[mathieuh]

Plus the current state of North Korea owes a lot of its conditions to the Americans. Before someone accuses me of being a Tankie I do think the Kim dynasty is absolutely deranged and I obviously think that the average North Korean would be better off if they were toppled and I am an anarchist not an auth-communist.

But let's not forget that the Americans completely levelled the territory, including destroying dams that provided people's drinking water (a war crime then and now), and then gloated about it, and have then proceeded to consistently act in bad faith.

So when the comment above talks about "liberating" I do wonder exactly what they mean and how it would be different to the first time they tried it and how might the average North Korean react.

Maybe they would install a new dictator more amenable to the "rules-based international order" (i.e. the US and people who agree with them) like they did in South Korea or countless other countries across Latin America.

[teractiveodular]

North Korea was the rich, industrialized half of the country, South Korea was poorer and extensively damaged by the Korean War. The fact that the South is now 10x richer and way better on any measurable metric tells you all you need to know about how well Juche and the Kims are working for the North.

[antifa]

Probably has more to do with sanctions and the US spending shitloads of money to rebuild and trade with only the South.

[etc-hosts]

I've read a few of these sources, it is my understanding that nearly 2/3 of all buildings in

North Korea were destroyed in the Korean War. S3 Sources - Blowback https://search.app/8ZBidRZFnNxnWUcG9

I don't think it's too hard to figure out why the US has worked closely with the South Korean for decades. They're anti Communist.

[sterlind]

the same apply to Vietnam and Cambodia. yet those countries are far more functional than DPRK. the extreme and dynastic cult of personality seems unique to the Kim family.