JT Singh :: Enter Pyongyang
by Volker Weber
Comments
This is the North Korea they want us to see - the one city there that has well fed people, electricity and looks like it's part of the first world. I've read enough about North Korea to know that this is extremely manipulative. On the other hand, creatively, it's a well done short film.
Don't all these films show us beauty?
North Korea is such a horrible place though and what you're seeing is manufactured and not even real life. I saw some more info about this and this was shot by tourists who were approved by the gov't & accompanied by "guides". This becomes an ad that gives folks the impression that this is really what North Korea is like & it's a farce. I've seen pictures smuggled out that show the roads of Pyongyang totally empty because folks can't afford cars, there isn't public transportation and (even though it showed a UPS or something truck in this video), there isn't many/any? Commercial traffic. A quick search will show you how much people are suffering there & show how unreal this video is.
I'm dismayed because it's such a misleading picture of what North Korea is - I know that all tourist pix & ads are, but the way people are forced to live there & the misinformation they're given because there's virtually no communication with the outside world is horrific. I don't want anyone to have the impression it's just like here.
I agree with you that North Korea's society is nothing we could live in.
I've been following your blog for a long time and I like all most your posts about phones, Sonos, mobile devices in general. While you do hint at security risks or holes in the IT world... What strikes me is the lack of any posts about Eduard Snowden, the NSA, or the broader political implications of (mobile) IT-enabled espionage.
So I welcome your post about North Korea, as apolitical as it might seem at first glance, as an entry to these topics that I hope do interest a lot of your other followers :-)
About the film: I get goose bumps seeing all these well behaved humans. I can't help but ask myself: Where is big brother, watching them all, controlling them all? The only few seconds of life (even with colorful clothing and adidas track pants and all) are the kids playing with their skate boards.
And, being from Munich, I envy the North Koreans their empty roads ;-)
Friedrich, there are plenty of posts in this world about Snowden, the NSA, espionage, etc. I don't think I can add any insights. And frankly, I don't know a thing about espionage.
