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Recently, I went on a bit of a North Korea-related reading binge. One thing I read really stuck with me: The first time I took the DMZ tour from the South, and
by rangibaby 14y ago
Recently, I went on a bit of a North Korea-related reading binge. One thing I read really stuck with me:
The first time I took the DMZ tour from the South, and on some tours since, the US soldier leading the tour would tell everyone we weren't looking at a real building. Instead the North's building was "a facade designed to look large and impressive, but is in reality only a frame a few feet (one meter) thick."[1]
...followed by a photo of the author sitting inside the very real, functional building during his trip to the North Korean side of the border.
It woke me up to the reality that North Korea is so opaque, that there is really no way of knowing the truth of what you read or hear about the country; the official line from both "our" and "their" sides is not much other than a steady stream of propaganda.
That being said, I believe Shin's experience (I originally wrote story, but felt that it was disrespectful) is authentic, and the continuing existence of concentration camps in this 21st century is yet another black mark on Humanity's record.
[1] Highly recommended: http://1stopkorea.com/index.htm?nk-trip6-dmz.htm~mainframe http://1stopkorea.com/index.htm?nk-trip6-dmz.htm~mainframe
- bane 14y agoOne thing that's fun in this day and age is that you can actually check out the buildings from space! https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Panmunjeom,+Kaesong,+North+Korea&hl=en&ll=37.956059,126.677991&spn=0.00349,0.006968&sll=38.003385,-79.420925&sspn=7.139614,14.27124&oq=panmun&t=h&hq=Panmunjeom,+Kaesong,+North+Korea&z=18 https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Panmunjeom,+Kaesong,+North+Ko...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- dba7dba 14y agoWhile I applaud your dedication such as taking time to travel to S Korea and N Korea, I think you are getting mixed up at which building the US soldier was calling as fake. Basically you are claiming to have discovered US to be lying when in fact you probably misunderstood what the US soldier at DMZ was explaining. The N Korean's 'visitor' building within the JSA security area (aka Panmoonjum) is obviously not fake. But there is a FAKE village, visible from the south side. You can see it from south side. It's the village with the TALLEST flag pole in the world. And let's assume that even the buildings in the village were real, it's still a fake village because NO ONE lives in the buildings. And I should remind you your visiting N Korea tacitly supports the brutal regime that is oppressing the poor N Koreans. Every single dollar you spent when to the regime.