The lack of any mention that the DPRK is a murderous dictatorship that is starving its people to death is disturbing. This piece makes it seem like the DPRK is just another country with a quirky culture.
This morning there was a question on /r/AskHistorians:
"How did the writers of the Declaration of Independence write in such straight lines on line-less paper?"
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/74sfhn/how_d...
Someone with my political inclinations might reply, "How can you even ask such a question? Sure, the signers of the Declaration had good intentions, but you know what road is paved with those: look where it got us! [Insert my list of the terrible things the United States Government has done not only to the rest of the world but to its own citizens.] And you're asking whether the lines were straight?"
But can't a question be interesting all on its own? How the heck did they get those lines so straight? And was every document in those days like that? (Read the thread to find out.)
At the height of the Cold War, I was into ham radio, and I had friends in the Soviet Union who I would have Morse code QSOs (chats) with. It being ham radio, we couldn't talk freely about everything, but at least we could compare notes on our radio gear, find out the weather, and ask how the family is doing. It wasn't perfect, but it was something. And I always signed off with:
_ _ . . . _ .
(MIR) [Peace]
To understand something, you have to observe it. To really understand something you have to observe it in minute detail and ideally experience it.
Anyway, this is a small piece of research that provides us with a small detail about a culture that we, as outsiders, have little real contact with. Make no mistake that the vast majority of Norks are people that are just like you and me, except that most of them live way below a "bread line" that you or I would find intolerable.
Why not take the opportunity presented to discover a bit more about something that you know little about, instead of deriding 25 million people for being who they are or living where they do.
Call me squarehead but I refuse to "experience" life in North Korea, not even close to this.
Also, I think if I were ordinary North Korean experiencing all the atrocities of the regime I would be really bothered by this act of "observation"; it feels quite a bit like being an animal in the zoo cage being stared at by the bored public.
Let's totally discuss that in depth for a while, then get back to your TV/talk-radio politics, and then finally we can talk about graphic design if there's time.
How many people are likely to be unaware of this fact?
The human rights abuses are what is truly shocking but again some of the things that go on in China, USA, Phillipines, Israel/Palestine for example are also truly shocking.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctions_against_North_Korea
[1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-us-war-crime-nor...