Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Deteriorating Relations between North and South

I thought this article was really interesting. My favorite part was when it talked about how workers in North Korea got an idea of how affluent South Korea was by the food they got for lunch when working in a South Korean factory located in North Korea.
This other article reports on the same topic, but it seems more positive that Choe, who encouraged better relations between North and South, was executed for sure.

3 comments:

  1. I read this same article. I was so surprised that coffee and cakes are such a rarity, a taboo if you will in the North. I understand that the North does not want to embrace Southern, capitalist culture, but to become alarmed that their people are getting too comfortable eating cake and drinking instant coffee is amazing. We are talking about food here not politics. The fact that the North is that paranoid makes me think how oppressive living in the North must be. I am not glorifying the South for I am sure they are not innocent and I am sure the North has a right to be suspicious of the South but wow, things must be bad between the two if suspicions arise over food eaten in the South

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  3. The fact that North Korea is either outright canceling contracts or simply making it a much more painstaking process to operate factories for South Korean companies is a sad one. Those factories provide jobs for its people, and those jobs are undoubtedly needed by the poverty-sticken "proletariat." I suppose, though, that if I were a maniacal dictator, believing myself to be a descendant of deity, and intent on keeping my people secluded from the outside world, I would not want them snacking on choco pies or *gasp* instant coffee, either! A nationwide revolt would surely follow...

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