I don't mean to shock you but... North Koreans can't travel anywhere.
Am I missing something ?
North Koreans with passports can travel to 12 countries visa-free, including Suriname and Guyana
North Koreans with passports
Really though how many people is that? Like 20 or 30?
Which entirely consists of the espionage dept
Don't forget the espionage dept espionage dept.
And is this common, traveling abroad to these places?
Probably not available to everyone
of course they can, to the countries that have diplomatic relations with them, but not many countries, of course.
Fun fact:
As of 2024, Malaysia is the only country in Southeast Asia that does not maintain diplomatic relations with North Korea.
If Kim Jong-Nam assassination rings a bell...
They were saying that the limiting factor might not be whether other countries allow them in but rather if their own country allows them to leave.
Not that anyone would want to leave the glorious workers' paradise to begin with.
Yes, we can safely assume that those who leave NK are somehow working for the government either officially or unofficially and thoroughly vetted to ensure that they will come back to their glorious country.
Often monitored to the extent that they're under house arrest in some cases, such as those who work in the Pyongyang restaurant chain. The waitresses can go out with minders, but must be 'home' in the evenings. Some South Korean businessmen have visited and managed to get a few of them out before.
I don't remember what countries, but I know there are North Korean restaurants in other countries. With actual North Korean women working there, having to live on premises and be vetted for political loyalty while essentially being under surveillance.
Looked it up and Wikipedia was saying they're all essentially fronts for laundering foreign currency to send back home. Other sites have been saying that these restaurants have been closing since the pandemic.
Didn't help they kidnapped people from Japan.
Then lied about the kidnappings.
Then lied about them being dead.
Then lied about them being alive.
Then lied about their ashes.
Then lied about them being dead
Then lied about them being alive.
Well they might have been right at some point, let's give them the benefit of the doubt...
what if, both times, they were wrong at that particular point in time?
Not just Japan. When they need language teachers and translators, they just dock their subs close to the beach of the country, and kidnap anyone they found there.
NGL that sounds like propaganda, and not reality.
Honestly, not the same thing. Atrocious, but not indescriminant submarine based abductions from far away lands for the language skills.
You said it sounds like propaganda. I gave you an example of what they did (verifiably) which is not.
I understand what occurred, I was right here. It DOES sound like propaganda, and it never happened. Did NK kidnap public figures from its immediate neighbor? Yea!
Is that neighbor part of the same hundreds of years old country that was split apart 30 years before this? Also yea!
Does any of this have anything to do with NK rolling up on a beach via a submarine and kidnapping people to teach language classes? No! That's ridiculous, and providing a link that shows that NK did in fact kidnap VERY SPECIFIC people, when someone else is suggesting this is happening near indiscriminately is basically lying.
Jesus, I sound like an NK apologist. Fuck NK, and fuck any govt that does the things nk does, but making up bullshit and exaggerating beyond reason in order to frame NK as somehow even worse than it is, is by definition propaganda.
Edit: as pointed out by OP, NK did in fact kidnap civilians from Japan for the purposes of teaching foreign languages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_abductions_of_Japanese_citizens
Here is a Wiki link which mentions that Japanese people were abducted for translation reasons.
Doesn't seem so ridiculous now.
Yes, you sound like that.
I stand sorta corrected, I guess...
Maybe worth noting propaganda and the truth aren't mutually exclusive. Propaganda can and often is true; falsehood isn't what makes it propaganda
Not just Japan. When they need language teachers and translators, they just dock their subs close to the beach of the country, and kidnap anyone they found there.
This is the comment I'm posting about.
That Sounds Like Propaganda
Let me further clarify: That sounds like a talking point pushed by someone who has a vested interest in convincing people that somehow NK is even worse than it actually is that has been picked up and repeated until it's taken as fact. It does not matter how factual it actually is.
And you know what, nobody needs to worry about being kidnapped by North Koreans in submarines.
Get some reading comprehension.
It does not matter how factual it actually is.
Digging in... Well okay.
It does sound like that. Exaggerated for sure, however it's not that far from reality although to a lesser extend during 70's, if I am not mistaken.
Op posted a link to the kidnapping incident you're likely referring to in thread. Pretty interesting. Terrifying too.
More like a joke
It could be a joke, sure. Lots of propaganda appears to be. Watch loony toons about the war in the Pacific during the 40s. Being a joke doesn't make it not propaganda.
Reminds me of a story about how they kidnapped a movie director to make films for them. I don't remember the details though.
Lmao they forced the guy to direct wish.com Godzilla
The Dollop podcast did a thorough job covering this one. Definitely worth a listen
Okay but I can't speak North Korean so I'm going to be pretty bad language teacher, I'm not sure how that's supposed to work.
P sure they cant go anywhere
There's a lot of North Korean people in China. From what I heard, it's not for having a good time
Are you referring to dead bodies in the Gobi desert?
I was referring to the effective slave labour in Chinese factories
Wow I didn’t know that at all!
This is not new
I didn't say it was new, but it's new to me.
This sub is "Today I Learned", not "Today You Learned." OP just learned about it and wanted to discuss with other people. Seems reasonable.
And, indeed, though I knew most of this, I've still found some of the discussion interesting. What, then, is your problem? No one is forcing you to visit the thread at all.
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