ITT I answer your North Korea questions
 

or try to. but I get the feeling a lot of western media gets a lot of shit wrong about North Korea, especially as it pertains to South Korea and America etc. I've been leisurely learning about NK for the last few years, but in the last few months I've gone balls-deep. So if you got some questions, HIT ME.

What's the likelihood of the Americas going to war with NK? I have a bet going...

hard to say, but overall unlikely imo. South Koreans and Japanese people don't want war - Japan's PM has talked tough on ramping up Japan's self-defense force and reinstating an official military again, but the most of the population doesn't want war (and that matters in a democracy). those are the two most important allies in the region. For all of Trump's bluster, there's really not much in it for America except for preemptive security, but it's very unlikely North Korea actually wants to go to war with America. It's political gamesmanship at this point. dangerous, and not altogether impossible for things to escalate, but if I were a betting man I'd say conflict will be avoided unless Kim Jong Un gets squeezed from within NK.

That's what I said just not as smart of an answer, I said there's no way the Americas go to war....few of my people think its going to happen soon though...

well, there are some red flags that are unprecedented. Russia has pulled back citizens who were living close to the NK border, while China has packed soldiers on their border. The powers that be smell blood in the water.

That being said, China still wants a steady NK for geopolitical reasons, even though Xi and Kim don't like or trust each other. China did say it wouldn't intervene if NK attacked first, implicitly saying that it will intervene if US attacks first. There are enough smart people around Trump to recognize the wages of that kind of situation.

The biggest X factor to me is if KJU feels mutiny within the ranks and sees an attack - or something close enough to it - as a way to preserve his regime. still don't think he'd do it, but it's a distinct possibility.

Are the North Korean people as oppressed and brainwashed as the media would have you believe?

No.

We assign the oppression based on the social and cultural values of our own society. Granted when someone does escape its because of the more totalitarian extremism of the NK government, like putting your fam in a prison camp for a perceived slight against the great leader

but the vast majority of north koreans who lead their "normal" lives within the regime are fine.

but its mainly because its what they know

the problems i see is america being involved at all. we shouldve let the commies take it, so we wouldn't have to station tens of thousands of troops there waiting for the match to hit the gasoline, because most americans are too dumb to realize we are still at war with them. the korean war never ended, its a glorified ceasefire

we fucking bombed them to shit. pretty sure i read it was basically a carthaginian strategy, if any two stones are standing, any buildings basically whatever, bomb it to oblivion. when we ran out of targets we bombed the fields and anything of ANY strategic value.

their hatred is warranted. and the world/america deserves the situation we are in today.

as far as how to handle it? who knows. i'm in favor of actual peace talks, but we still can't pull out of the peninsula because as soon as its deemed possible north korea will try to take over south korea and vice versa

there is no 2 state solution. they both want it all or nothing

but thats my limited knowledge of it.

oats expand on it and fill out any ignorances hermano

brainwashed absolutely. by all accounts - defectors, humanitarian/aid workers, foreign educators - the propaganda apparatus is significant and comprehensive. information does sneak into the country, but most defectors still experience a great deal of shock regarding the living conditions of North Korea compared to other countries in the world (in NK, a lot of citizens think they are living better off than South Korea, Japan, China, etc).

oppression is a little more complicated. on the one hand, there is very little individual freedom, and neighbors spy on each other etc. people have been carted off for cracking jokes while drunk, things like that. the types of things you can be sent to labor camps for would be appalling in the west, things like questioning the government, traveling without state permission, or renting out your home (anything capitalist is considered an economic crime). but markets are becoming more common and less punished, which is a positive sign. in general, lower class/non party members have it worse, while those allowed to live in Pyongyang tend to have a more-or-less comfortable quality of life - though they live in a more suffocating and paranoid social atmosphere.

people are oppressed, especially by our standards, but we tend to think of them living in the gulags, or during floods/famines (a la the mid 90s), and that's not accurate. they trade with more countries than they used to, so as long as their isn't a big environmental shock most people are provided ample food, schooling, and work. mostly their legal system is punitive and crushing, and the irony is that in times of surplus the machine runs better, so individual freedoms are more restricted, whereas during times of famine, everything goes to shit so gov agents care more about surviving than they do about enforcing laws, thus freeing up the people in some respects.

@uh-oh you're basically on point. there is a significant segment of the south that would prefer two separate states with an official peace treaty, but even if that were to happen, good chance down the road it would lead to reunification. NK (and China/Russia) ultimately wants to reunite the peninsula under their regime, whereas feelings are a bit more mixed regarding unification in the south, but for the pro-unification crowd (which is the majority) they'd obviously want it on SK's terms.

How often doee kju listen to kary perrys fireworks

impossible to know, but experts have suggested he has moved on and now listens to "Swish Swish Bish" at least once per day.

What are some dope Korean horror flicks? I watched one a couple days ago about soldiers and ghosts. It was outstanding. I need more references.

Train To Busan is a recent one that is really good. You can find it on Netflix.

Yeah I seen it multiple times before it hit Netflix. Awesome zombie flick. One of the best I've seen a while.

I've seen The Wailing, The Host, and 2 war themed horror flicks along with Train To Busan. All were great.

Dammit, hes always one step ahead

Korean pizza a thing? Any good?

I have a picture of a bunch of titles, let's see if this works.

aaaand it didn't.

horror movies according to the list, though:
A Tale of Two Sisters
Dead Friend
Wishing Stairs
Three Extremes


can't say I've seen any of these, but the movie Old Boy is dope.

Korean pizza is wack imo. they put shit like corn and sweet potato on it as part of the crust, and they'll also top it off with shit like mayo drizzle. it's weird. but there are some solid pizza joints in Seoul.

I've looked into those but they fall in the "pale asian chick with long black hair" category that the Japanese made popular with The Grudge and The Ring. Not big on those. Old boy was dope. I'm looking for military themed ghost stories atm, but anything except for what I mentioned above.