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"Pyongyang’s once-empty streets are now jammed with vehicles that aren’t supposed to be there"
(hexbear.net)
https://xcancel.com/Reuters/status/2054098106136813829
Cars in North Korea??? That's not supposed to happen. It's ruining our narratives about them having dead rats for dinner. 
DPRK citizens now have access to superior Chinese EVs that amerikkkans can't have. 
Did the Soviets have influence? Yes. Were they "occupiers?" No. Nobody is arguing that the soviets did not have any influence whatsoever, and it seems we are both getting caught up in the difference between "occupation" and "influence." This difference is perhaps most stark in your insistence that the Soviets and the US Empire both were guilty of European chauvanism, when it's abundantly clear both in theory and in practice that the US Empire was (and is) an actively imperialist country while the soviets treated the National question extremely seriously, and fought to abolish colonialism. This is why the north and the south had such different levels of autonomy.
I would agree that we're both caught up in the difference between occupier and influence. However, I think it's an important distinction. My argument hinges on the fact that both the US and the Soviets decided to occupy the peninsula during the Moscow conference despite the pleas from the representatives elected by the people of korea.
Now I do think there is a distinction between the two countries behavior in that an occupation is by definition a temporary status. The Soviets occupied North Korea for less than five years while the US have defacto colonized South Korea.
I wouldn't claim that the Soviet union colonized, annexed, or even invaded North Korea. However, I do think they occupied a country that did not want to have their independence stripped away via initiating a trusteeship with another great power.
When we compare the aims and actions of both countries, it's clear that the Soviets genuinely wished to help establish a state for the Korean people, and that they did not intend for the division to be permanent. The US Empire in fact was the one to split the peninsula. As you said, the Soviets were active for less than 5 years in the north (beyond the eventual trade and fraternal relations). Occupation to me implies that they were unwanted and staying anyways, neither of which are true for the soviets while both are for the US Empire.
I think it's reasonable to critique the level of influence the Soviets had, but such a critique cannot be made to equate the role played by both the Soviets and the Statesians. They had entirely different methods, aims, and actions. In reducing both to "occupiers," you make it seem that the Soviets too wished to establish a colony, when this has proven false. In fact, it was the Soviet Union that insisted that the trusteeship be short, and it remains true that the Soviets upheld their commitment to aiding the establishment of a Korean state by and for Koreans.
To simplify this to the same western chauvanism that the US employed in colonizing the ROK minimizes the gulf between how the two countries treated Korea.
I would heartily agree.
I don't think splitting the state was their original intention, nor that they were solely or even mostly responsible for doing so. However, I think it's ahistorical to claim that they did not participate in the actual splitting of a nation.
They did institute a trusteeship which they were expressly asked not too by the elected representatives of Korea.
At no point have I equated the roles played by the Soviets and the US, and have in fact claimed the opposite to be true in nearly every response.
There is a difference between an occupation and a colonization. I would categorize the US as more of a colonizer, as occupation force eventually leaves.
I don't think I ever attempted to conflate the two western countries to be equal in anyway. Just because they exhibited some similar characteristics such as western chauvinism in their decision to divide a nation between each other does not mean I think their motives or methods are the same. If anything I feel you are conflating any criticism of Soviet interaction with Korea as a tacit approval of US colonialism.
I understand your points and largely agree, my point is more that the way you framed it did make it seem like they were equivalent, which we came to a better understanding of your point through further dialogue. That's my point.
My apologies, that was never my intention. I would never want to equate the actions of the US government with the Soviet union in Korea. The two are systemically and undeniable on different scales of intentional and unintentional harm.
It's a difficult topic to speak about in general, as the vast majority of people criticizing North Korea are doing so in an uninformed or disingenuous way, but I do think that critical evaluation of the events can lead to fruitful discussions of revolution in the modern age. Especially in regards to leftist dialogue between the east and the west
Thanks for the chat, it's rare to have an informed dialogue with people about my motherland.
No problem!