"Forbidden" pics of North Korea

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Tbh, the photos in themselves are fairly standard of that region (parts of Bangkok, Phnom Pen, Ho Chi Minh City & especially the northern (ex-communist) parts of Vietnam and much of Malaysia. Shanty towns are the basic means of life of a large proportion of people in the cities of these countries.

It's only the knowledge we have been given about the country that might make the photos look a strange scary place.

The electric fence around the beach is different though - their propaganda wouldn't be to stop the NKs leaving, but to stop others jealous of their tenchology and lifestyle trying to get in.

I don't see why people are so surprised. I guess if you've never been to anywhere except the US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, or a handful of other places, you'd think the whole world is like here but it's not at all.

I went to Turkey in 1992 and Istanbul has thousands, if not a couple of million (total population is something like 12 million) of people living around the city in little lean-to's and squatter buildings. Old cars are everywhere, there are sometimes utility issues, and inflation is over 100%.

Sure, there isn't the high level of iconic imagery about the government, instead, it seems like you can't go two feet without hitting something historic, anywhere from the early 1900s to a thousand years old.

It's not because they were communist and a failed regime- yes, there's something to that, but some countries just aren't up to the modern standards of living that we enjoy and it has nothing to do with Communism.

SI

[pennywisesb]

Thanks for supplying the link Jeebs, those pics were pretty awesome to see.