That scary "hotel" in North Korea is actually being finished...

Pygmalion · 17-08-2009 5:50pm

My name is URL wrote: »

Well if the Americans say they're a threat to world peace then it must be true :rolleyes:

Is it any wonder they decided to develop nuclear weapons?

Pisses me off how the mindless masses just accept everything that the US says, they're trying to Americanise the globe and as soon as a nation shows any sign of not cooperating they become a danger..!

Go fcuk yourself America

Oh come on, surely you ca at least change your avatar before posting this. The NK propoganda machine is falling behind.

dsmythy · 17-08-2009 5:53pm

TheZohan wrote: »

Yes I talked to quite a few locals. They seemed happy enough; they just wanted to get on with life. Really nice people and had a great sense of humour. They reminded me of how Irish people were many years ago.

The older people were interested in Western culture but not to the point that they wanted to adopt it whereas the younger generation showed a greater interest. What they didn't like was the interference from Western countries; they felt that this would only create more problems for their people. They are a very proud people.

I'm sure it won't take much for them to overthrow their tyrannical leaders who are mocking what it means to be Korean.

Did you expect them to tell you something that will constitute them digging their own grave?

My name is URL · 17-08-2009 5:59pm

Pygmalion wrote: »

Oh come on, surely you ca at least change your avatar before posting this. The NK propoganda machine is falling behind.

Why? I'm not saying that lil Kim etc don't have alot to answer for

but it should be a nationalistic revolt rather than Team America 'liberating them :rolleyes:' that helps achieve that, imo

Pygmalion · 17-08-2009 6:06pm

My name is URL wrote: »

Why? I'm not saying that lil Kim etc don't have alot to answer for

but it should be a nationalistic revolt rather than Team America 'liberating them :rolleyes:' that helps achieve that, imo

Your avatar is Kim Jong-Il and you're post ended with "Go fcuk yourself America", I just thought it was a fairly obvious response.

ilkhanid · 17-08-2009 6:20pm

TheZohan wrote: »

Yes I talked to quite a few locals. They seemed happy enough; they just wanted to get on with life. Really nice people and had a great sense of humour. They reminded me of how Irish people were many years ago.

The older people were interested in Western culture but not to the point that they wanted to adopt it whereas the younger generation showed a greater interest. What they didn't like was the interference from Western countries; they felt that this would only create more problems for their people. They are a very proud people.

I'm sure the locals you talked to were well vetted. Were you allowed to get on a bus or train and wander wherever you liked? Just like the USSR in 1950 or China in 1968 the locals know the authorities are keeping a close watch on who they talk to and what they say.
And since North Koreans are not allowed to own mobile phones, read foreign newspapers or magazines, to watch foreign television or to have access to the Web I'm sure their ideas of Western culture are probably a bit ...peculiar.

My name is URL wrote: »

Why? I'm not saying that lil Kim etc don't have alot to answer for but it should be a nationalistic revolt rather than Team America 'liberating them ' that helps achieve that, imo

I'd be very very surprised if there is ever a revolt in North Korea. Since the people have nothing to compare their condition to, they have no idea that their state is as appalling as it is. They are closely supervised and I doubt a smidgeon of dissent is tolerated. The reign of the Kims is absolute and any change can only come from the top.

dsmythy wrote: »

I'm sure it won't take much for them to overthrow their tyrannical leaders who are mocking what it means to be Korean.

Overthrow them with their bare hands? Against one of the largest armies in then world? I doubt it.

TheZohanS · 17-08-2009 6:36pm

ilkhanid wrote: »

I'm sure the locals you talked to were well vetted.

Really? How can you be so sure?

ejmaztec · 17-08-2009 6:36pm

:pac:...................................................:eek:

http://www.korea-dpr.com/menu.htm

Never fails to amuse.

dsmythy · 17-08-2009 6:44pm

ilkhanid wrote: »

Overthrow them with their bare hands? Against one of the largest armies in then world? I doubt it.

If the USSR can fall then so can North Korea.

Pygmalion · 17-08-2009 6:47pm

dsmythy wrote: »

If the USSR can fall then so can North Korea.

USSR wasn't overthrown, it got a leader willing to accept gradual change.
That won't happen in NK while Kim Jong-Il is alive, and it won't happen with his son either I'd bet

PrivateEye · 17-08-2009 6:51pm

Anyone pulling the old Hamas line on this one (We only hear what they want us to hear!!1!) is having a laugh surely?

They do have real socialists in North Korea, unfortunately they're more or less all in prison :rolleyes: Its not exactly a workers paradise, and I've never heard anyone on the left refer to it as such.

Despite horrific conditions, I've never heard of a workers strike in North Korea. Funny that.

Pygmalion · 17-08-2009 6:58pm

PrivateEye wrote: »

Anyone pulling the old Hamas line on this one (We only hear what they want us to hear!!1!) is having a laugh surely?

They do have real socialists in North Korea, unfortunately they're more or less all in prison :rolleyes: Its not exactly a workers paradise, and I've never heard anyone on the left refer to it as such.

Despite horrific conditions, I've never heard of a workers strike in North Korea. Funny that.

Did I misread "Worker's paradise where everything is perfect" as "Not as bad as the American media portrays it"?
I could swear it was the second one being argued.

Jackobyte · 17-08-2009 6:58pm

PrivateEye wrote: »

Anyone pulling the old Hamas line on this one (We only hear what they want us to hear!!1!) is having a laugh surely?

They do have real socialists in North Korea, unfortunately they're more or less all in prison :rolleyes: Its not exactly a workers paradise, and I've never heard anyone on the left refer to it as such.

Despite horrific conditions, I've never heard of a workers strike in North Korea. Funny that.

They'd be repressed within seconds!!!

Iris Choi · 17-08-2009 7:27pm

Hi, can you let me know where did you hear this news? I want to check it out! cheers!

darkman2 wrote: »

That famous "hotel" in North Korea, one of the worlds tallest, that was a half built shell for 25 years is being finished (don't know who will stay in it considering foreigners are not exactly allowed free passage to the country).

So anyway It looked like this for donkeys years cause they ran out of dosh to finish it

http://www.roumazeilles.net/news/fr/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/ryugyong-hotel.jpg

Not very welcoming...and intimidating

Now it looks awesome and even more intimidating to the peasants! They started on it again last year. (surely the structure is unsafe!?)

http://www.korea-dpr.com/forum/wp-content/uploads/RIMG0049_resize_resize.JPG

http://www.korea-dpr.com/forum/wp-content/uploads/RIMG0010_resize_resize.JPG

Kim Jung Ills new gaff is way better then anything in Dublin:(

AARRRGH · 17-08-2009 8:49pm

TheZohan wrote: »

What did you find crazy about North Korea when you visited it?

TheZohan wrote: »

I lived there for 6 months. Did you?

How patronising.

...

A friend of mine spent some time there. He said nearly everyone looks starving, afraid, and he was followed everywhere by "guides".

TheZohan wrote: »

All contractors have guides there.

If you really think they are "guides", you are brainwashed.

TheZohanS · 17-08-2009 9:03pm

AARRRGH wrote: »

How patronising.

...

A friend of mine spent some time there. He said nearly everyone looks starving, afraid, and he was followed everywhere by "guides".

If you really think they are "guides", you are brainwashed.

Oh good man; "a friend of yours". How long did this "friend" of yours spend there?

Are you sure it wasn't a friend of a friend? Or maybe a friend of a friend of a friend? Or maybe it was it some guy down the pub?

Yes they were guides, nice guys once you get to know them.

AARRRGH · 17-08-2009 9:11pm

TheZohan wrote: »

Oh good man; "a friend of yours". How long did this "friend" of yours spend there?

Oh well done, of course you spent more time there than him!

TheZohan wrote: »

Yes they were guides, nice guys once you get to know them.

Either you have never lived in NK or you are utterly naive.

Gummy Panda · 17-08-2009 9:25pm

ffs.. you're all asking TheZohan the wrong questions.

Were North Korean woman hot or not?

If so, pics?

AARRRGH · 17-08-2009 9:26pm

Gummy Panda wrote: »

ffs.. you're all asking TheZohan the wrong questions.

Were North Korean woman hot or not?

If so, pics?

Apparently they're so small and skinny they look like children.

TheZohanS · 17-08-2009 9:31pm

Gummy Panda wrote: »

ffs.. you're all asking TheZohan the wrong questions.

Were North Korean woman hot or not?

If so, pics?

Pretty hot alright!

adamski8 · 17-08-2009 9:32pm

i dunno lads what NK is realy like, but looking at google maps i can tell ya they seem to have a **** load of kick ass looking stadiums, loks better than ireland:D
and alot of bright blue roofs, whats that about!!!

ilkhanid · 17-08-2009 9:35pm

dsmythy wrote: »

If the USSR can fall then so can North Korea.

Compared to North Korea, the USSR was like Haight-Ashbury in 1968.
The Russians were quite well educated,had a lot of access to the outside world in various ways and they had a strong memory of struggles towards a democratic culture in the past. The average North Korean has no memory of anything but dictatorship and the country has known nothing but totalitarian control since 1890 and it was an authoritarian state before even that date. Very little gets out of North Korea and social control is very strong. Remember, they had a famine, not long ago in which millions died, something that could have destabilized other dictatorships,and it did not rock the control of the rulers a jot.

My name is URL · 17-08-2009 9:40pm

ilkhanid wrote: »

Compared to North Korea, the USSR was like Haight-Ashbury in 1968.
The Russians were quite well educated,had a lot of access to the outside world in various ways and they had a strong memory of struggles towards a democratic culture in the past. Very little gets out of North Korea and social control is very strong.

It's just the old fear of communism by the west, these tyrants have no place in a world that's run by capitalists :eek:

CCCP^ · 17-08-2009 9:42pm

This is a 3rd world country which still manages to build this thing and have nukes but needs to import most of its food? Who exactly paid for this thing?

17-08-2009 9:57pm

Looking at that hotel, metropolis was the first thing I thought about!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEI4U5KyAS0

dr.bollocko · 17-08-2009 9:58pm

AARRRGH. TheZohan. Take it to PM or the thunderdome. We won't be allowing any further digs at each other here.

Sage'sMama · 17-08-2009 10:27pm

Is it true that Liam Carroll is finishing the hotel off???

G_R · 18-08-2009 12:07am

well i cant say ive ever been to NK (not high on my list of places ta go tbh)

anyways, i hav seen a documentary where 2 journalists went in with undercover cameras pretending to be part of a health misson. The health team were curing the locals of cataracts. They treated about 500 patients over a 4 day period i think. They were doing it in the best hospital in the country and honest to god it made Irish Hospitals look like bloody palaces. After the procedure to hav the cataracts removed, the patients had pirate eye patches over their eyes. At the end of the week there was a mass un eye patching. The first thing the natives did was get on their knees and praise Kim Jong Il for seeimg them worthy enough to recieve treatment, even though a medical team from a different country had to come in and help them because their "Dear Leader" was too busy spending money on nuclear warheads than building decent hospitals.

The medical team, along with the 2 undercover journalists were brought on a sight seeing tour one day. Each one was assigned 2 "Guides" who ensured that they only saw the nice bits of Pyongyang and that they didnt talk to any locals un supervised.

Not a nice place ta be living me thinks...

galwayrush · 18-08-2009 12:37am

An Taisce would never have allowed it, perhaps we should send them all to N.K.

hudsonriver · 18-08-2009 12:41am

Bragadin wrote: »

It's just a show for the foreigners, just like the giant flagpole in the dmz

dublin main zone?
you talking about the Spire?

darkman2 · 18-08-2009 12:52am

The "hotel" just looks so evil - love to see one of those here:D

darkman2 · 18-08-2009 1:02am

The "hotel" just looks so evil - love to see one of those here:D

indough · 18-08-2009 1:10am

for anyone interested in the human rights situation in NK, check out the documentary 'seoul train', its probably available online somewhere and it makes for interesting although quite disturbing viewing

darkman2 · 18-08-2009 1:14am

This documentary will show you the hell on Earth North Korea is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ6E3cShcVU

Note how the streets are almost always empty - and the subway present no doubt leads to a labour camp.

JupiterKid · 18-08-2009 1:37am

North Korea is a totalitarian hellhole.

That NK hotel looks just like our house price statistics between 2000 and now - one big rise and then almighty crash.:D

...I don't know how economically viable this place is supposed to be, but it can't be much worse than many of our own hotels here.:rolleyes:

Rented Mule · 18-08-2009 2:26am

darkman2 wrote: »

Yeah - the vast majority of the country and Uíbh Fhailí is under the rule of a lunatic dictator.

Fixed.

Mossy Monk · 18-08-2009 8:24am

North Korea is a pretty nice place I heard. They give you friendly guides and everything. All this saying it is a bad place must be some form of propaganda. It cannot be true.

the_syco · 18-08-2009 11:06am

darkman2 wrote: »

If you were how many "gaurds" were keeping an eye on your movements?

TheZohan wrote: »

All contractors have guides there.

"Guides", eh?

=-=

IIRC, they have a "habit" of shooting tourists in the back...

Fuhrer · 18-08-2009 11:21am

TheZohan wrote: »

North Korea isn't that bad, Western media paints a very one sided picture of it.

You mean the side of constant famine?

Compelte obedience or death to the leader?

The countrys president being a dead man? The worlds only Necrocracy?

MikeC101 · 18-08-2009 12:10pm

TheZohan wrote: »

No, not Pyongyang, in Kaesong. All contractors have guides there.

Equating Kaesong (and I assume you refer specifically to the industrial region) with the rest of North Korea would be a mistake. The place is run by South Korean companies really, employing North Koreans at wages below that of Chinese workers. I don't think it's in any way indicitave of the conditions in the rest of the country.

I've lived in the South for a few years, and visited the North (accompanied by guides). If the guides in Kaesong are anything like those in Pyongang, I'm surprised you took what they said at face value. One of my friends / drinking buddies (a engineer) in the South did contracting work and he agreed it's a well run propaganda set up when it comes to the "guides" and "locals" you speak with (as if the average North Korean speaks fluent english).

One of my other friends (Korean) went to school in the Phillipines to study English, and there were a couple of North Koreans there. When she heard them speaking Korean in the canteen and went up to talk to them, two bodyguard types appeared and escorted her away, and warned her not to try talking to them.

While I don't consider NK much of a threat to "world peace" or whatever rhetoric we're meant to believe, I do believe it's a horribly repressive state, and a terrible place to live for the average, non ranking Party member, citizen.

Just some stuff from the tour (most of this was typed up by my friend, who went on the same tour):

The Americans started the Korean War, and the North won. South Korea belongs to the North, and the population of the south desperately wants to be ruled by the North, but due to American pressure and propoganda they're not allowed, as they are controlled by an evil puppet governmnet.

"Field guidance" and "on the spot guidance" are phrases that pop up all the time. Every paper or magazine has articles about Kim Jong Il visiting some factory or farm or powerplant, and providing guidance to the workers, making out that he's an expert on every single field. needless to say, productivity jumps forward in any place he visits, such is the inspiration Koreans find in him.

Also a regular feature in the newspapers were mention of:

- South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, always referred to as "the traitor, Lee Myung Bak", and never by any other title

- mention that North Korea is on the verge of a nuclear war with the USA. They seem to genuinely expect that an attack could happen any day

- the "invincibility" of the Korean People's Army. I think they (the regular Koreans) really believe they would come out on top in a war with America. cos thats what they're fed. A direct quote from the papers: "with his wise and seasoned leadership, Kim Jong Il has developed the Korean People's Army into an invincible revolutionary force". But you should see these guys. Their uniforms are so shabby, they're about 4 feet tall... they dont look like they'd defeat a troop of boyscouts

Koreans fold their newspapers (and money) in a certain way, so as not to crease the faces of either of the Kims on the cover. Our tour operator told us that a few years ago a tourist balled up a newspaper and threw it in the bin in his hotel room. When it was found, female staff were in tears, and the hotel manager made the guy write a "self-criticism" or he wouldnt be allowed stay on at the hotel.

Pyongyang, a city of 2 million people, has no traffic lights. the likely reason is that electricity goes so often, its better to have traffic wardens instead. so at all times of the day or night, you have blue clad (usually female and pretty) traffic wardens directing traffic from the middle of junctions with glowsticks, using very precise, almost military style movements. Its really unnecessary to be honest. Fuel shortages mean that there's hardly any traffic anyway. Its incredible how deserted the city appears.

Acacia · 18-08-2009 12:42pm

It looks like fcuking Mordor.

Bragadin · 18-08-2009 12:50pm

hudsonriver wrote: »

dublin main zone?
you talking about the Spire?

Yeah that too

That scary "hotel" in North Korea is actually being finished...

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