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Article: What if we are wrong about North Korea?

dameonmac14

Well-known member
http://www.news.com.au/world-news/what-if-were-wrong-about-north-korea/story-fndir2ev-1226631780873
WE OFTEN hear North Korea is a deprived nation, 'the most repressed society on Earth'.
But what if that's just baloney?

Our stereotype of North Korea is totally inaccurate, says a top Australian scholar who knows the country better than most argues. It's the modern day version of "yellow peril" - the xenophobic fear of Asian culture

Professor Stewart Lone, from the Australian Defence Force Academy, spent months teaching English to North Korea's future leaders from 2010 to 2012. Now he has provided a rare and sometimes romantic account of life in North Korea in the book Pyongyang Lessons: North Korea From Inside The Classroom.

The country is much more advanced than many people believe, he writes. You can even pick up Kylie Minogue or David Beckham-branded perfume in the shops, despite the fact barely anyone knows who they are. Tom and Jerry is on TV, mobile phones and foreign cars are popular in Pyongyang. And in his view, the people certainly aren't scared or deprived. "Having spent a good deal of time in the company of more than 400 North Korean teenagers, I dismiss the idea that everyone lives in fear and privation," Prof Lone told news.com.au. "I saw young people who were secure, contented and proud of their society."

"The stereotype of North Korea… is the contemporary version of 'the yellow peril' and follows many of its key features (irrationality, brutality, docility)".

North Koreans are so used to hardship that they may be better prepared than us with some of challenges of the future, Prof Lone writes.

Yeah...I would have put this in the humor section, except the author sounded completely serious.
 
North Koreans are so used to hardship that they may be better prepared than us with some of challenges of the future, Prof Lone writes.

This is the only accurate part of the article.

Besides, if everything is so rainbows and roses, then what possible hardships could he be talking about?
 
Professor Stewart Lone, from the Australian Defence Force Academy, spent months teaching English to North Korea's future leaders from 2010 to 2012. Now he has provided a rare and sometimes romantic account of life in North Korea in the book Pyongyang Lessons: North Korea From Inside The Classroom.
Of course he would say that if he's dedicated to teach North Koreans. Some people tell lies so much that even they believe them. I would dare him to go to North Korea, wipe his butt with a portrait of the leader, and then see if he still thinks the same way.
 
He also needs to understand that his entire stay was an orchestrated tour by the State. He saw what they wanted him to see.

On the other hand, all those escaped dissidents could just be lying. :roll:
 
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