this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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People tend to underestimate just how technologically advanced DPRK really is. Western propaganda keeps trying to paint it like some backwards state that's about to collapse and where everybody is starving. However, it used to be a major industrial hub in the days of USSR. It has a highly educated workforce, and they just got unlucky with resources and lack of arable land. Now that Russia is full on cooperating with DPRK, I expect we'll be seeing a lot of economic growth happening there.
Russia has food and fuel which are the two things DPRK needs, meanwhile Russia has a problem with an overheating economy where there's already practically full employment. So, they actually need industrial partners and workers to expand their industry. And this is where DPRK comes in with having a strong industrial base and a skilled workforce. They already started opening up special economic zones for this.
Highly reccomend this book
https://www.phaidon.com/store/design/printed-in-north-korea-the-art-of-everyday-life-in-the-dprk-9780714879239/
Its a collection of indie artists from NK, curated by a UK artist; he says in the book from just travelling around and going place to place in NK over 30 years he got meeting some of the most talented artists hes ever seen, comparing some of the wood etchings they saw with masters of respective crafts like da vinci.
Its also just a really good insight into how NK people view themselves
personal faves (sorry for the poor quality)
I love the style of these. Thanks for sharing!
Holy shit that's neat
holy shit. those are wood block prints?
The bottom two are, not all of them are but wood block carving into prints is the most common form of art in NK.
They have state run art universties, there biggest output is actually statues, they produce the most out of any in the world and export them all over.
This bottom one is a wood carving, another 10/10
Do you know the artist for the forest print?
The person in the book does, I can go check that out.
Its sad because the curator of the book has been trying to get an exhibit of there work up to give the artists some recongition but it always gets cancelled due to 'human rights concerns' which is absurd because most of these artists they want to represent are simply just either hobbyists or full time artists employed by the state, but either way have been taught by it.
It really speaks for the cultural supression of north korea, the west is actively trying to prevent its subjects from even remotely humanzing there forever war enenmy.
Human rights are a great scam, you can get anything passed under human rights. Nevermind that refusing these artists to get their work exposed further isolates them and helps justify further hostile acts because if you can't get to know them, you can't get to humanize them like you said. It's like sanctions.
But damn I love that forest print.
The DPRK is literally the perfect example of a civilization building game where you have everything you CAN max out, maxed out, and are only kneecapped by the game having a pre determined point at which you are allowed new resources. So the second you get said resources you just fucking explode out of the gate.
They are doing all they can with limited resources. They have the work force, education, drive, etc. Once more countries stop caring about what the US says and starts trading with them they will advance so rapidly they might have to worry about cultural whiplash.
Next few decades could be glorious to watch. We might see the west go into a steep decline while all the countries the west has been deriding and jeering at will start developing rapidly.
I just want to live long enough to see the US abandon SK and see how quickly it falls.
If US ends up starting a war with Iran, which is starting to look increasingly likely, they simply might not be in a position to do anything for SK.
Idk how they intend to start a war with anyone. What do they even have left they haven't shipped off to Ukraine or Isn'treal?
Right, like they're openly admitting that the stocks are running dry. What's the thought process here?
KCNA also recognized a few days ago that America's military is spread thin, and given that for the first time in decades the DPRK has declared peaceful reunification impossible I think we could see a Korean War 2. Korean War 1, USA had 50% of the world's GDP and nuclear supremacy while the KPA and PVA had WW1 era weapons. Now, DPRK homegrown arms have been proven to wreck American proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and now possibly Ukraine. If there was any time to retake the South it would be now.
And what about Taiwan?
I think a lot of will depend on the election there. If DPP gets kicked out then US might end up losing grip on it entirely.
Nkw granted it's not in the same league as the west but still impressive imo that the DPRK managed to thrive in such an environment.