First of all, I am from south Korea, not the DPRK.
RandFan said:
The problem is that I have to consider the sources.
Hello RandFan: Sources are a problem for me, too, and Amnesty International, US government, south Korean government, Japanese government do not seem to me to be reliable sources, when (in the case of the US and south Korean governments in particular) their intention is to black the images of 'communist states' (which the south Korean gov't sees as a real threat). I employ original, not second-hand, sources: namely those of self-described 'defectors', visitors, and citizens of country, because in proportion as DPR-Korea is, of necessity, a highly 'secretive' country, in that same proportion anyone concerned with the truth is necessarily impelled to limit his sources of information to those people who have in fact set foot upon the country; because all else, again, owing to certain realities endemic to northern Korea, is, at the very best, guesswork and speculation; at worst, and this has been demonstrated to be the case repeatedly, there is an obvious intention to blacken the image of DPR-Korea. This is not something I merely suspect, but something which has been repeatedly substantiated beyond peradventure of doubt; and even people who hate the DPRK should admit this truth.
of the three main types of sources I employ, first there are the defectors. I am most sceptical of them, in general, and you should be sceptical as well, because:
-Not a single 'defector' has ever produced any evidence that he was ever actually a citizen of the DPRK: no birth certificates, etc.
-Some so-called defectors have even
admitted fabricating evidence because journalists monetarily recompensed them for making up horrifying stories about the country.
-A considerable number of the defector-tales are distinguished by either internal inconsistencies and contradictions, or contradicy reports of other defectors; or are otherwise full of obvious absurdities. Moreover, some of their stories conflict with what we already undoubtedly
know about the DPRK.
-The borders are very tightly guarded along the entire border of the DPRK and especially along the Chinese side of the DPRK-Chinese border. It is unlikely, to say the least, that such a huge wave of defectors have not only 'escaped' the DPRK, but so easily into China, particularly. Add to this, supposedly they are escaping
en masse to China.
So, then we have amnesty international - an organisation founded in the heat of the Cold War to be used as a weapon in the psychological war against communism, funded by the CIA, founded by a European lawyer IIRC, very sino-phobic and with a definite anti-slavic bias - whose case against DPR-Korea is based largely upon 'defectors' stories. And people believe it, in spite of the obvious problems i mentioned above.
what could account for such a singular case of credulity? Well, even if you detest everythiing about communism, it must be owned that the common man on the street has been bombarded from all sides with violent anti-Communist diatribe all his life. He has been carefully trained to detest with every cell in his body everything relating to communism. When hearing anything about north Korea, therefore, one of the last 'communist states', whose leaders he wouldn't doubt to know eat babies, he questions not a single statement, responds to each tale with not a scintilla of criticism, of scepticism, of doubt whatsoever.
Yet, on the other hand, thankfully (otherwise we wouldn't be able to know much about the DPRK), there exist people who have actually
set foot on the DPRK, and unlike the so-called defectors are able to substantiate this: I am speaking of the many visitors, and such people are among those whom I think to an extent reliable - not entirely, but moreso than people who can't substantiate that that they have been to the country. And contrary to popular notion, there is a considerable number of such people.
There are also the citizens of DPR-Korea, their media, their publications, etc. These sources seem to me to be somewhat more reliable than the nefarious U.S government. I should like to see a comparison of the disinformation campaigns conducted by the U.S. government in the
past, the lies they have shoved down our throats for decades, the fabrications they have planted in the media - this is according to their own declassified documents - who have - there is no denying - a definite anti-communist bias - I say, I should like to see a comparison between all this and the equivilent (if it exist it all) of the DPRK; such a comparison could only effect the conclusion that the DPRK media are more reliable a source than the U.S. government. show me a comparison, please.
Whereas most of your information concerning the DPRK comes from 'various peoples and groups' (i.e. government-funded 'human rights' organisations like amnesty international with a clear anti-communist bias), most of what I know about the DPRK comes from people who have actually
been to the country. Your sources, generally, do not attain this requirement.
You say that information from the DPRK is unreliable because supposedly they have not 'freedom of the press'. By that reasoning there are no reliable sources at all. I can't think of a single country wherein there is absolute freedom of the press. and it should be noted that the DPRK is at war (in the technical sense) and is at a very great risk of being the victim of another war of aggression.
You say there are no alternative views in the DPRK, yet one of the other socialist parties has 20% of the seats in the DPRK parliament.
You say that everything is debated in the West. I find this unlikely, but as far as I know, in the DPRK everything is debated as well.
You say on these bases that you cannot grant any credibility to the ifnormation I give you, yet most of my information doesn't even come from the DPRK government.
when many westerenrs talk about the DPRK, they generally don't have their critical thinking caps on, and are in the habit of employing conspiracy theorist methodology. their reasoning seems to me to be rather like this: "if I can't find an elephant in my bedroom, it is only because he is hiding himself very well." i.e. if we can't find atrocities in the DPRK, it is only because they are being hidden very well. this is nothing short of conspiracy theory.
