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this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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Today I Learned (TIL)
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Turns out South Korea was a brutal military dictatorship under the backing of the US way longer than you'd think
USA and brutal dictatorships, name a more iconic duo!
Russia and brutal dictatorships? They're both up there
Lets just say “superpowers and brutal dictatorships”.
Whoevers dominating in a period in history generally didn’t get there by advocating for peace and self determination.
North Korea and brutal dictatorship
The Kims never killed 30 thousand people in a few days
How many regimes did NK install themselves?
Democracy has been a relatively recent form of government in the grand scheme of things.
The Ancient Greeks would like several words.
The way the US has been acting, they never seemed to think that democracy is a good form of government, either.
Okay, but have you heard the President of North Korea claimed he scored a perfect golf game and doesn't poop? That's pretty bad, too.
Or North Korea’s imprisonment of entire generations of a family as a form of collective punishment.
Two things can be bad, you don’t have to rush to defend one side.
Real question: Is this even true?
If it's true, how true is it? Who actually receives those punishment? For what crimes?
oh i forgot, the people who have escaped NK are all paid actors /s
Actually this is somewhat true.
People who escape North Korea have zero prospects here in the ROK where I currently live. It's the most competitive economy and job market you can imagine.
Defectors have no professional certifications, no college degree, and no plastic surgery (pervasive in ROK where a photo is required to add to your CV).
Moreover, ROK people are highly judgmental toward anybody different. North Koreans "talk funny" so they are immediately outcast.
(Recently, to address the situation, the ROK government has started a program to get NK refugees jobs as bus drivers)
The best way for these refugees to make money is to tell their stories. And the more sensational, the better. They get speaking gigs, book deals, and small fame with their faces on TV.
Here's a news story addressing its directly: Why do North Korean defector testimonies so often fall apart? | North Korea | The Guardian https://share.google/fqpw81A1uZwXk0lR7
TL;DR NK refugees are "paid actors" in a sense
Horseshoe theory in action.
Please address my points or stop replying 🤷🏻♀️
"horseshoe theory" is another thought-terminating cliché
Thought terminating....no it's describing the conspiracy theorists that both shine on both sides, this is like Alex Jones with sandy hook saying it was paid actors.
You are either willfully misrepresenting or have no media literacy-- liar or idiot. Which will you cop to?
Nobody described a conspiracy. I described the actual situation on the ground for the NK refugees and also brought a news article.
Your response was "herp-derp horshoe conspiracy".
No I said horseshoe theory Which is that the far right and far left both share similar traits, like trying to give me a news article claiming escaped NK citiziens are just laughable and indeed require the label "conspiracy theory" similar to the way Alex Jones said there was paid actors for sandy hook, when we all (well people who aren't conspiratorial) that it was a very real thing.
What does that have to do with my comment about the north Korean refugees in South Korea? Literally nothing. Stay on topic.
It's a thought-terminating cliché and shows you have no idea what you're talking about. You're just a knee-jerk reactionary who can't read or think for yourself
Here's a fun game - try sourcing that absurd claim without using any media source funded by NED/USAGM
I gave him an article and he still hems and haws because he is full of shit
Here's a fun game - try sourcing unbiased news.
There is literally no such thing
then why even ask someone to source a claim that's funded to make it biased when all media is biased?
All media serves the funders and context from which it comes. There is no escaping this, only understanding and compensating
how do you compensate when you believe that all media is biased and all the news is fake?
Biased and fake are entirely different things but it's not easy. The general idea is to get sources outside of your geopolitical context to compare against the sources that have the same biases you were raised with
Well the biases I have growing up are complicated. I don't do well with confrontation and prefer more peaceful paths of diplomacy, and do not like any acts of violence.
Well if you are a native English speaker almost all the media is controlled by the US government in one way or another. Try the outlets that you were always told are propaganda to start
Depends. I usually only watch the news for local stuff, but when they cover nation or international issues I usually like to look more into it
I would. But noone outside of NK can communicate to koreans to ask questions.
Those are the only media sources that have freedom and liberty, though. We HAVE to trust them or we become Tankies.
Liberty is when news sources are controlled by the security state
Ah, that's why he is so fat and instead of exploding, he just talks so much shit, to at least get rid of some of it