# Why are North Koreans so bombastic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852 "2009-06-15T17:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/21 "2009-06-18T07:05:15Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > North Korea has a large conventional army. Nuclear weapons will make short work of that. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/22 "2009-06-18T07:29:46Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Nuclear weapons will make short work of that. Let’s see, the government of NK is bad because it’s a tyranny. But we are morally superior to them if we lay waste to NK with nukes and irradiate SK with fallout. Is there some sort of rule that no matter how bad an enemy is, we have to act worse than them ? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/23 "2009-06-18T07:52:45Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > So, why are North Koreans so bombastic? Because that’s pretty much their job. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/24 "2009-06-18T12:39:15Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Nuclear weapons will make short work of that. Do you really think we’d use nuclear weapons? I can’t imagine a scenario in today’s age were an offensive force would resort to using nuclear weapons as weapon of first choice. We have to still occupy the country after the attack is complete. I’m picturing a conventional preventive/preemptive war ala Iraq 2003. We have SK, Japan, Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan at our disposal; and China who, at worst, would not get in our way. It’s unthinkable that NK could “win,” but it will be extremely brutal due to the size of their army and unreal patriotism. oh, and just wait for the other countries that will take advantage of it (see Russia, China). ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/25 "2009-06-18T13:19:15Z")
Just a query- will China really remain neutral in any conflict? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/26 "2009-06-18T14:10:16Z")
As so often occurs, the answer to the OP’s question is granted through the miracle of sequential thread titles: \*\* Why are North Koreans so bombastic?\*\* **Can depression make you a dick?** Depression being the economic sort, in North Korea’s case. Making threats is seen as more productive than wheedling for aid peacefully, and much easier than actually making the sort of reforms that would make aid unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/27 "2009-06-29T03:40:33Z")
I just finished watching _A State of Mind_, a 2004 documentary in which a British (I think) film crew got somewhat unprecedented access to two North Korean families. For eight months they followed two young girls preparing for the Mass Games – a nationalist celebration and gymnastics exhibition where the main goal is to be good enough to be chosen so that you can perform for the General. After watching it, I think that if I were any North Korean newscaster or man-on-the-street I would strive to sound EXACTLY like everyone else I’d ever heard on TV and take pains not to deviate in the slightest. So that’s my answer to the OP…but, hopefully on topic enough not to warrant a different thread, I had no idea that: -In the capital city, at least, in state-provided housing, in every kitchen there is a radio, into which is piped government propaganda 24 hours a day. You can turn the volume lower, \*but you can’t turn it off. \* :eek::eek::eek::eek: -There is one TV channel. Five hours a day, the state broadcasts propaganda on this channel. -From birth the children are fed a steady diet of hate for the United States and learn that the US is responsible for their blackouts, air raid drills, food shortages, and anything else bad or unpleasant (actually, maybe we _are_ the main reason for their air raid drills…) As for the US hate and the propoganda, I had some idea of this, but I really did not realize it to the extent I saw in the documentary. -They worship General Kim Jong-il as a god. They believe he is revered around the world. In school, the children are asked, “How many kinds of greatness does the Great Leader have?" They answer, Three: Greatness in ideology, greatness in leadership, and greatness in aura." They are taught that when he was born, there was a double rainbow and a new star appeared… Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/28 "2009-06-29T05:53:49Z")
> [@tesseract](#): > > -From birth the children are fed a steady diet of hate for the United States and learn that the US is responsible for their blackouts, air raid drills, food shortages, and anything else bad or unpleasant (actually, maybe we _are_ the main reason for their air raid drills…) > > As for the US hate and the propoganda, I had some idea of this, but I really did not realize it to the extent I saw in the documentary. Not sure if it was the same documentary, but I saw one where British journos were allowed inside NK as well. The most memorable part was when they visited the DMZ border, guarded by NK’s finest soldiers. There is a “museum” inside, where a soldier discussed the atrocities visited upon the North Koreans during the war. Well, discussed isn’t quite the word. It was more of a spit-flecked red-faced tirade. He said that the Americans ate Korean babies, among about 20 other things that just sounded beyond ridiculous. I believe one of the crew asked him if he believed that these things had actually happened. Without blinking, he yelled, “Yes! Of course it did! We have proof!” And when you think about it, an annoying but not yet completely out-of-control NK is great for China. It gives the Japanese and Americans something to worry about, but I’m pretty sure they’ve talked to KJI and his inner circle and they know that _any_ act of aggression will see China end the DPRK. The last thing China wants to deal with is millions of NK refugees flooding in across the border. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if NK has some kind of understanding with China before they start selling wolf tickets… because if they thought for a second that KJI was actually going to follow through on any of these threats, there’d be a sign in Pyongyang reading “Under new management” in seconds flat. A truly crazy DPRK would be the biggest headache to Seoul and then China, in that order. An apparently crazy DPRK is a headache to Seoul, Japan, the US, and the West. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/29 "2009-06-29T06:42:27Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I doubt there will be war, and if there is I think NK will fold like an empty beer can crushed beneath a tractor trailer. NK is on the verge of collapse and has been for decades now. … So we will be greeted with flowers and sweets? Underestimating the other guy is a rookie mistake. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/30 "2009-06-29T18:42:26Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > So we will be greeted with flowers and sweets? Underestimating the other guy is a rookie mistake. Just because North Korean has and will continue to be a filthy miserable pesthole boil on the collective ass of mankind (thanks to Kim Jong Il and his moronic Soviet-tool father Kim Il Sung), does not mean they aren’t likely to fold like a cheap suit the minute they face some real pressure. The upside, too, is that North Koreans, propaganda or not, probably have a very good idea of how life sucks there. North Koreans have been fleeing for years (and are brutally killed if caught trying!) to China. They know large sections of the country have been starved out. There are always the sellouts, who exchange their souls for a cheap life form the autarchy, but they can never ruin everyone. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/31 "2009-06-29T19:07:56Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > unreal patriotism. I wonder about this. I wonder if many DPRK soldiers will defect or surrender. They have to see how their people suffer under DingDong-Ill’s leadership by fear of retribution. I bet a lot of guys are only thankful they are in the military so they and their families can eat. A war, especially once it starts going bad for them, will likely be their tipping point. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/32 "2009-06-29T21:44:58Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > He said that the Americans ate Korean babies . . . Yeah, I think I remember those episodes of _M_A_S_H\*. It was after Radar left, and the 4077th just totally lost its moral compass. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/33 "2009-06-30T00:20:24Z")
Bombastic? Let me put it this way, and this applies to a lot of things in life: When you lack substance you make up for it with enthusiasm. Think about it. That’s how patriotism, selling, sports and religion (among other things) work and are so successful at get people’s money and affiliation. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852/34 "2009-06-30T02:34:50Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Qatar] So we will be greeted with flowers and sweets? Underestimating the other guy is a rookie mistake. [/QUOTE] Woah there chief…how do you get that out of what I wrote?? I didn’t say anything about being greeted with flowers and sweets. You need to go back and re-read what I ACTUALLY wrote with an eye towards, well, reading what I wrote. If you have any questions about my brief statement I’d be more than happy to expand on it…but do try and keep it in the same universe as what I’m saying, ehe? -XT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-north-koreans-so-bombastic/499852.md?page=1)