[yapyap]

Odd that he was sent abroad to do it, I always assumed they just did it from NK instead of abroad.

Also only having to give 85% to the regime seems pretty weird to me, it’d seem more logical to give 100% to the regime and have them provide the workers with a very cheap bed and food

[_mlbt]

They probably hoped that the remaining 15% was just enough to keep the workers from defecting. That combined with the threat to brutally torture and kill their family that remained in North Korea were probably pretty effective motivators to stay loyal to the regime.

[apwell23]

No. They don't need to worry about defections. Unless the guy really wants condemn his whole extended family and next 7 generations into labor camps.

[throawaywpg]

some NK do choose that option

[tough]

Its quite presumptuous to assume that

1. Every citizen will have ties or family to -think of- 2. The current regime (which is now on its third generation) will last 7 generations more. 3. You have any descendants at all

[dh2022]

In Romania during the 70s and 80s the only people who would go to specialization/training in the West had spouse and kids that stayed behind. The punishment for defecting was that the defector would not see their wife/husband/kids ever again (well, it seemed to be for ever. Nobody expected the regime to crumble). AFAIK there were no labor camps in Romania.

With this in mind-I am quite sure NK is selecting the people win a similar fashion. I would not be surprised if the punishment for defection is more sinuster than just not seeing their spouse/kids ever again.

[furyofantares]

I admit this is a presumption, but I doubt they send people out without leverage of some sort.

[tough]

dictatorships are the worst. but true, even professional athlete's when travelling defect etc

[D-Coder]

It's a threat. It doesn't have to be perfect. If the citizen does have a family or descendants, it will have a significant effective rate.

[alwa]

They can also select which citizens to send based on their ties. Much as a bank might size up collateral for a loan.

[tdeck]

Every regime needs some way to encourage people other than "we'll kill you if you don't". Letting them keep 15% makes the work more attractive.

[abdulhaq]

In the UK they let us keep 50%

[dizhn]

Maybe it's not so bad in North Korea? :)

[deadbabe]

It’s bad but not as bad as we’re made to believe, people still have lives worth living. They live, they laugh, they love. They do fun normal stuff, they have free thoughts, they have family.

[klik99]

People will see kids laughing and playing in a war zone and think “it can’t be that bad, if it was that bad they’d be cowering in fear 24/7” - but people always find a way to live and find snippets of joy in even the worst situations

[Yeul]

And 30 years later people get nostalgic for the simple days...

[dh2022]

Oh my God, you are so naive. Normal stuff in NK is watching your kids wasting away because of lack of calories (average North Korean is 10 inches shorter than average South Korean-even though 70nyears ago they were the same people genetically). Is living with a radio in your home that does not stop singing praise to the regime - neighbors will report you if they think you turned off the radio. If they have free thoughts they do not share these out of their family (and most likely hide them from their kids because kids talk unsupervised). I could go on for a page or so but I hope you get the idea.

[deadbabe]

You're just feeding into western propaganda. Yes North Korean people are poor and there's tons of inequality but they are still real people. They are not in a constant war being bombed and tortured endlessly. They tend to farms, chat with friends, make jokes, feel pain and joy, they do what they can. I know that sounds like literal hell to a tech obsessed population that has to filter everything through the lens of social media, but for many people this is just life.

A lot of North Koreans probably don't even think about the government, it just has always existed and always will exist to them, they don't think about things being anther way because it won't be, so they just get on with it. It's like the people who believe propaganda that America has turned into a hell hole now under Trump where people have no rights or opportunity and have to live in fear of mass shootings or being kidnapped by ICE everyday. For the vast majority of American's that just not accurate at all. Touch grass.

[thomassmith65]

  They are not in a constant war

North Korean soldiers have been fighting and dying in Ukraine this year to support Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_involvement_in_th...

[dh2022]

The only bad things in the daily NK life you mentioned are poverty and inequality (more about that below [0]). You did not mention famine, physical oppression, lack of healthcare, censorship-all of which are well documented. I am afraid it is not me who is pushing some type of propaganda…

[0] about inequality in communist countries- these countries had much less inequality than western countries. Almost everyone was equally poor. In my home country of Romania the top 100 level apparatchiks (people who rworked directly with Nicolas Ceausescu) had the life style of a surgeon or wealthy dentist in the west: they had a “villa” with 3-4 bedrooms in the Primaverii neighbourdhood and a cottage somewhere. They still had to drive their own Romanian Dacia car. They had good heating and the electrical blackouts did not happen in their neighborhood. They had access to special stores to buy food( they did not wear western clothing). The rest 99.99% of Romanian people were all equally poor: they lined up at the same food queues, lived in the same cold apartments, lacked electricity and medicines equally, drank the same yellow/ brown tap water, listened to the same 2 or 3 western radio stations broadcasting in Romania, etc…

Stalin and the members of his governments also did not live lavishly: Stalin always wore a military coat and all through the 80s the Kremlin looked as drab as ever. His dacha had 4 bedrooms and two floors.

Compare this inequality vs what has been going on in the west. Wealthy people in the west own islands: both Google guys, JP Morgan, the Bush family. They own not just 1 yacht, but another one to follow along with their help on the summer Mediterranean milk-run. They own not just one mansion, but multiple mansions.

I want to conclude this long post by saying that under communism I was personally aware of this difference between the inequality in the west and the equality in communist Romania. And that once Romania overthrew their dictator and inequality exploded I personally felt much better. Sure, 2 or 3 of my classmates started driving to high school in their BMWs-and I spent all of high school in the same patched up jacket. The rich boys had their group physically close and yet separated from us. They were sure to tell girls how much their latest gizmo costed or how big the disco bill from previous night was. Of course they did that in front of poor guys like myself(labagii) All of which is not nice at all. But at least now I had food, heat and electricity-and a chance to leave for better places. I would take this trade-off today just as eagerly as I took it in Dec 89.

[nec4b]

>> about inequality in communist countries- these countries had much less inequality than western countries.

Maybe some, while others had much higher inequality. E.g. Tito lived like a king. Not only did he amass huge private fortune, he also used state owned means for his private pleasure. I think it was very similar for Ceausescu and other dictators.

[dttze]

So you have no proof, and are just repeating propaganda, with a bonus anti communist rant. NK isn’t Eastern Europe.

[dttze]

You have no idea what happens in NK and are trying to pretend you do because you read some western propaganda. Get a clue.

[phatfish]

Gone on, tell us, which podcast should we be listening to?

[dttze]

One where they don’t say NK is a marvel villain or that KJU killed various people in the government only for them to be seen weeks later.

If you are ignorant on something you are better off keeping quiet than regurgitating low IQ propaganda.

[braingravy]

Found the NK IT worker :)

[yapyap]

lol.