Growing up in and escaping from North Korea (cracked.com)

[DetlefK]

http://www.cracked.com/article_21373_5-things-you-learn-growing-up-in-and-escaping-north-korea.html

Most North Koreans know that the propaganda is bullshit, but they still have no idea of the truth behind it because of massive censorship.

First Rule of North Korea: You do not talk bad about North Korea or the Kim family.
Second Rule of North Korea: You do NOT talk bad about North Korea or the Kim family.

Dissenters aren't magically made disappear: They get arrested in broad daylight and the whole family gets punished, sometimes up to 3 generations removed.

North Korea has a healthy industry of smuggling cultural contraband (e.g. forbidden books and movies) into the country and smuggling people out of the country.

Two of the things North Koreans don't know about due to censorship: The very concepts of having/demanding human rights and criticizing your rulers.

[Renew Deal]

1. It's amazing that this even goes on.

I wonder what it's going to take to make it stop. It will end at some point.

[msanthrope]

2. This thread makes me miss Hannah Bell. nt

[betsuni]

3. This is why it's enormously, embarrassingly stupid to suggest even in jest

that the American president has anything in common with "Dear Leader" when someone says something nice about Obama. What kind of psychological issue IS that?