide to North Korea](http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3#). They bribed their way into North Korea from China. Wow…thanks for that. Very eerie. The “Tea Girl” was cute, too! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720/20 "2010-05-26T12:49:12Z")
Make sure to check out parts 2 and 3 of the series… you can scroll down the page to find the other two links. Also, they politely included a ‘skip’ button in the top left corner of the videos so you can skip all the commercial breaks. When I saw this the 1st time, it was 15 separate videos of 5-10 minutes each. They’ve now put them together into 3 half-hours with a commercial stuck in between eacch segment. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-a-speaker-in-every-home/540720.md?page=2)