General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)I can understand going to North Korea for shits and giggles [View all]
But if you do that, you have to understand that, just like Disney World, it is a magic kingdom of illusion ruled by an exploitative and despotic rodent. You smile and nod, bow at whatever wants bowing at, look concerned and serious at appropriate times, don't ask difficult questions of your minders, act like you believe whatever they tell you, and save the shits and giggles until you are out of the country. You don't stand by the parade telling kids on Main Street, "It's just a guy in a mouse suit".
It's really not difficult to understand. And if you establish trust with the minders that you aren't going to cause any problems for them, then they will loosen up a little bit on a person-to-person level. Just don't talk politics.
Yes, their entire society is premised on bullshit. But I think anyone with the wherewithal to travel to China in order to then travel to Pyongyang should be somewhat informed about what they are getting into, or at least bone up on the subject of fundamental do's and dont's if they want to carve that notch on the "fucking weird places I've seen" bedpost.
They even have a bike tour that seems like it would be a hoot:
http://uritours.com/tours/north-korea-bike-tour
I would like to know how on earth it is possible for a college-educated person who has made a conscious decision and substantial investment in travel expenses to think it would be - in any conceivable reality - a neat idea to try to steal a propaganda banner?
Granted, that is what is merely alleged. But as was explained to me while being cited for "driving too fast for conditions" on a snowy turnpike one time, when I asked the officer the basis for his belief I had been in fact driving too fast for conditions - "You see that road up there? You see the cars up there driving on it? You are the only son of a bitch who slid off of it into this ditch."
A report on CNN suggested, on the basis of similar convictions, that he's going to be working on a farm and planting and sowing vegetables for as long as they decide to keep him. Fifteen years is clearly excessive - utterly and absolutely. But if the privileged circumstances of his upbringing, admission to a highly respected school, and apparent financial means were insufficient to provide him with an atmosphere in which he could develop any sense of good judgment - in circumstances entirely of his own choosing and volition - then a couple of months of digging potatoes might do him some good.
Visiting North Korea strikes me as one of those "don't laugh" contests, in which someone does outrageous things designed to make you laugh. If you think you might laugh, then it's probably not a good idea to attempt a visit to North Korea.
Next up: Let's pretend we're Muslim, go to Mecca during Hajj, and get a selfie next to the Kaaba making an obscene gesture.