#41
Online
Post rating: +++++
According to an online search of his name, Thae's son was an avid gamer, and had accumulated 368 hours regularly playing CounterStrike over the last year, under the name "North Korea is Best Korea".

The account was last active on July 13.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-defector-idUSKCN10S0CY
#42
take a shit on the floor
Post rating: ~
CPGB-ML's response:

eh whatever

https://redyouth.org/2016/08/19/north-korean-minister-thae-defects-imperialist-media-gloat-but-they-have-won-nothing/
#43
Post rating: ~
Whats CPGB (mainline) and CPGB-BX say about it
#44
Mike Nelson here.
Post rating: +

Keven posted:

Whats CPGB (mainline) and CPGB-BX say about it

Well....

From the CPGB (PCC) platform:

#45
Post rating: +

getfiscal posted:

Keven posted:

Whats CPGB (mainline) and CPGB-BX say about it

Well....

From the CPGB (PCC) platform:



"Anti-Stalinist left" big surprise there

#46
Post rating: ~
every north korea news item in every western outlet has a picture of a TV in south korea and it is the most maddening photojournalism cliche, has anyone else noticed this, i feel like i'm losing my mind

#47
Post rating: +
gay_swimmer's slow descent into madness
#48
Post rating: ~

EmanuelaBrolandi posted:

gay_swimmer's slow descent into madness



yeah, but seriously. the guardian ran this photo:



the WSJ ran this photo:



it's the same for stories about nuclear development, every single outlet will have a picture of some south koreans looking at a tv in a department store window or whatever the fuck, it is the most aggravating visual cliche

#49
Post rating: +
is that sign language lady flicking off the camera
#50
Post rating: +

gay_swimmer posted:

EmanuelaBrolandi posted:


gay_swimmer's slow descent into madness



yeah, but seriously. the guardian ran this photo:



the WSJ ran this photo:



it's the same for stories about nuclear development, every single outlet will have a picture of some south koreans looking at a tv in a department store window or whatever the fuck, it is the most aggravating visual cliche


That's so you know it's SOUTH korea because only south korea has impressive television technology thanks to the wonders of capitalism

#51
Post rating: ~

gay_swimmer posted:



your av triggers me

#52
UNUSUALY COOL
Post rating: +

aerdil posted:

"Anti-Stalinist left" big surprise there



what is it about trots and legalizing sex with kids

#53
UNUSUALY COOL
Post rating: +
like even bishops know to say that's bad
#54
sOmEwHeRe OvEr ThE rAiNbOw
Post rating: ~

getfiscal posted:


WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE

#55
Post rating: +
does anyone else sometimes read ROK as Rest of Korea? I dunno why my brain makes that connection...
#56
Post rating: +
so is there any update on this. Oh yea there is an update. The dude fled because hes a sexual predator that was recalled to the DPRK for investigation lol
#57
Post rating: ~
Korean Cosby
#58
take a shit on the floor
Post rating: +
tbh him being a counter revolutionary sex pervert makes perfect sense because if he wasn't, why wouldn't he have defected years earlier. dude was perfectly happy endorsing best korea right until they found out he was a nonce
#59
Post rating: ~
maybe he moved to ROK to go back to college and date teenagers
#60
Post rating: ~
#61
Post rating: ~
please ignore keven, he is a self-admitted liberal and a troll
#62
sOmEwHeRe OvEr ThE rAiNbOw
Post rating: ~
So is he in ROK with his family? Like where are the sons in of all this? Makes me concerned that they were the victims....
#63
Post rating: -
in the past people here have told me to keep an open mind about the DPRK but after watching this Nat Geo documentary (skip to 30:48) it makes it really hard to justify supporting them. i mean sure, some of it is typical western propaganda but when you have defector guards recounting brutal conditions it's just... idk
#64
Post rating: +

Synergy posted:

people here have told me to keep an open mind ... but after watching this Nat Geo documentary



Catchphrase

#65
Post rating: +
if you understand that the conditions in Korea are the result of 60 years of overt and covert war, decades of sanctions, and constant threat of annihilation the important perspective is to oppose and dismantle american imperialism.

there is a fundamental difference in approaching political understanding from a moralist pov vs a materialist one. when people dont approach politics from a materialist pov, false reports of gaddafi giving his soldiers viagra so they can rape more caused people to question whether they can support libya. as the bombs rained down and the worst sorts of reactionaries were installed, many on the liberal left stayed silent or nodded with approval. the same thing is happening in syria and happened in yugoslavia. this is a copy-paste propaganda strategy for dismantling domestic opposition to imperialism.

you might appreciate this kind of account from the DPRK

https://www.liberationnews.org/my-trip-to-north-korea-13-misconceptions-corrected/
#66
Post rating: +

Synergy posted:

in the past people here have told me to keep an open mind about the DPRK but after watching this Nat Geo documentary (skip to 30:48) it makes it really hard to justify supporting them. i mean sure, some of it is typical western propaganda but when you have defector guards recounting brutal conditions it's just... idk



after being detained for months in a re-education, sorry settlement support camp run by the south korean ministry of unification, dprk defectors get money from a variety of right-wing south korean organizations to give talks and testimony about conditions. the pay for such talks literally scales based on how brutal and depraved the testimony is. shockingly, a lot of defector tales have proven to contain large inconsistencies and outright lying.

Edited by aerdil ()

#67
Post rating: ~
Also all the people who say north korea is bad are, er... sex perverts?
#68
Online
Post rating: ~
What does that make you, Keven
#69
Mike Nelson here.
Post rating: +
(Watches National Geographic Evangelion)

(sighs and then flips switch on giant board from "Support" to "Don't Support" for Red Korea)
#70
hi
Post rating: ~
welcome back pogfan1996
#71
Post rating: ~

aerdil posted:

after being detained for months in a re-education, sorry settlement support camp run by the south korean ministry of unification, dprk defectors get money from a variety of right-wing south korean organizations to give talks and testimony about conditions. the pay for such talks literally scales based on how brutal and depraved the testimony is. shockingly, a lot of defector tales have proven to contain large inconsistencies and outright lying.



Do you have an actual article describing this in depth? I've been watching a lot of natural geographic vids on animals around the world and they've been really well done so i assumed they'd wouldn't just go completely off the rails on another subject. so are you saying the whole video is a complete fabrication?

#72
hi
Post rating: +

Synergy posted:

so are you saying the whole video is a complete fabrication?


#73
Post rating: +
"National Geographic Channel, launched in January 2001, is a joint venture of National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks."

whoops, for some reason i thought they were independent from the news conglomerates

nvm, disregard my bad posts

#74
Post rating: +
Too late. The gulag retention team has already been dispatched.
#75
Post rating: +

Synergy posted:

aerdil posted:

after being detained for months in a re-education, sorry settlement support camp run by the south korean ministry of unification, dprk defectors get money from a variety of right-wing south korean organizations to give talks and testimony about conditions. the pay for such talks literally scales based on how brutal and depraved the testimony is. shockingly, a lot of defector tales have proven to contain large inconsistencies and outright lying.

Do you have an actual article describing this in depth? I've been watching a lot of natural geographic vids on animals around the world and they've been really well done so i assumed they'd wouldn't just go completely off the rails on another subject. so are you saying the whole video is a complete fabrication?



Animal facts have far less political impact than countering anti-DPRK propaganda. If you're looking for political analysis that is dedicated to countering claims by the US against the DPRK, this is a decent place to start

https://www.liberationnews.org/tag/north-korea/

edit: It doesnt matter of they are independent of fox news or not, the media system heavily discourages narratives that run counter to US interests. if you need an intro to this a lot of leftists start with noam chomsky and manufacturing consent

#76
hi
Post rating: +
personally, the one thing that makes me cynical about all claims about demonized "rogue states" is the sensationalist coverage of Venezuela. i mean it's just such obviously overblown bullshit that is easy to spot. i think to myself if the USian/UK media can lie so easily about a parliamentary democracy that is a left-social democracy why not just make shit up about North Korea?
#77
Post rating: ~

pogfan1996 posted:

aerdil posted:
If you're looking for political analysis that is dedicated to countering claims by the US against the DPRK, this is a decent place to start

https://www.liberationnews.org/tag/north-korea/



Thanks. I still have some questions about the video I posted though. At the end when all the patients are thanking the Kims instead of the doctors, what's the deal with that? Are the subtitles wrong, or is that just a cultural thing the NK people believe? Also, why do they restrict filming/photos so much? Is it to prevent the western media from manipulating the images or something?

#78
Mike Nelson here.
Post rating: +
That's also why I don't believe their claims about problems in America. More people are using heroin than ever and instead of celebrating the rush of annihilating joy felt by millions the chattering classes are dreaming up scares over overdoses.
#79
Post rating: +

Synergy posted:

aerdil posted:

after being detained for months in a re-education, sorry settlement support camp run by the south korean ministry of unification, dprk defectors get money from a variety of right-wing south korean organizations to give talks and testimony about conditions. the pay for such talks literally scales based on how brutal and depraved the testimony is. shockingly, a lot of defector tales have proven to contain large inconsistencies and outright lying.

Do you have an actual article describing this in depth? I've been watching a lot of natural geographic vids on animals around the world and they've been really well done so i assumed they'd wouldn't just go completely off the rails on another subject. so are you saying the whole video is a complete fabrication?



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/why-do-north-korean-defector-testimonies-so-often-fall-apart

I have been interviewing North Koreans as a DPRK watcher and human rights researcher since 1999. What I’ve found suggests there are serious ethical dilemmas in the way we gather information.

Cash payments in return for interviews with North Korean refugees have been standard practice in the field for years.

Initially, the payment was to cover the cost of meals and local transport, which was approximately $30 in the late 1990s when I first began interviewing in China and South Korea. However, the fees had risen to $200 per hour by the time I attempted to interview people from North Korea in May 2014.

A government official from the South Korean ministry of unification told me the range of fees could vary wildly, from $50-500 per hour, depending on the quality of information.

But this practice raises a difficulty: how does the payment change the relation between a researcher and an interviewee, and what effect will it have on the story itself?

North Korean refugees are ​well aware of what the interviewer wants to hear
This practice also drives the demand for “saleable stories”: the more exclusive, shocking or emotional, the higher the fee.

....

But many refugees say they feel pressured for defector stories. Ahn Myung-chol, a former prison guard at Camp 22, said people liked shocking stories and these so-called “defector-activists” were merely responding to this desire. Chong Kwang-il, a former prisoner at Camp 15, said the fame brought by media exposure trapped them, forcing them to reproduce a certain narrative.

#80
Post rating: +
it's not uncommon for news articles about the dprk in western media to be wholesale fabrications. the key phrase to look for is the use of an anonymous source, or "south korean media reports," because it almost always means the actual source is a right-wing south korean daily making shit up, or south korean intelligence feeding propaganda to media. if it cites actual facts or names an official who might actually be in a position to know things, then it's more likely to be true.

this is why when the media reports that some north korean general or relative of the kims got executed by being fed to dogs or blown up by artillery there's about a 90% chance that they'll be on north korean tv getting an award for something six months later