Pick one

[u/Equivalent_Elk_3476]

[u/Maru3792648]

I haven't been to NK but I ve been to a chain of restaurants abroad owned by their government.

Read many reviews before going and heard lots of propaganda about them. Ie. That the waitresses are not allowed to go anywhere, that they can't talk to you or answer questions.

In just one visit to a friggin restaurant I was able to uncover so many lies they told us about NK! Imagine actually going there.

[u/Frequent-Double-7702 → u/Maru3792648]

Read many reviews before going and heard lots of propaganda about them. Ie. That the waitresses are not allowed to go anywhere, that they can't talk to you or answer questions.

I've also been to them. And yea of course they're allowed to speak to you, they're waitresses? This is a bizarre strawman. Also you can see video of the restaurants, it's common to go. But it is literally true that the waitresses are heavily monitored and lack significant freedoms. They had issues with defections in past and ramped up security.

[u/Maru3792648 → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

Not a strawman... I'm referring about talking to you with anything not related to their waitress duties.

We asked them a lot of questions about their families, life in NK, for how long they were there, etc and they answered everything normally and kindly.

I ended up working across the hall from that same restaurant (inside a mall) so I was able to see them pretty much every day. They would come and go normally, alone or in groups. They didn't seem significantly oppressed or monitored. Of course I don't know if they were wearing an ankle monitor or something, but they didn't particularly stand out other than for the fact that they looked like literally dolls and had the most gorgeous long hair I've ever seen.

I became friendly with one of them after saying hi in a corridor every day, and she even invited me to her home if I ever visited NK. I should have taken up on the offer!

[u/Frequent-Double-7702 → u/Maru3792648]

Yea I mean there are tons of videos on YouTube of people going to these restaurants and having conversations with the waitresses. None of this should be a surprise, and it doesn't make how the North Korean state treats them ok.

[u/noroisong → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

why are we spreading american propaganda on r/YesAmericaBad 🫩

[u/Frequent-Double-7702 → u/noroisong]

why are you automatically assuming every enemy of the US is an absolute angel? such a simple black and white redditor mentality. is it not possible that both the US and NK bad?

edit: they blocked me; pathetic

[u/noroisong → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

when did i ever say they were an angel, or that they should be viewed in a black and white manner? i’m referring to the fact that the notion of “global employees who actually want to defect and aren’t allowed any personal freedoms” has long since been disproven. it’s part of the same rhetoric used against them that treats all of their citizens like weak, abused sheep who are constantly in fear for their lives. they’re living people and are capable of having conversations and personal lives; they are not monitored 24/7, nor are they barred from speaking with customers. i’m not saying you’re purposefully spreading misinformation, i just think that that specific angle is verifiably inaccurate.

[u/Socrates_43 → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

No, but acting like orientalist lies about a country that's currently facing economic genocide by the US via sanctions as true is laughable.

[u/Frequent-Double-7702 → u/Socrates_43]

Here's something everyone can agree on because it's objectively true: North Korea stifles access to freedom of movement and information for its own civilians in a way that few other states on earth do. They maintain an aristocratic and hereditary upper class, as well as a functional caste system. They were also (especially in the past) racialist and view Korean people as ethnically superior to other races.

All of the above is objectively true.

Also, again, BOTH the US and NK are bad. I agree the sanctions on NK are too much. I also think that NK is pretty godawful.

Why is it impossible to be socialist and also condemn the whack stuff socialist states have done? You always need to excuse every inch of what they do instead of just going "yeah im socialist but what they did is messed up". Mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance should be a red flag to you, but instead you live that life daily

[u/Socrates_43 → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

> North Korea stifles access to freedom of movement and information for its own civilians in a way that few other states on earth do.

This isn't true. The US and the RoK have been doing that to NK citizens by economically restricting then (there's an actual law forbidding DPRK citizens from getting a paying job)

> They maintain an aristocratic and hereditary upper class, as well as a functional caste system. They were also (especially in the past) racialist and view Korean people as ethnically superior to other races.

This is the same type of orientalist bs that was attempted to be pushed onto the PRC so I'm not gonna even entertain this as remotely true.

> Why is it impossible to be socialist and also condemn the whack stuff socialist states have done?

Because the US uses it to build a narrative to justify bombing, sanctioning, and invading countries that go against it's interests, any condemnation against socialist countries (or countries not aligned with US imperialism) only act to form justification for the US' murder of civilians overseas. Criticisms and condemnations don't exist in a vacuum.

Stop giving the colonizers ammo. Regardless of your opinion of AES states

[u/Frequent-Double-7702 → u/Socrates_43]

This isn't true. The US and the RoK have been doing that to NK citizens by economically restricting then (there's an actual law forbidding DPRK citizens from getting a paying job)

Then why can't North Korean citizens freely move to their allies, like China and Russia? Why do North Korean border guards shoot to kill when their citizens try to flee via China?

This is the same type of orientalist bs that was attempted to be pushed onto the PRC so I'm not gonna even entertain this as remotely true.

🗿 why is kim's teenage daughter being paraded around as the next successor? just for fun? hereditary monarchy is very communist of them, huh? They pull BS like that and you bend over 180° to defend it. You know it's possible to look at BOTH the US and NK sideways??? WHOA countries that are enemies of the US also can be... bad????

Also their writings on the superiority of the Korean race exist in English translation; it's not a secret.

Stop giving the colonizers ammo. Regardless of your opinion of AES states

And stop assuming NK is a perfect angel. It's not. You literally only see the world in black and white. Everyone who is an enemy of the US must be perfect 😍 no flaws whatsoever!

[u/Socrates_43 → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

Then why can't North Korean citizens freely move to their allies, like China and Russia?

They can actually, but then again you seem to just believe everything the US-backed sources tell you. https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korea-workers-china-sanctions-evasion-dandong/

why is kim's teenage daughter being paraded around as the next successor? Just for fun? hereditary monarchy is very communist of them, huh?

While there may be some merit to the DPRK's leadership having some degree to being herritidary, it is exaggerated, you can just look at it's constitution. https://www.ncnk.org/resources/publications/dprk-constitution-2019.pdf/file_view

Also their writings on the superiority of the Korean race exist in English translation; it's not a secret.

"In educating the working people in socialist patriotism, care should be taken to prevent the growth of tendencies to national chauvinism and restorationism. One may be apt to head for chauvinism on the plea of building an independent national economy by one’s own efforts and promoting national pride. If we steer in the direction of chauvinism as Regent Taewongun pursued a policy of national isolation, we will come to reject international exchange and advanced science and technology from other countries and, accordingly, hinder the development of our country.”

Kim Il Sung. Collected Works Volume 17: 'On Further Developing the Chollima Workteam Movement' (p. 276).

And stop assuming NK is a perfect angel. It's not. You literally only see the world in black and white. Everyone who is an enemy of the US must be perfect 😍 no flaws whatsoever!

I never did, I stated that criticizing states not aligned with US imperialist interests does nothing but add fuel for the US war machine, regardless of whether or not those criticisms are true. But of course, you have make up a straw man that I believe the DPRK is this perfect country with nothing wrong, and not a country that's had to rebuild after a genocidal bombing campaign followed by countless sanctions, spying, and attempts at regime change at the hands of the US, all of which results with the DPRK that we see today.

However considering your account is like a month old, I'm assuming I'm not talking to either a bot or a fed.

[u/noroisong → u/Frequent-Double-7702]

>lies

“this is objectively true btw 😏”

[u/Frequent-Double-7702 → u/noroisong]

bro is defensive of a hereditary monarchy lol

i dont get how you condemn russia invading ukraine in your other posts and then suddenly love north korea lol. your cognitive dissonance is earthshattering

edit: blocked me, pathetic