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hacker news - this really bums me out. Last week HN was rightly all over Atlantic for shilling for Scientology. This article is written by the unification chur

by mbubb 14y ago

hacker news - this really bums me out. Last week HN was rightly all over Atlantic for shilling for Scientology. This article is written by the unification church - right up in the same bat shit crazy neighborhood as LR Hubbard and his pals... And the discussion - Korea is crazy and belligerent? The country known as the hermit kingdom. Did not open to the west until ~ 1870s. The last time it was involved in trying to invade another country was as a vassal state of Kublai Khan. And yet such assertions go unchecked. Korea is not belligerent and has much riding upon regional stability. We are talking about an economy that is roughly the scale of Italy's and a standard of living that is in many ways better than the US. The biggest impediment to North South reunification is the immense disparity. The difference between East and West Germany was minute in comparison. I am not Korean but love Korea. Have had the chance to work there (3 yrs) and know a slight bit of the history, language and culture. There are many better sources of information on North Korea - don't give the Unification Church any more publicity. The Netflix documentary mentioned is a good one. And stop with the misinformed ideas of Korea. It is not like China and Japan even though it is stuck in the middle. Korean language and culture compared to Chinese is roughly analogous to English with Latin. The base is completely different but Koreans borrowed Chinese philosophy and science. Linguistically Korean has more in common with Mongolian and Hungarian than it does to Mandarin.

Volpe 14y ago
Umm it's a book, and the piece was written by The Guardian... So not sure what you are talking about... Also, there are 2 Koreas, you talk as if there is only 1. No one is suggesting that South Korea is crazy or belligerent. I didn't even see that assertion with North korea... What are you referring to? Also I'm quite sure the standard of living is not better in North Korea (than in the US), or are you referring to the south? if so, why?
- mbubb 14y ago
  Obviously I don't mean both Koreas - North Korea is significantly worse than Haiti. And yes more than one commenter referred to Koreans as being warlike (speeder, etc). And the piece is cited in the Unification Church alumni website - not the Guardian, so i do not know what you are talking about. Reread this whole discussion and tell me that is is an accurate portrayal of Korea or the current state of relation s. It is not. There are a few intelligent comments about East Germany but then a bunch of drivel about North Korea as a buffer for China against an imperialistic Korea. There is not really one comment to attack here for factual wrongheadedness. Start from a Unification church review and spirals off from there. The discussion is completely off the rails.
  - evan_ 14y ago
    It's clearly labeled as being reposted from The Guardian. Here's the page it used to occupy on the Guardian's website:http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/16/escape-north-korea-prison-camp http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/16/escape-north-kor... The content is unfortunately no longer available, but a quick Google search reveals several places in addition to the OP's link you can find this text. I don't have time to do so but you should definitely review the text posted by the OP against other sources printing the same text, or even from the book itself.
evan_ 14y ago
Which parts of this account do you believe are untrue?
- pretoriusB 14y ago
  Most of the account sounds overblown (and specially crafted in the model of 1984, Nazi camps and such). Any corroboration for this story? Because "escaped" people are known to say anything, especially since it can be very profitable outside their country. For one, people like and buys survival stories (the harder the better), second, if they are nicely crafted they can serve as diplomatic pressure and propaganda (which is not the sole province of North Korea). So, any actual evidence, outside what just one man says that we are supposed to take for granted?
  - mbubb 14y ago
    There is independent information to support that NK is this bad and worse. No question about that.
    - pretoriusB 14y ago
      Well, any pointers? Because, I for one, question it.

by mbubb 14y ago

Volpe 14y ago

Umm it's a book, and the piece was written by The Guardian... So not sure what you are talking about... Also, there are 2 Koreas, you talk as if there is only 1. No one is suggesting that South Korea is crazy or belligerent. I didn't even see that assertion with North korea... What are you referring to? Also I'm quite sure the standard of living is not better in North Korea (than in the US), or are you referring to the south? if so, why?

mbubb 14y ago
Obviously I don't mean both Koreas - North Korea is significantly worse than Haiti. And yes more than one commenter referred to Koreans as being warlike (speeder, etc). And the piece is cited in the Unification Church alumni website - not the Guardian, so i do not know what you are talking about. Reread this whole discussion and tell me that is is an accurate portrayal of Korea or the current state of relation s. It is not. There are a few intelligent comments about East Germany but then a bunch of drivel about North Korea as a buffer for China against an imperialistic Korea. There is not really one comment to attack here for factual wrongheadedness. Start from a Unification church review and spirals off from there. The discussion is completely off the rails.
- evan_ 14y ago
  It's clearly labeled as being reposted from The Guardian. Here's the page it used to occupy on the Guardian's website:http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/16/escape-north-korea-prison-camp http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/16/escape-north-kor... The content is unfortunately no longer available, but a quick Google search reveals several places in addition to the OP's link you can find this text. I don't have time to do so but you should definitely review the text posted by the OP against other sources printing the same text, or even from the book itself.

evan_ 14y ago

Which parts of this account do you believe are untrue?

pretoriusB 14y ago
Most of the account sounds overblown (and specially crafted in the model of 1984, Nazi camps and such). Any corroboration for this story? Because "escaped" people are known to say anything, especially since it can be very profitable outside their country. For one, people like and buys survival stories (the harder the better), second, if they are nicely crafted they can serve as diplomatic pressure and propaganda (which is not the sole province of North Korea). So, any actual evidence, outside what just one man says that we are supposed to take for granted?
- mbubb 14y ago
  There is independent information to support that NK is this bad and worse. No question about that.
  - pretoriusB 14y ago
    Well, any pointers? Because, I for one, question it.