# Which Asian country was 'worse:' WWII Japan or modern North Korea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 23, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873 "2016-02-23T12:19:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/21 "2016-02-25T06:21:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The regime in charge of Japan during WWII could have emulated Hitler or Stalin or Mao and killed its own citizens but it chose not to. So while it committed great evil outside its borders it could have been worse. Although it was a heavily military influenced oligarchy, it was not a dictatorship as the others under those three men. Nor did it face the same circumstances which Germany, the USSR and China had, and there wasn’t the same “need” to murder its civilians. However, in general the militant leaders of Japan viewed the civilians with a low level of disregard for life for the citizens. I don’t know which is worse. Japan certainly gets marks for what it actually did, but that was due to being in a position of actually taking over large amounts of territories. I have no doubt the North Koreans would be worse, but they don’t actually have any conquests, so does one vote on results or potential? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/22 "2016-02-25T22:58:16Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Am I reading this correctly? 1995 Japan was more despicable than 1995 North Korea? They were such arrogant snots back in the days of Japan, Inc. Are you too young to remember Americans being described as “fat and lazy?” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/23 "2016-02-26T00:24:53Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > They were such arrogant snots back in the days of Japan, Inc. Are you too young to remember Americans being described as “fat and lazy?” I’m trying to figure out how your despico-meter is calibrated. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/24 "2016-02-26T01:02:38Z")
1945 was war and wholesale killing of civilians. 1995 was peace and prosperity. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/25 "2016-02-26T02:47:33Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > 1945 was war and wholesale killing of civilians. 1995 was peace and prosperity. There may be an extended cease-fire between the Koreas (“peace”, arguably) but when was there ever prosperity in North Korea? And the Japanese are despicable for supposedly calling Americans fat and lazy? That just makes them sound perceptive. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/26 "2016-02-26T03:37:07Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > They were such arrogant snots back in the days of Japan, Inc. Are you too young to remember Americans being described as “fat and lazy?” Oh this is such bullshit. I lived in Japan for 25 years through that time period and one or two politicians saying that did not equate to what the North Koreans were doing. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/27 "2016-02-26T04:09:15Z")
What ever happened to appreciating just one illustrative example? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/28 "2016-02-26T04:25:28Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Just nitpicking. Or rather, I’m pointing out that “citizen” isn’t a useful grouping to consider - what you mean is that the Japanese didn’t abuse ethnic Japanese, citizenship was never the issue. And can be revoked or made second-class easily enough - by some lights,[Jews weren’t German citizens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Laws#Reich_Citizenship_Law) by the time of the Holocaust. So at least for them, you could make the same statement as you do for Koreans. I could have mentioned these issues but I saw no need to as they weren’t relevant to the point I was making. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/29 "2016-02-26T04:27:53Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > They were such arrogant snots back in the days of Japan, Inc. Are you too young to remember Americans being described as “fat and lazy?” I don’t see how hurt feelings can compare to actual atrocities. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/30 "2016-02-26T05:19:04Z")
I have a tendency to judge a people during peace, not war. During prosperity, not depression. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/31 "2016-02-26T05:47:03Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I have a tendency to judge a people during peace, not war. During prosperity, not depression. I have a tendency to tolerate being called fat and lazy better than I do vivisection and rape but hey, to each his own. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/32 "2016-02-26T06:21:25Z")
Not to mention barring German Jews from entering the US before 1941. But wait, the Philippines was a US territory. So ship 1,200 GJ’s there. As it turns out, it was a good move. The Japanese didn’t touch them because they had German passports. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/33 "2016-02-26T09:07:47Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I have a tendency to judge a people during peace, not war. During prosperity, not depression. Guess you don’t agree with the idea that people show who they really are when the chips are down. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873/34 "2016-02-26T09:47:40Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I have a tendency to judge a people during peace, not war. During prosperity, not depression. Do war crimes get a free pass? They happen in wartime, not peacetime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-asian-country-was-worse-wwii-japan-or-modern-north-korea/746873.md?page=1)