Michael Malice, New York City based Ghostwriter and expert on North Korea, discusses the reality of the hermit kingdom and its attitudes towards the West.
Watching those is eye opening. Conflicts and scandals just decades old that have been all but forgotten in the mainstream. Detailed analysis on now gone leaders, political groups, countries. It doesn't seem in hindsight that things have changed much, but just a few years change so much.
I appreciate anyone who educates the west to the horrific things that are happening in places like North Korea. Its inconceivable to most people in the Western world
I had to look up John Bersia. He was an expert on foreign affairs, taught at UCF and Rollins and won a Pulitzer writing for the Orlando Sentinel and passed away in 2019
@@krotchlickmeugh627 fairly sure yes. How many people do you know who got scooped up in the middle of the night for no reason, and thrown in jail along with their families to work to death?
@@plmokm33 You can end up in a type of prison in the USA for just being accused of something and not having enough money for bail. There is also a guy in British Columbia doing jail time because he insisted on calling his trans child his "daughter" (the school decided to give them hormones and "counselling" without telling him.)
Interesting that he says north koreans don't think they can win a war with the US, many north korean military defectors have said many times that they're taught that they CAN win. I wonder if he just meant the leaders..?
What leaders think and the mass do are two different things. It's their "noble lie" - in the west the lie is that voting makes a huge difference even though different parties introduce the same policies
Apparently North Korea got the lion's share of Korea's beautiful scenery, especially up near the Chinese border, and because of the nature of the place most of it hasn't been wrecked.
Would you like to talk about NK with a bit more history and context? What almost all defectors (except those in high positions of power) know is what they saw in their village only. And because there is so much change what they experienced many years ago is nothing like it is now. And there is so much 2nd 3rd 4th hand information and a lot of it from clouded memory it is hard to know what is the truth. So everything should be taken with a grain of salt. First consider that a dictator that fought and killed his way to be a dictator (Kim Ilsung the grandfather and founder of North Korea and many dictators in the past) is very different than being told by your father that you are to be a dictator whether you want to or not or face the likelihood to get assassinated by someone else who would take over and see you as a threat. So many treat the 3 Kims as if they are the same. Kim Il-Sung was in China wanting to free Korea from Japanese occupation. He was willing to risk his life to unify Korea. The ultimate patriot? Kim Jong Eun's priorities (and Kim Jong-Il) are very different. Everything changed in NK starting 1994. But nothing has changed since 1994 in terms of how NK is viewed by western media and the US government. Why? There is a reason. Is there any evidence that shows Kim JE would risk his life to attack the South or US to gain what? Knowing he will be the target of US and UN and China? He knows exactly what happened to Saddam after he invaded Kuwait. Below are important dates that most people don't take into account when commenting about North Korea: Kim Il-sung (1945 to 1994) NK Founder (Great Leader) Kim Jong-Il (1995 to 2011) NK Chairman (Dear Leader) Kim Yeongsam (1993 to 1997) SK President Clinton (1992~2000) US President and Pro NK Kim Daejung (1998 to 2003) SK President and Pro NK Madeline Albright visit to NK (October 2000) George W Bush (2001 to 2008) US President and Anti NK Axis of Evil Speech (Jan 29, 2002) Iraq Invasion by USA (Mar 20, 2003) Roh Moohyun (2003 to 2007) SK President and Pro NK Peace Declaration by Kim Jong-Il and Roh Moohyun (Oct 2, 2007) Obama (2009 to 1016) US President MB Lee (2008 to 2012) SK President and Anti NK Kim Jong-Eun (2012 to Present) NK Chairman Park GH (2013 to 2016) SK President and Anti NK Moon Jaein (2017 to Present) SK President and Pro NK Trump (2017 to 2020) US President and Pro NK Panmunjum Peace Declaration by Kim JE and Moon (April 27, 2018) Joe Biden (2021 to present) US President and Anti NK Kim Jong-Il had no clue what to do. But eventually he transformed NK into autocratic one party system of generals and advisors. Different from how Kim Ilsung had ruled. Kim JI had no romance about uniting the two Koreas at risk of his life and Kim JE is in the same boat. There are three options for Kim JE. 1. One is to maintain the military and avoid internal collapse and remain in isolation. Certainly harder and harder but they have done it for 60+ years. Most likely they can keep going on and on because China wouldn't let NK collapse. 2. The other would be to achieve peace and go in the direction similar to China and Vietnam. Government controlled capitalism. 3. Third would be to agree for unification if he can get security guarantees for his life. Kim JE was schooled in Switzerland. He tasted freedom. When he visted Singapore to meet Trump he visited tourist spots. Kim wants to be recognized as a world leader. Of course he is viewed as a war criminal and is afraid to be sentenced to prison if he gave up power. Kim knows exactly what happened to Gaddafi si he will never give up the nukes. After 1994, Kim Jong-Il pushed for friendly path with Kim DJ from 1998 to 2002. Kim DJ was first SK president to visit North Korea (June 2000) and recipient of the Nobel prize in 2000. Madeline Albright was in North Korea shaking hands with KimJong Il talking about peace in October of 2000. The steps were taking place for a peace treaty and end to the massive suffering of NK people was near. Up to this point there was no nuclear arsenal in NK and NK had allowed UN inspectors. But 2001 changed all that. With 9/11 attack in 2001, Bush suddenly announced Axis of Evil (Iraq, Iran, NK) on January of 2002 in his SOTU speech. With such a serious threat of military force from the USA even if both Kim Daejung of SK and Kim Jongil of NK wanted to push for peace, the threat of US military made it very difficult. Kim knew he could not get immunity under such conditions. What would have happened if either Clinton was able to achieve a peace treaty before his term ended or if Bush did not include North Korea in his Axil of Evil speech. Achieving peace requires insight and courage. With all the progress including Madeline Albright's visit to North Korea in 2000 why did they include North Korea as Axis of Evil? If Bush had overrode the generals and advisors Bush could very well have had a peace treaty or end of war declaration with progress to peace with DJ Kim and Kim Jong Il supporting him all the way. We would be talking about a peace treaty just like we are today but 20 years ago. Can you imagine how much improved the lives of millions of North Koreans would be in those 20 years and how much lives would be improved in South Korea? For 8 years of Bush, US demanded that all 6 nations be on the table before any conversation can take place. Anyone with brains can know a policy of 6 party talks meant a policy of derailing any peace talks for other hidden agendas. Also it did not help that Roh was a weak president. He won the hearts of many for being morally on the right side of history but he could not pass initiatives let alone do things that would anger the US officials or sway the minds of South Koreans. But before the end of his presidency in 2007, Roh was able to hold a summit with Kim Jongil to declare a path to peace. Almost verbatim to the one Kim Jong Eun had last year with Moon. To continue on from where peace talks were left off 11 years prior. With Obama in 2009, Kim Jongil had another chance for peace but SK elected MB Lee in 2008 who was anti NK. It would have taken strong Obama actions to convince Lee and South Koreans to choose path to peace. But Obama was not a peace maker. And Park GH became SK president next who was also anti NK and a very weak president. Thus we come to 2017. With a very pro north Moon Jaein as president, Kim Jong Eun had a new opportunity to push for peace and immunity. 60 years of sanctions never worked while NK was focused on regime survival. Who does the same thing every year 60 years knowing it never worked for 60years. It is proof the whole North Korea plan in Washington was a farce. But now that Kim is looking for economic expansion, sanctions now matter. You can know Kim is on a path to economic expansion and not just regime survival based on all the news reportings of whats going on in NK and all the changes occurring. Of the many examples all of the hundreds of important building in North Korea that had slogan writings of "Down with evil America!" they all changed to "We can create economic miracles!". And North Korea is no dummy. They know US cannot attack NK. They know there are over 10,000 American living in and around Seoul. Any attack on NK would risk massive artillery fire raining on Seoul. Also US trades something in the order of $200B annually with South Korea. SK does $400B with China. Massive stock market crash and massive job losses would result from a US attack. The idea that North Korea need nukes to protect from a US attack is plain wrong. These are also reasons why NK is not a threat to SK. With latest satellite technology there is no chance for surprise attack. A NK threat is only fear mongering. Moon met Kim in historic visits to NK. But he over played his cards and promised too much to Kim. US military is dead against taking any chances at peace. The US wont remove sanctions and Kim will not give up his nukes. There is only one optiin. And that is for US to butt out. SK is no dummy. SK does not need US mitary stationed in Korea. To.protect from what. What plausible scenario woukd a NK attack and occupation that lasts be possible? And what is missing from all the public discourse is what kind of sanction relief require UN member agreement and which sanction relief requires US congressional votes and which relief can be done with presidential executive order. Family reunions and Gaeseong factory investments and tours into North Korea (which was all happening in full swing up to 2000) should be allowed again. Benefits of Peace on the Korean peninsula is huge. 1. Korean young Men no longer forced to military duty for 18~24 months. This will greatly help Korea transtion to the creative economy so desperately needed and so elusive for many developing nations. 2. Living standards of North Koreans would greatly increase relatively fast. 3. North Korean women living as slaves in China can begin to find ways to be free. 4. Families can meet for first time in 68 years. 5. Companies like Hyundai and Samsung would greatly invest in NK. 6. If done right massive tourism dollars would help North Korea. 7. Military spending can drastically get reduced on both sides in favor of domestic services. Unification should not be the goal. Not at first. The first step is end of war declaration. After that more tours and businesses and then a peace trwaty. No dictator nation no communist nation no authoritarian nation has survived more than 50 years. Look at Soviet Union. Look at East Germany Look at China Look at Vietnam Look at Cuba
And what people dont realize is most defectors speaking in public have left NK many many years ago. So much has changef in 5 years 10 years. And what they know is only of the village life they lived in. Most nevet been to Pyeong Yang and do not know how the power structure keeps changing each year. What Yeonmi talks about is what is already known in public to non North Koreans and add some exaggerations and cherry picking to get clicks. A real NK expert will tell you it is hard to know what is going on now. I know a NK defector who defected 5 years ago who worked over a dozen different jobs in her village before age 20 and had saved enough money to buy a small house for herself as mother left NK when she was young and father and grandmother died. Does that sound like the insect eating famine poverty Yeonmi talks about? What everyone has to decide is do you want to punish Kim at the expense of North Koreans living in petpetual horror. Or let Kim go so North Koreans can know freedom.
"Human beings are members of a whole, in creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot retain." - Sadi, 1258
It occurred to me in this discussion, that communist states should be made up of people who want to live in them, people with the right temperament and psychology to appreciate them. That would entail getting all socialists to ship out to an existing Communist country and leave the country they have moved from to immigrants who want to live in a capitalist free market economy.
Ah, that bizarre American idea, that if you don't like it, move somewhere else... Which is in itself incompatible with democracy, and is in fact a folk memory of why their ancestors ended up in the most remote continent in the northern hemisphere.
There also aren't any countries which are either genuinely free market or genuinely Communist... And in any Communist revolution, after the bourgeoisie is mostly liquidated, they tend to go after the original revolutionaries themselves, because the state demands compliance and doesn't need troublemakers anymore.
Isolated on the world stage? In reality their leaders attend the Dανοѕ meetings EVERY year. This is where the Northern and Southern leadership met for the first time, but it was all behind closed doors with no press...
Interesting what he says about women being irreverent. Reminds me of my own mother and how she speaks of the defunct Socialist governments of Poland and Russia.
I'm seeing a lot of hate on the dems here. They don't want this. To say that is to ignore everything you know about your neighbors and friends that vote differently. We're in this together ya'll, and the truth is neither the democrat and Republican parties have the peoples best interest in mind.
"Can't hide the decay" - well, it's like nearly every western city in that respect. Probably less litter, dog muck and graffiti though (which would land you in one of their re-education camps.)
