Slashdot Mirror


Kim Jong-Un Bans All Weddings, Funerals And Freedom Of Movement In North Korea (independent.co.uk)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Independent: Weddings and funerals have been banned and Pyongyang is in lockdown as preparations for a once-in-a-generation party congress get underway in North Korea. The ruling Worker's Party of Korea, headed by the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, is due to stage the first gathering of its kind for 36 years on Friday. Free movement in and out of the capital has also been forbidden and there has been an increase in inspections and property searches, according to Daily NK, which claims to have sources in the country. The temporary measures are said to be an attempt to minimize the risk of "mishaps" at the event, according to Cheong Joon-hee, a spokesman at South Korea's Unification Ministry. Meanwhile, North Korea has been conducting missile tests left and right, many of which have failed miserably.

123 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. Great opportunity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's nuke them while their entire leadership is all in one place.

    1. Re:Great opportunity by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      Donald? Is that you?

    2. Re:Great opportunity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's going to be a great mushroom cloud. We've had mushroom clouds in the past and they were great and we're going to have them again. And..And..they are going to pay for the mushroom cloud. It's going to be a huge mushroom cloud and America is going to be great again.

    3. Re:Great opportunity by johnsnails · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Its Kim you insensitive clod trying to get rid of his dissidents.

    4. Re:Great opportunity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Let's nuke them while their entire leadership is all in one place.

      Well, on the bright side, if we do hit them now, at least we know for sure that we won't accidentally take out someone's wedding party this time.

    5. Re:Great opportunity by johnsnails · · Score: 1

      probably

  2. Well if you have nothing to hide... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I guess you shouldn't mind being searched. You know, for Security!

  3. Naturally, the headline is misleading. by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not news for nerds, stuff that really doesn't matter outside North Korea. By the way, this is only for a week, during the North Korean Party Congress. Move along, nothing to see other than a bunch of North Korean nut bars.

    Actually, here's an interesting story: The North Koreans have restaurants and other businesses in China and other "friendly" countries, primarily to generate cash for Un's emmenthaler cheese addiction (look it up), and increasingly, the staff of these businesses are defecting.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Naturally, the headline is misleading. by Chewbacon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "I don't believe in facts." -- Colbert

      --
      Chewbacon
      The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
    2. Re:Naturally, the headline is misleading. by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      Swiss cheese really? I'm surprised he didn't pick something more extravagant.

      Well yeah they made the mistake of letting them out of the country of course they don't want to go back.

      I'm just a bit suprised china allows that. But I'm not sure what they are thinking anymore I heard they refused a us warship port access a few days ago.

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    3. Re:Naturally, the headline is misleading. by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      But I'm not sure what they are thinking anymore I heard they refused a us warship port access a few days ago.

      Didn't want their prostitutes getting spoiled.

    4. Re:Naturally, the headline is misleading. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      I don't "believe" in facts. -- Stephen Colbert

      FTFY

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    5. Re:Naturally, the headline is misleading. by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Actually Swiss cheese is my favorite... but North Korean Swiss? They probably get the milk from political prisoners.

    6. Re:Naturally, the headline is misleading. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Actually a nut bar would be a huge social advance in North Korea. One cashew is a week's rations for the average family.

  4. Impressive. by sims+2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was not aware you could keep people from dying by outlawing funerals.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Impressive. by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      I believe they provide a service. (Had to be the first to trot that out today)

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:Impressive. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Not in Pyongyang. Dying in ditches is strictly prohibited. You must crawl into a cemetery, dig a hole, throw yourself in then bury yourself. Anything less than full obedience will mean your family are shipping off to a forced labor camp.

      And please remember, have a nice day!

      Signed, Kim Jong Un, the Guy that owns your ass

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Impressive. by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Heh- it reminds me of their national anthem.

    4. Re:Impressive. by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      I was not aware you could keep people from dying by outlawing funerals.

      Maybe it's to stop people from finding out who's died, so they can't dig them up and eat them. Seem to remember that N.Korea has a rather interesting cannibalism problem due to the lack of food in general.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    5. Re:Impressive. by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      So hitching and ditching are both illegal? Seriously, WTF NK!?

    6. Re:Impressive. by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      I was not aware you could keep people from dying by outlawing funerals.

      Does the US really want to piss off a guy with that kind of power?

    7. Re:Impressive. by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

      Your signature makes your post even more disturbing!

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    8. Re:Impressive. by nytes · · Score: 1

      Well, my neighbor isn't quite dead yet, but he will be soon, I think.

      Actually, he's not even sick. Some even might say he's a picture of health.

      But _just in case_ he dies next week, when it would be very inconvenient, would it be OK if I bury him this week?

      --
      -- I have monkeys in my pants.
  5. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    North Korea is leftist in much the same way that the Andromeda Galaxy is gluten free.

  6. A Drone strike solution by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I keep thinking how the US will drone strike wedding receptions on flimsy evidence, even assassinating our own citizens and their children for even *meeting* with an alleged terrorist

    ...and a single drone strike in NK could solve much of the world's conflict.

    Take one of the Chinese ambassadors aside, have a quiet word, get a secret "OK" from the leadership, and *BANG!*. No more fear, uncertainty, and doubt in South Korea or Japan.

    We could even disavow all knowledge. Classify the relevant documents for 50 years, like we did with Nixon extending the Vietnam war for political gain (by taking actions which were probably treasonous).

    *Sigh*.

    But we're a step closer to having Bison be our national mammal, and Harriet Tubman will be on the $20.

    USA, the leader of the free world.

    1. Re: A Drone strike solution by k2r · · Score: 2, Funny

      > ...and a single drone strike in NK could solve much of the world's conflict.

      That might actually and forever solve all of the worlds conflicts.
      I wonder if starting a war between the US and China really is really such a promising perspective from your mothers basement, Mr. Warrior.
      If you are old enough I suggest you enlist in the army and fight and fall for some made up convincing reason in some desert instead of starting a career in politics cause further world wars.

    2. Re:A Drone strike solution by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Sure- a computer guided missile fired from 60,000 feet above Pyongyang comes crashing through Un's bedroom window, but no one will suspect it was us because we classified documents.

      It reminds me of ten years ago when Alexander Litvinenko died of polonium-210 poisoning after having tea with some KGB agents in London. Hmmm, who could have been behind that one?

    3. Re:A Drone strike solution by smileytshirt · · Score: 1

      I think the result of a targeted drone strike would be the total annihilation of Korea (north and south).

      What worries me is not the leaders at the top, who are knowledgeable of the outside world and act quite rationally (in a dictatorial sense, wanting to maintain their power and not be obliterated). It's all the generals in the military who have grown up with the propaganda, know little about the outside world and have total allegiance to their ideology.

      These generals would already have standing orders to retaliate should North Korea be attacked.

      --
      www.shortman.com.au - top shorted stocks on the ASX
    4. Re:A Drone strike solution by meerling · · Score: 1

      It was a faulty gas main. Honest... ;)

    5. Re: A Drone strike solution by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      "I wonder if starting a war between the US and China really is really such a promising perspective"

      What makes you think that China still cares about North Korea?

      A unified, prosperous Korea would represent an expanded market for Chinese stuff. Rotting corpses do not buy many iPhones.

    6. Re:A Drone strike solution by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      It sets a bad precedent.
      And the risk of retaliation is great.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    7. Re:A Drone strike solution by Anonymice · · Score: 1

      China have a big vested interest in North Korea not collapsing. If that happens, then they'll be facing 10s to 100s of thousands of refugees flooding into their already unstable border regions.

    8. Re:A Drone strike solution by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      ...and a single drone strike in NK could solve much of the world's conflict.

      In what possible way? How would killing the NK leadership affect conflict in Africa, Eastern Europe, Ukraine and any other place there is actual conflict. Apart from the Korean peninsula where all the conflict of the last 60 odd years has been bluster and rhetoric of the losing side locking down and pretending to themselves they won?

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    9. Re:A Drone strike solution by jandrese · · Score: 2

      Who is in a position to take over North Korea if Kim Jong Un dies? Blowing up this party convention will create a tremendous political vacuum in the country and you'll quickly discover who is the best connected and most ruthless of the remaining governmental leaders.

      It is seductive to think that you can assassinate a few "bad men" to solve the world's problems, but if you don't think about the fallout of your action you're more likely to make the situation worse. You transform an unfriendly country with a hateful leader into an outright angry country with an unpredictable and ruthless leader. Even if the leader was hated nobody likes some foreigners coming in and killing their countrymen.

      If you're planning to assassinate a political leader you had better have either a suitable successor prepared or a full scale invasion force ready to force the successor.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
  7. Awww, honey.... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Awww, baby, you know I'd love to marry you, but Dear Leader says we can't."

    Best. Excuse. EVER.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  8. News for nerds by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    We're facing a dangerous regime which is under the control of a guy who still uses a trackball mouse. How is that not news for nerds?

    1. Re:News for nerds by oobayly · · Score: 1

      I'm intrigued as to what that device actually is, and what it's supposed to be. I like the aerial attached to the cabinet too - I wonder if it actually connected to anything.

  9. Re:Double Standard by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    When North Korea cracks down on freedom, Slashdot rushes to their defense to try to debunk the story.

    That's because every story out of North Korea sounds like it was made up by someone on LSD.

  10. Re: This is the future that Republicans... by k2r · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not 100% sure your example is right: There may be a habitable planet with something resembling wheat somewhere in the andromeda galaxy - so there may be at least some risk for a fellow traveler with coeliac disease.
    At least a higher risk than finding left wing extremism like universal health care or clean drinking water in North Korea.

  11. I got one! by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 2

    > ...and a single drone strike in NK could solve much of the world's conflict.

    That might actually and forever solve all of the worlds conflicts.
    I wonder if starting a war between the US and China really is really such a promising perspective from your mothers basement, Mr. Warrior.
    If you are old enough I suggest you enlist in the army and fight and fall for some made up convincing reason in some desert instead of starting a career in politics cause further world wars.

    Woot! I got one!

    1. Re:I got one! by bug_hunter · · Score: 1

      As in you successfully trolled someone or successfully got someone angry? If either of those things happened, why are you happy about it?

      --
      It's turtles all the way down.
  12. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

    When you go far enough to the left or right you end up meeting the other side coming your way.

  13. Tubman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We are replacing a big-government democrat (Jackson) with a freedom-loving gun-totting republican (Tubman). How is that bad?

    1. Re:Tubman by meerling · · Score: 1

      Off topic much?

    2. Re:Tubman by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 1

      Because while Tubman may have been a war hero, she was never in government the way every other person on US currency has been for the past century or so. It's a break with tradition that goes a little too far. If you want a woman on the 20, why not one who's served in the federal government? Francis Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt are two names that immediately come to the mind of this far-right Republican.

    3. Re:Tubman by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Don't break his little mind! If you make him realise the only reason he's upset is his misogyny/racism - and not some feigned appreciation for tradition - he'll have to spend a few more minutes coming up with an excuse why he's not misogynistic/racist, and time is money!

  14. Minimize 'mishaps' by PPH · · Score: 1

    And they are still testing missiles. Some NORK Air Force general is due to step into Kim Jong-Un's position when one of these goes seriously off course. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  15. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You do know that it's the Democrats that want to take your stuff, dictate your pay, tell you what kind of car you're allowed to drive and when, while dictating what temperature you're allowed to set on your thermostat and what kinds of light bulbs you're allowed to buy, right? Difference is they do it For Your Own Good, of course.

  16. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    A well-regulated incandescence, being necessary for the illumination of a free state, the right of the people to use shitty light bulbs shall not be infringed!

  17. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the same vein, the Republicans want to take your stuff, remove worker's protections, tell you who you can have sex with and how, while dictating which deity you're allowed to pray to.

    In short - both parties want to take your stuff and control how you live. We are mice voting between black and white cats.

  18. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What, the No True Scotsman fallacy again? Seriously, when is the Left going to start owning their ideology's problems, instead of every single time using No True Scotsman to dodge responsibility again and again?

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  19. You know what's ironic by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While we're making fun of all the psychotic shit in North Korea, half of us are carrying cellphones assembled by slaves in factories with suicide nets installed under the windows.

    It makes me wonder who put together my Samsung!

    1. Re:You know what's ironic by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      It must suck to be the North Korean guy whose job it is to monitor this thread!

  20. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by jcr · · Score: 1

    Left and right are distractions. As Robert Heinlein once said, the only political division that matters is between those who crave power over others, and those who have no such desire. Hillary, Bernie, and Trump are all on the same team.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  21. Re:Quick by meerling · · Score: 1

    Several of them already posted.
    I'm tired of the political B.S. in this country. It's getting so annoying I can't even laugh at the b.s. in NK now. :(

  22. Re:Volators will be shot by meerling · · Score: 1

    This is under special circumstances, so the trial will be skipped and they'll just be found guilty and shot. They will also be jailed for 20 months for failing to show proper respect for authority by just laying there and rotting instead of standing to attention and answering politely when asked if they are still alive.

  23. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't need to "dodge responsibility" for North Korea any more than you need to do the same for Saudi Arabia. But any dunce can see that South Korea is way more liberal than North Korea.

  24. Re:Double Standard by meerling · · Score: 1

    Even Timothy Leary thinks the news coming out of North Korea is too trippy to be real man.....

  25. Sources by manu0601 · · Score: 2

    Information about NK may be true or false, who knows? How can we have reliable sources for such a closed country?

  26. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They're also more right-wing, in that they have a free economy while NK is Communist.

    But that's kind of the problem, no? The Left "knows what's best for us" and wants to run our lives (again). Never mind the fact that most of the Left's attempts at "creating equality" end up with a bunch of poor people ruled by dictators...

  27. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    Actually lactose is a molecule that's probably simple enough to be found in all galaxies. For example, North Korea is in the Miliky Way, and Un eats a lot of Swiss cheese.
    (As for gluten... I don't think they have that in NK.)

  28. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by wbr1 · · Score: 2, Informative
    You do know it's the right that wants to tell you what races are safe, what bathrooms you can use, who you can fuck, and what intoxicants are legal right?

    Both parties want control. Of you and as much else as they can. They only give you the illusion of choice in the matters that draw in the right voters for their goals.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  29. Uh... really? by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It sets a bad precedent. And the risk of retaliation is great.

    Um... retaliation from whom?

    And wasn't the precedent set when we tracked down and killed Saddam Hussein? (And his "most wanted" cronies, conveniently passed out to our soldiers as a deck of playing cards?)

    Or how about Manuel Noriega, who was the head of a foreign nation, and we sent in a seal team to capture him, kidnap him, and bring him to the US to stand trial?

    Or how about (with help from the UK) overthrowing the democratically elected leader of Iran in order to install the Shah, who was a brutal dictator who tortured people for the next 38 years?

    Or overthrowing the democratically-elected leader of Guatemala?

    And that's only in the last 50-ish years, and ones that I can remember on the spot.

    Bad precedent?

    The US does whatever the hell it wants, and doesn't care overly much about world opinion.

    1. Re:Uh... really? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Um... retaliation from whom?

      From North Korea.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Uh... really? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      From North Korea.

      The evidence suggests that they can't even get a missile to their neighbors, and we're not trading with them so they can't hide a nuke in a shipment of plastic toys. How do you propose that they would retaliate?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Uh... really? by mydn · · Score: 1

      The US does whatever the hell it wants, and doesn't care overly much about world opinion.

      And rightfully so. If you want it handled differently, clean it the fuck up yourself.
      The problem with a pre-emptive strike in NK is all of the artillery standing-by ready to fire into SK. We could easily steamroll NK, but it would cause massive casualties to our allies in SK.

    4. Re:Uh... really? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      They've gotten missiles to their neighbors before, and don't seem to have any trouble. In one case, they launched two missiles, one that landed on the north side of Japan and one that landed of the south side of Japan, presumably as a demonstration of their capabilities. The recent tests that have been failures have either been submarine based launches, or other experiments. It would not be surprising if they had ICBM + true submarine launch capabilities by the end of the decade.

      As for right now, they have enough artillery to pulverize Seoul, so that's millions of people dead almost immediately.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    5. Re:Uh... really? by cstdenis · · Score: 1

      Bomb Soul into the ground?

      --
      1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual.
    6. Re:Uh... really? by dave420 · · Score: 2

      Your choice of words in "clean it .. up" is strange, as each and every example given was of the US doing completely the opposite. Don't pretend the US is the world police - police are there to maintain peace and stability. The US is more like the world's mafia, doing what they want to maximize profits, regardless of the fallout, or the hypocrisy involved.

    7. Re:Uh... really? by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      Thank you. Wish I had mod points.

    8. Re:Uh... really? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Bomb Soul into the ground?

      Assuming they even can do that any more, why would they do that in retaliation for being bombed by us? And what makes you think that we couldn't bomb and drone strike them into oblivion before they could manage that? We probably know where the vast majority of their military assets are located. We've been spying on them since time was time, and we can do it from space.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:Uh... really? by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      By bombarding Seoul with the large amount of artillery they have? Seoul is actually close enough to the border, and NK has artillery deployed right up against the DMZ, that they could kill a lot of South Koreans pretty quickly.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  30. How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by mark-t · · Score: 1

    I don't even understand how that is logically possible.

    1. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by Megol · · Score: 1

      How it that so hard to understand: 1) declare that weddings aren't permitted 2) enforce the ban 3) profit

      This is about limiting groups of people and having control of movements of people. Nothing strange about it, just compare the people control used during e.g. a presidential visit.

    2. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      No you do not.... all you need is a preacher.

      And preachers who have been willing to break what they perceive to be a bad law is not a new thing.

      Considering the small actual number of genuinely required people to be in attendance at a wedding, it is improbable to the extreme that they would even necessarily get caught. Official documents can be post-dated.

    3. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      The problem is step 2. You can't enforce it because you don't necessarily have any way to know that a wedding might even be happening.

    4. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by hesiod · · Score: 1

      No you do not.... all you need is a preacher.

      I was curious about this, but you would be hard-pressed to find a "preacher" in North Korea, apparently. Weddings there are usually based on traditions that aren't like Western marriage rituals. There would be a lot of people around, and it would be difficult for it to be hidden away from someone who might turn you in.

      I'm not saying impossible, but difficult.

    5. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by nytes · · Score: 1

      Is marriage a religious thing in NK, or is it a government thing, requiring a civil servant like a justice of the peace?

      If the former (if religion is even allowed), I'm sure all ministers are registered and have permits to operate. Just tell them not to perform weddings (or else).

      If the later, then you just instruct all civil servants not to conduct weddings.

      --
      -- I have monkeys in my pants.
    6. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Marriage is most definitely a religious thing among Catholics, at least, and in countries where it is not allowed, Catholic assemblies are usually held privately, in people's homes. The leaders of these assemblies may be ordained by the Church, but are not generally registered with the government where that would impose restrictions on their ability to practice their religion. However, that does not diminish their ability to perform weddings. The wedding is simply not one that is recognized that would be recognized legally... that detail is just paperwork that can be conducted later.

    7. Re:How do you ban all weddings, exactly? by nytes · · Score: 1

      That's just it. The wedding wouldn't be legally recognized.

      Most likely, trying to put a wedding date on a legal form with a date in the prohibited range would invite scrutiny and a visit to a reeducation camp. They'd also demand to know who performed this "fake" wedding and make sure he never performed another.

      I think it would be worth most people's while to just wait out the ban.

      --
      -- I have monkeys in my pants.
  31. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The Left "knows what's best for us" and wants to run our lives

    Like the war on drugs? The war on immorality?

    Let he who is without blah blah blah.

  32. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 1

    It must be a cruel world out there for you...and I'm OK with that, though for the record, you can fuck who and what you like while being high as a kite, just don't talk don't confuse your hallucinations for divine revelations.

  33. Re: This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And there is a risk that everything you have heard about North Korea is wrong, that all information you have about it just is propaganda so that you won't see what real freedom is like.
    If you go to North Korea as a tourist, how do you know that you aren't led into a fake city setup in South Korea to make North Korea look like a dictatorship?

    The analogy still holds, Andromeda is gluten free enough.

  34. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What, the No True Scotsman fallacy again? Seriously, when is the Left going to start owning their ideology's problems, instead of every single time using No True Scotsman to dodge responsibility again and again?

    It isn't a True Scotsman if you can single out which ones are true before one points out the flaws.
    You can whine all you want about the horrors of socialism and parent can just point at the Nordic countries and claim "This is socialism done right, here is the True Scotsman"

    What country are you going to point at to show capitalism done right? Do you know one that haven't turned into cronyism where the rich are above the law? One where the free market actually exists and haven't been put out of order by oligopolies?

    Where is your True Scotsman?

  35. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nope. You're thinking of authoritarian. Left wing, by actual definition, refers to political groups favouring liberal, progressive or radical views or political reform. North Korea doesn't allow for "wings" per se, but it is firmly opposed to all those principles.

  36. Surprise? by GerryHattrick · · Score: 1

    Aren't the North Koreans merely doing explicitly what most countries partly-succeed in doing by social subterfuge?

  37. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

    You say it like Left is an ideology. It isn't. It's just designation of a split in particular parliament. Exact ideological leanings change with time and is different in different parliaments.

  38. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not really No True Scotsman. The Andromeda Galaxy *is* gluten free. That's not really the relevant part of North Korea though.

    North Korea is:

    - Totalitarian
    - Isolationist
    - Cult of personality for dear leader
    - Essentially a monarchy

    These are not left wing ideals. They aren't right wing ideals either. They show the limitations of the one-dimensional political axis.

    These things come to mind much more readily than stuff like their taxation system (I looked it up; officially they have 0 taxes but obviously in practice that's BS, still, no income taxes).

  39. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by GuB-42 · · Score: 4, Informative

    No they aren't leftists, they aren't rightists, they are a single party.
    Left-right originated in the French revolution and referred to where deputies preferred to sit in the assembly. Conservatives tended to group on the right side whereas revolutionaries grouped the left side, moderates were the center. Having a left-right distinction implies an assembly, or at least some diversity of opinion.
    There is no such thing in North Korea.

  40. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nope. You're thinking of authoritarian. Left wing, by actual definition, refers to political groups favouring liberal, progressive or radical views or political reform. North Korea doesn't allow for "wings" per se, but it is firmly opposed to all those principles.

    On what fucking planet can you have leftist policies without imposing them via authoritarian means? Or do you really think it's NOT authoritarian in any way to FORCE a devout Christian baker to make a cake for a gay marriage? How is it NOT authoritarian to FORCE 9-year-old girls to share a bathroom with a 35-year-old self-styled "trans" MAN WITH A PENIS

    Oh, no. That's not AUTHORITARIAN at all.

    Oh, right. Your planet is in the Andromeda galaxy.

  41. Re: This is the future that Republicans... by stealth_finger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And there is a risk that everything you have heard about North Korea is wrong, that all information you have about it just is propaganda so that you won't see what real freedom is like. If you go to North Korea as a tourist, how do you know that you aren't led into a fake city setup in South Korea to make North Korea look like a dictatorship?

    The analogy still holds, Andromeda is gluten free enough.

    If North Korea was even remotely free there would be more than one way in on a tourist trip that still makes the place look like shit. There would probably be North Koreans all over the place going on about how good it is back home. Also they wouldn't have a dead man as eternal president for ever.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  42. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    I went to Andromeda and there was gluten fucking everywhere!

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  43. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

    North Korean ideology is not "the left"'s ideology. And I think you have your fallacies mixed up.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  44. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Maritz · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Your obsession with "left" vs "right" and your inability to handle discontiguous concepts is preventing you from understanding things. I'd look into that.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  45. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by DigiShaman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There's actually two axis when it comes to American politics; at the very least. There's the typical Left vs Right in social ideologies that everyone knows about, and then there's another that cuts through the other axis; authoritarian vs anarchist.

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
  46. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 2

    North Korea is leftist in much the same way that the Andromeda Galaxy is gluten free.

    North Korea is absolutely the end result of extreme leftism. I'm guessing you think Cuba is right-wing also?

  47. News for Nerds? by Holi · · Score: 1

    This is the kind of thing that's covered by the Huffington Poser, not Slashdot.

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  48. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Holi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What is leftist about a tyrannical despot who only spends money on the military? No seriously, please explain how NK is the left's fault.

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  49. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Holi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, what planet are you from where you have ANY policies without imposing them via "authoritarian" means?. (I am guessing you are claiming that all laws are authoritarian)

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  50. Un bans? by BisuDagger · · Score: 1

    Kim Jong - "Un Bans All Weddings, Funerals And Freedom Of Movement In North Korea"? Well that was nice of him. And it's nice to know we are on a first name only basis too.

  51. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    its not a NTS fallacy.
    Kim isn't even on the left right spectrum.

    in describing kim the left-right axis isn't even the right frame of reference.
    that's the point that went sailing over your head.

    there is a difference between being a dictator and being a leftist.

    As a tight fisted dictator, Kim is best described by the anarchism-totalitarianism spectrum.
    this has nothing to do with leftists.

  52. You have a point but it's a bit more complicated by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 2

    I keep thinking how the US will drone strike wedding receptions on flimsy evidence, even assassinating our own citizens and their children for even *meeting* with an alleged terrorist

    ...and a single drone strike in NK could solve much of the world's conflict.

    Take one of the Chinese ambassadors aside, have a quiet word, get a secret "OK" from the leadership, and *BANG!*. No more fear, uncertainty, and doubt in South Korea or Japan.

    You are right, that this could be done. But the situation is a bit more complex.
    1) China is sincere when they say they want a nuclear free Korean peninsula, but they view all NK regime changes as bad for them with no possible good outcomes. They fear that once the peninsula is unified under a South Korean government that the US won't leave Korea and will, in fact, station US troops on China's borders. China also benefits from the current situation by, among other things, getting cut rate prices on North Korean rare earths that they in turn resell.
    2) It would probably take a nuclear strike to ensure that the leadership is killed en masse. The US is hesitant to use nukes and even then, there's no telling what the remaining NK military leadership would do. They might fight to the death.
    3) Seoul is unfortunately too close to the border and any surviving NK military units will probably launch devastating missile stirkes at Seoul, possibly including biological weapons. I have my doubts that NK has a rocket with a nuke on it they could possibly launch without plenty of advance detection by the US, but if I'm wrong, that would be very bad. A best case scenario for Seoul would be tens of thousands dead without any bio weapons or nukes involved.
    4) Nobody really wants to pay for reconstruction once the peninsula is unified. Cost estimates are staggeringly high. You think that George W's adventures in Iran and Afghanistan were expensive? Rebuilding NK might be multiple times more costly.

    Basically this is why the US doesn't take advantage of the situation to kill the leadership in one strike.

  53. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You do know that it's the Democrats that want to take your stuff, dictate your pay, tell you what kind of car you're allowed to drive and when, while dictating what temperature you're allowed to set on your thermostat and what kinds of light bulbs you're allowed to buy, right? Difference is they do it For Your Own Good, of course.

    Whereas the Republicans want to take the money from the non-rich, increase spending on anti-terrorism and military and the police state, while letting the corporations run your life, and creating a radical theocracy where any lifestyle choices not in agreement with fundamentalist christianity are illegal?

  54. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by butzwonker · · Score: 1

    Not at all, NK is not even communist, it's called Juche - military leadership with focus on self-reliance and the individual. In other words, another way of justifying a military dictatorship.

  55. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by butzwonker · · Score: 1

    I'm so tired of hearing such nonsense. Read some Rawls or at least some Wikipedia articles about political theories and traditions, instead of inventing your own Humpty-Dumpty language.

  56. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    So I can only choose between being unfree "for my own good" and unfree "for profit"?

    Well, then I choose those that at least PRETEND they give a fuck about me. Not to mention that if you're dealing with an oppressive regime, you sure want the one that is less efficient at it.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  57. Re:Double Standard by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    You misunderstand that cracking down on freedoms in NK is FUNNY as fuck. Think of it as the difference between your dad sending you to bed early and your little cousin crying "respect mah otoriteeeee!"

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  58. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by dave420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Stop making such ridiculous generalizations. I'm sure they sound all right and dandy to you, but to anyone with more than a passing grasp of critical thinking you are raising "I AM AN IDIOT" flags left, right and center.

  59. Re: This is the future that Republicans... by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    He's not dead, he's immortal, that's part of the conspiracy. The powers that be in the rest of the world just want you to think that the Dear Leader being immortal is impossible, but in reality they invented immortality many years ago, just like they invented the Internet and computers.

    (/s)

  60. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

    This. Authoritarian and Libertarian are on a whole different axis than Left Wing or Right Wing. You can be either R or L and be Authoritarian, or quite the opposite. You can plot anywhere on a 2 dimensional graph, it's not always along a one dimensional line.

    --

    Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
  61. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Shortguy881 · · Score: 1

    Ok, lets get this cleared up. North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship, which means it has state funded education through college and universal healthcare. It also has complete military and economic control over its population. Some of these ideas are comparable to the American left and right, but the analogy, one way or the other, doesn't hold much weight. Though, North Korea does stand as a good example on how not to implement certain policies.

    --
    Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
  62. When you wanna hang out, you gotta take her out by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

    cocaine.....

    Seriously, what's to stop this fruitcake nation-state autocrat from becoming hopelessly addicted to substances which

    1) make him feel poweful in the face of overwhleming odds, i.e. going up against the U.S.

    2) seriously and permanently shift his reasoning and perception facilities deep into the megalomaniac-omnipotent spectrum ?

    Answer- nothing and no one.

    Hopefully the people around him have an Easy button under their desks they can push before he waddles them into nuclear oblivion.

  63. once-in-a-generation party by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    I read this in a much too positive way... biggest one in 36 years?

    Sounds like a blast, way better than those missile tests! (pun intended :)

  64. The same old bit by axewolf · · Score: 1

    NORTH KOREA IS STUPID
    THEY ARE STU-PED

    BEING IN NORTH KOREA IS LIKE BEING IN TIME-OUT FOR NAUGHTY BABIES THAT DO EVERYTHING WRONG ITS NOT FAIR ITS NOT FFFAAAAIIIIRRRRRRR

    EVERYTHING THEY DO IS FUCKIN STUPID LOOK AT ALL THE FUCKIN SHIT THEY DO THAT FUCKIN SUCKS ASS-SHIT

    WHY DO I HAVE TO FUCKIN HEAR ABOUT THIS FUCKIN SHIT AND HAVE TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE PLACES I CAN THEORETICALLY GO AND NOT BE ALLOWED TO DO EVERYTHING THAT >>>>I WANT TO DO???? SOMEONE SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT FUCKIN BULLSHIT WHY DIDN'T WE WIN THE KOREAN WAR WE SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER ONE YEAH WE SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER ONE THAT WOULD BE COOL HEHEHEHEHE YEAH

    I think the definition of tourette's syndrome should be expanded to include the kind of compulsive self-centered illogical thinking that is pervasive in the western populations. Because if you render it a certain way, it's nothing but profanity. Profanity against the love of knowledge, of reason, of morality, of everything this society is supposedly built on since ancient times. Everything falls to the wayside in pursuit of deeper slavery.

  65. As prophesied by the Great Bobby D by KC0A · · Score: 1

    "If you want to get married, do it now. Tomorrow all activity will cease..."

  66. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

    Not at all, NK is not even communist, it's called Juche - military leadership with focus on self-reliance and the individual. In other words, another way of justifying a military dictatorship.

    Oh, give me a break. The state owns all means of production - it's communism. Like Cuba.

  67. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Do+You+Smell+That · · Score: 1

    North Korea is leftist in much the same way that the Andromeda Galaxy is gluten free.

    ...that explains the terrible bagels we got there...

    --
    I'm not good at making signatures...
  68. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by chilvence · · Score: 1

    There needs to be another fallacy added to the list of fallacies that everybody repeats like vomit. Like.. I don't know, the "Rebuttal using tired trope fallacy fallacy" . It makes no fucking sense, but we might have a chance of seeing some original thought on display. Or would people just end up re-gurgitating "ah, I see you used the rebuttal using tired trope fallacy fallacy fallacy to support your rebuttal" ad infinitum. Ah fuck you slashdot, see you never again you smug fucking fuckfaces.

  69. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by jcr · · Score: 1

    You obviously have not looked into Bernie's history.

    Yes I have, snowflake, but you apparently haven't. That geriatric commie rat bastard is on the record praising the likes of Castro and Chavez.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  70. Re: This is the future that Republicans... by k2r · · Score: 1

    > If you go to North Korea as a tourist, how do you know that you aren't led into a fake city setup in South Korea to make North Korea look like a dictatorship?

    You mean the Real North Korea(tm) is actually in Bielefeld?

  71. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    https://www.quora.com/Is-there...

    So, since you seem to think NK is not Left, please point out where on the chart at the bottom of the first answer NK belongs instead.

    Perhaps you are the one who doesn't understand that there is a left and right, and authoritarian and libertarian dimensions to the political spectrum. NK is Authoritarian Left.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  72. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    North Korea is:

    - provides a level of living to all its citizens (socialism/communism)
    - has socialized medicine
    - is not capitalist.

    North Korea is a Authoritarian Left state...just like China used to be, and Russia used to be. Just because you seem to think Authoritarian is the opposite of Left, doesn't make it true, as Authoritarian is the opposite of Libertarian. Right is opposite Left.

    https://www.quora.com/Is-there...

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  73. Re:This is the future that Republicans... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    Um, Libertarians are a branch of the Republican Party. The TEA party is a Libertarian movement.

    https://www.quora.com/Is-there...

    Look at the chart on the bottom of the first answer, Libertarians can be right or left, but are primarily right.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?