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It's immoral to visit such a country. It has concentration camps. It tortures on a large scale. It's citizens suffer and visiting the country gives money to

It's immoral to visit such a country. It has concentration camps. It tortures on a large scale. It's citizens suffer and visiting the country gives money to an evil regime.

deleted 10y ago
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tuna-piano 10y ago
We've had a strategy of isolationism towards them for 50+ years, and it doesn't seem to have worked. If you wanted North Korea to be as free as possible in 20 years, what would you do today to help enable that? I think visiting might in fact be a net positive. Also, Jimmy Carter went there, so maybe you should too! That said, I struggle with this question. In some ways you're absolutely correct. My personal struggle: North Korea has a chain of restaurants abroad, and I walked by one quite often while I was in Bangkok. Out of (morbid) curiosity, I would have loved to dine there and talk to the (very attractive) North Korean waitresses. I couldn't stomach giving the regime the $3 for the meal though. In some ways, going to the NK restaurants supports the quazi-slavery of the workers in the restaurant. But in other ways, that spending enables the restaurant workers to live in Thailand and not North Korea. In the end, I decided not to visit, as I couldn't help but think of how I would feel about someone dining at a Nazi restaurant in the 40s. Difficult ethical questions though.
JabavuAdams 10y ago
This is absolutely a valid criticism and should be debated rather than down-voted. EDIT> Is it moral to give money to a regime that has killed millions of its own citizens? I mean, unless you're secretly giving medical supplies to the poor, your money is only benefiting the elite.
Zombieball 10y ago
I am in agreement. Especially considering they put up a front and try to show visitors a fake / happy version of the country. People often boycott and don't like visiting circuses or shows that generally abuse and exploit animals (elephant shows in Thailand come to mind). I can't see why visiting NK is any different.

It's immoral to visit such a country. It has concentration camps. It tortures on a large scale. It's citizens suffer and visiting the country gives money to an evil regime.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

tuna-piano 10y ago

We've had a strategy of isolationism towards them for 50+ years, and it doesn't seem to have worked. If you wanted North Korea to be as free as possible in 20 years, what would you do today to help enable that? I think visiting might in fact be a net positive. Also, Jimmy Carter went there, so maybe you should too! That said, I struggle with this question. In some ways you're absolutely correct. My personal struggle: North Korea has a chain of restaurants abroad, and I walked by one quite often while I was in Bangkok. Out of (morbid) curiosity, I would have loved to dine there and talk to the (very attractive) North Korean waitresses. I couldn't stomach giving the regime the $3 for the meal though. In some ways, going to the NK restaurants supports the quazi-slavery of the workers in the restaurant. But in other ways, that spending enables the restaurant workers to live in Thailand and not North Korea. In the end, I decided not to visit, as I couldn't help but think of how I would feel about someone dining at a Nazi restaurant in the 40s. Difficult ethical questions though.

JabavuAdams 10y ago

This is absolutely a valid criticism and should be debated rather than down-voted. EDIT> Is it moral to give money to a regime that has killed millions of its own citizens? I mean, unless you're secretly giving medical supplies to the poor, your money is only benefiting the elite.

Zombieball 10y ago

I am in agreement. Especially considering they put up a front and try to show visitors a fake / happy version of the country. People often boycott and don't like visiting circuses or shows that generally abuse and exploit animals (elephant shows in Thailand come to mind). I can't see why visiting NK is any different.