Alt Left: North Korea: There’s Two Sides to Every Story

Ok, here is a current affairs post for the day ha ha:

People say that the North Korean border with China is completely locked down and very dangerous to cross. but I have heard other things.

Of course it’s illegal but I heard a different story 10 years ago. I was on a NK site that was rather sympathetic, from a Leftist POV. They were pretty much “tell it like it is.” They said the guards don’t care are easily bribed. They also said that people go back and forth across the border all the time.

It’s illegal smuggling but North Korea turns a blind eye to it because it brings in a lot of products from China which can be sold in the new private markets, of which they are now quite a few of all sizes, especially in the capital. I understand that there are 400,000 North Koreans living in China in the border region. It’s not ideal but the Chinese are not mass deporting them. They’re good for the economy. And I understand that they cross the border back and forth a lot too.

This was some time ago and maybe things have changed. But this is what the articles on the site were saying.

There is also a lot of gold mining in the far north. That’s illegal too, but no one cares, and there are many more or less freelance miners. The state comes around and just wants their cut in taxes or gold or whatever. They consider it’s bringing money into the country so they leave it alone as long as they get their cut.

Almost everything we get in the West about North Korea is insanely biased. There’s literally nothing good about the place, it’s pure evil, you won’t hear one positive story. Yes there is a down side and I don’t support the gulags.

But there is an upside too. I have seen photo collections from Leftists who were able to get away from their minders and just shoot photos out in the countryside. It was very interesting to say the least.

One thing I noticed from those photos is that everyone is working. I mean literally everyone. In the cities, they are doing street repairs and construction everywhere. There is huge employment out in the countryside. They certainly put everyone to work all right. I’m not sure that they’re all busting their asses, but they’re all on some sort of work crew. I also saw a movie about a North Korea factory. Also very interesting.

There’s two sides to every story.