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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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geldedgoat
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| I suppose I would say that if the average South Korean can get over centuries of Korean monarchic tradition, the average North Korean can get over decades of Juche tradition. |
You're comparing an economic system to a pervasive and intense culture of propaganda, maybe unlike history has ever seen. Keep in mind that, in the past 50 some-odd years, ~24,500 people have defected, roughly 0.1% of the current population. And that's with an extremely porous Chinese-North Korean border. These people are choosing to stay, and not without reason (whether or not it's actually good reason).
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| I also think it's worth remembering that the Korean people have a long historic tradition of being the cultural clients of the Chinese. Reviving that tradition may well be possible. |
This was one of the more fascinating things I learned from The Cleanest Race: Koreans believe(d) themselves to be the true wards of Chinese culture (at least when they thought of themselves collectively at all), that the Chinese had lost their way and became degenerate and corrupt.
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| [...] we need to consider that there's a not inconsiderable amount of dissatisfaction right now in North Korea as well, evinced both by prison camps and by defections. |
This is certainly true, which is one of the main reasons forcibly meddling in their affairs is so dangerous. The only likely way to engender such sentiment is to let it blossom naturally, while forcing their hand with foreign invaders would probably have the opposite result, giving evidence to Juche. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| geldedgoat wrote: |
| Quote: |
| [...] we need to consider that there's a not inconsiderable amount of dissatisfaction right now in North Korea as well, evinced both by prison camps and by defections. |
This is certainly true, which is one of the main reasons forcibly meddling in their affairs is so dangerous. The only likely way to engender such sentiment is to let it blossom naturally, while forcing their hand with foreign invaders would probably have the opposite result, giving evidence to Juche. |
Right. There's little the West can effectively do. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Leon wrote: |
| The idea that South Korea would tolerate China controlling the border is a non starter. You think Koreans are upset about Dokdo and Japan, imagine if China takes a whole country that they think should belong to them. |
China does not think Korea belongs to them.
They make no claim to Korea and never have done. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
| Leon wrote: |
| The idea that South Korea would tolerate China controlling the border is a non starter. You think Koreans are upset about Dokdo and Japan, imagine if China takes a whole country that they think should belong to them. |
China does not think Korea belongs to them.
They make no claim to Korea and never have done. |
Right, it was traditionally (to my understanding) only a vassal state. |
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