News Stories

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

Also how tourists cannot travel outside of Pyongyang, and can only travel with a guide, like they're children or dogs. They're obviously hiding something terrible that goes on beyond the capital's borders.

It depends. One can get around quite well if the right things are done.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

It depends. One can get around quite well if the right things are done.

If you want to get shot or deported, sure. Or put in a labor camp for life if they really don't like you.

There's no way you're getting out of Pyongyang without a chokeholding tour guide if you're not a North Korean citizen or Malaysian. Or one of the very few Chinese and Japanese expats left there (only because North Korea wants them to GTFO).

[Sumeragi]

Yeah yeah, I suppose those who have been in DPRK can say a bit more than those who haven't.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Yeah yeah, I suppose those who have been in DPRK can say a bit more than those who haven't.

You have been to NK outside of Pyongyang without a guide? When?

[ganbaru]

Army says political tussle taking Egypt to brink
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90N1E620130129

Egyptian protesters defy curfew, attack police stations
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90N1E620130128

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

You have been to NK outside of Pyongyang without a guide? When?

More than four years ago, when I still had Japanese nationality. Of course I had a guide, but it wasn't the strict "You can only go that way" type of guide, since I had some help from the Chongryon.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

More than four years ago, when I still had Japanese nationality. Of course I had a guide, but it wasn't the strict "You can only go that way" type of guide, since I had some help from the Chongryon.

But you weren't going to the countryside and drinking it up with the farmers, were you? That was my original point, very little freedom.

[Sumeragi]

I was. Of course it was in the more affluent regions (the Hwanghaes and South Pyongan), but I was given quite a bit of freedom to move around.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

I was. Of course it was in the more affluent regions (the Hwanghaes and South Pyongan), but I was given quite a bit of freedom to move around.

That's sweet.

But still, it's like you're a kid, the way they treat you.

[Sumeragi]

*Sigh*

Have you been to DPRK, or are you basing your comments on what you've heard/read?

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by ogon_bat

I bet this is a propagandist exaggeration from Washington, what father would kill his own kids? On the other hand, the kids of other families no doubt are fair game for the next hot pot.

There might be exaggeration to stories like that, but North Korea is still looks to be suffering from the long term effects of malnutrition.

North Korea has reduced the minimum height requirement for military conscripts because the current generation facing call-up was stunted by a deadly 1990s famine, a new report says.
Daily NK, a Seoul-based online newspaper run by North Korean defectors, said the military has cut the minimum height to 142 centimetres from 145 cm.
All able-bodied North Korean males aged 16-17 must begin mandatory service that lasts about a decade. Women deemed fit must also serve for a shorter period in the 1.2 million-strong military, the world’s fourth largest.
“There were too many short boys who don’t meet the previous height requirement… so the military is now accepting all who are taller than 142 cm,” said a North Korean source quoted by Daily NK.
The average height for South Korean boys of the same age is about 172 cm.
North Korean boys facing conscription this year were born in the mid-1990s – at the height of the famine that devastated the impoverished communist state and killed hundreds of thousands.
Child mortality during this period was high and the fertility rate low, causing an acute shortage of new conscripts, said the source.
“North Koreans say the country’s new generation is shrinking in size,” said the source, adding the army was still struggling to find enough new troops even after relaxing the physical requirements.

To put that in perspective, 142 centimeters is 4 feet and 7.91 inches. Considering that North and South Koreans share the same genetics, this kind of drastic difference is rather shocking and gives an idea that this is quite a systematic and long term problem.

[willx]

Related: Google Unveils Detailed Map of North Korea

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...rea/index.html

[Xellos-_^]

As of Saturday, it became illegal to unlock your cell phone. That means, even if you own it outright, you can't alter the device to make it to work on another carrier without risking a fine.
Why shouldn't you be able to do whatever you want with your own property? Because cell phone companies want to sell more phones, and the Library of Congress rolled over for them.
That's not how the industry puts it, of course, but it is the truth.
The broadly written Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 made it illegal to create devices or services that allowed people to sidestep technology protecting copyrighted works. It was mainly geared toward digital rights management tools of the day that prevented you from making multiple copies of downloaded songs or DVDs.
But the Library of Congress, tasked with carving out exceptions every few years under the law, has excluded unlocking cell phones several times because, well, it has nothing to do with copyrighted works!
Nevertheless, under pressure from carriers and the CTIA-The Wireless Association trade group, the Library of Congress switched its stance and agreed to eliminate that exemption in October. The change went into effect Saturday.



http://www.sfgate.com/technology/dot...es-4229779.php

I welcome our Corporate Overlords.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

*Sigh*

Have you been to DPRK, or are you basing your comments on what you've heard/read?

I obviously know very little about the current internal state of North Korea, but how am I to interpret this? Are you defending them, or trying to say things aren't as bad as they're portrayed? What is your takeaway from visiting, exactly?

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

I obviously know very little about the current internal state of North Korea, but how am I to interpret this? Are you defending them, or trying to say things aren't as bad as they're portrayed? What is your takeaway from visiting, exactly?

Pretty sure she is just talking about going to North Korea and its guide, that it is not as restrictive as some would like to believe.

I am curious though if your restriction depends on nationality. Vice had interesting documentary about their visit to North Korea, from the documentary there seems to be lot of limitation. Of course their visit was done rather hastily, but you would think that an American would have tougher time touring the region.

[ogon_bat]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

I welcome our Corporate Overlords.

The real question here would be, I have an unlocked Android phone (didn't have to unlock it, it came directly from China with no strings attached), if I ever have to reside for some time in the USA and activate my phone (it has two SIM slots) with a local company, do I get automatically to pay a fine? Or "better" still, if my actual phone company has a branch office in the USA, does the moment I have to go (or pass thru) said country, does the immigration officers will be waiting for me to pay a fine? It has been known they already check your smartphone, so it would be an extension of what their daily routine.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

I obviously know very little about the current internal state of North Korea, but how am I to interpret this? Are you defending them, or trying to say things aren't as bad as they're portrayed? What is your takeaway from visiting, exactly?

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Pretty sure she is just talking about going to North Korea and its guide, that it is not as restrictive as some would like to believe.

I am curious though if your restriction depends on nationality. Vice had interesting documentary about their visit to North Korea, from the documentary there seems to be lot of limitation. Of course their visit was done rather hastily, but you would think that an American would have tougher time touring the region.

Basically, there is no strict guideline or standard as to how a visit to DPRK will go. If you happen to have a lot of connections (for example, until a few years ago Chongryon was probably the best window), you can get relatively much more freedom than otherwise. At the same time, the current political atmosphere matters, since currently the consolidation of Kim Jong Un's power means one is unlikely to have that much room to be free.

[ganbaru]

Senate votes to confirm Kerry as secretary of state
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90S0O020130129

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Basically, there is no strict guideline or standard as to how a visit to DPRK will go. If you happen to have a lot of connections (for example, until a few years ago Chongryon was probably the best window), you can get relatively much more freedom than otherwise. At the same time, the current political atmosphere matters, since currently the consolidation of Kim Jong Un's power means one is unlikely to have that much room to be free.

I'd never heard of Chongryon until you mentioned it, but given what I've read about it, that's probably the best way one could establish said connections from the outside. I do imagine an American would find this very difficult. I also wonder what you saw from within the closed gates? I'm assuming no one was trying to carve up a nice cut of meat from your arm.

[Kyuu]

I will only say one thing:

This is f-ed up. And it was most unfortunate.