I believe the leaders (past & present) of North Korea were/are brainwashed - so, in my opinion, all that North Korea amounts to is "the brainwashed leading the brainwashed". I'm sure there are exceptions to the opinion I just stated. I believe there are ALWAYS exceptions to every "rule". However, I do believe that the vast majority of the people in the country are nothing but brainwashed, denied information, starving, & have zero freedom. I also understand that a certain number of the people of North Korea know that they have to "go along to get along" in order to remain alive. But the fact that so many of them "go along" is where the brainwashing on a mass-scale comes into effect.
They are not allowed access to information other than that generated by their own government. They have very little food. They have no right to ask for, much less demand, anything. The few that have attempted to simply survive by relying on their own ingenuity, for example, by hopping across the border into China to earn money or to gather food, they and three generations of their family are imprisoned upon their return to North Korea...often never to be seen or heard from again. No one knows whether they are languishing in the numerous concentration camps currently in operation within the country or if they were killed.
1 - An escapee tells of life and death in North Korea's labor camps
2 - Concentration Camps
3 - North Korea’s Gulags
4 - On the Map: Five Major North Korean Prison Camps
5 - The villages turned into CONCENTRATION CAMPS in North Korea as brutal regime struggles to house hundreds of thousands of political prisoners
6 - No Exit: Inside Look at a Prison Camp in North Korea
7 - North Korean Prison Camps Are 'Like Hitler's Auschwitz')
Rumors of cannibalism within North Korea have circulated for many years.
1 - Cannibalism Reported in North Korea (1998)
2 - Cannibalism in North Korea prisons? Ex-inmate: 'Brothers ate their own brothers in order to survive' (2003)
3 - The Cannibals of North Korea (2013))
The style of propaganda that comes out of North Korea is nothing BUT laughable. I would think that the attempts by North Korea to "control the message" of those that are allowed to visit North Korea would be embarrassing to those truly skilled in the creation of the art of propaganda OR that of brainwashing. (Numerous examples of propaganda and attempts to "control the message" are contained in the 2 different documentaries included at the end of this article.)
Yet, the United Nations, the United States, and other countries think they can control North Korea with "sanctions" as it threatens the world with the use of nuclear weapons. Perhaps our own (U.S.) government is more brainwashed & susceptible to propaganda than I've ever previously considered...?
1 - American Hostility: US Financial Sanctions against North Korea and the Nuclear Issue
2 - North Korea Sanctions (U.S. Department of Treasury website)
3 - Inside North Korea: Shock video and photos show true horror of Kim Jong-un's evil regime
After all, if you attempt to control "crazy" what does that make you?
The video below is a documentary hosted by Lisa Ling for National Geographic Explorer from February of 2007. The IMDB description of this video is as follows:
Posing as a medical coordinator, Lisa Ling gains access to North Korea offering viewers a chance to see inside the "Hermit Kingdom".
The most prescient few lines stated by Ling within the documentary are at the conclusion when she states:
As I watched 100's of people do and say virtually the same thing, over and over and over again, I wondered which people had genuine faith (in the Dear Leader) and which were acting out of fear. And finally it hit me, here, after generations of absolute rule and complete indoctrination, there may not be a difference between true belief and true fear. North Korea is a place ruled by an absolute dictator who now possesses nuclear weapons. It's no longer possible to regard the country as an isolated anomaly. What happens here in the "Hermit Kingdom" can directly touch everyone in the world. (2007)
If you wish to view more documentaries about North Korea there are many different videos from many different perspectives available on YouTube.
If I had to suggest a documentary for you to put on your list, I'd suggest "Inside North Korea" from VICE Travel. The documentary is just under one-hour long and it is posted on YouTube in 3 parts. I've posted all three parts below.
Part 1 of 3:
Part 2 of 3:
Part 3 of 3:
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