The Vice Report on North Korea

[[R_H]]

It's an unique culture, so I'd love to see it with my own eyes. I suspect it would be a bit like waking up inside a propaganda video.

On the other hand, the visitors (indirectly) support a totalitarian regime.

Very true indeed, which is why I have no plans of ever going there. That still doesn't mean I wouldn't love to see it first hand.

I agree with you, it would be incredibly interesting to go visit.

[Kuja]

I agree with you, it would be incredibly interesting to go visit.

Interesting, no doubt, but I imagine I'd be feeling pretty nervous the whole time I was there.

[tim31]

I was feeling tense through quite a few parts of the documentary; "Don't antagonise them! Don't be disrespectful!" and so on. It was silly, because the fact that I was sitting watching the footage meant that they'd gotten out with all of it. Yet the presentation had me feeling the stress, like a nightmare that you know is a dream but have to pass through.

[K. A. Pital]

I'm not entirely sure of this, but I seem to recall hearing that the military has been given first dibs on things like food.

The Songun policy (Military First) was installed when DPRK abandoned the last vestiges of international cooperation and turned to an even greater level of autarky. So that is the case, and trying to 'starve out' the DPRK is going to result in people starving far earlier than it results in the fall of the Kim rule. In fact, trying to embargo autarkies is only worse - it gives the autarkian government a valid excuse for autarky - "we'd love to be cool, but we're in a trade blockade, therefore...". An ultimately bad idea, all in all.

It's not like one person refusing to go on a trip is going to make much difference anyway.

Not at all, actually. Visiting DPRK or not has zero influence on it's domestic policy, economy, or anything for that matter - the DPRK system is not going to feel better or worse because it has tourists coming or has no tourists coming. Hence my comment about zero impact.