Odds are that the Kims and probably a number of people at the top would be worse-off if things changed.
I mean, when you compare North Korea to the poorer parts of the periphery that capitulated to neoliberal capital - Haiti, Liberia, the former Yugoslavian states, Argentina right now, the Philippines, Lebanon or Iraq or Gaza - even the lay resident is getting out reasonably well off. They aren’t living in an active war zone, they’ve got a backwards but still functional economy, and they’re even making inroads on foreign trade at long last.
The xenophobic siege mentality of the Kims appears to have spared them a far worse fate, just by keeping the country isolated from shit like COVID and The War on Terror. They never got the windfall of the 20th century industrial economy, but they also didn’t get systematically wiped out like American Natives or Black Angolans or Rohingya Muslims.
Most of those are some wild comparisons. With all due respect, but the average North Korean “lay resident” is most def not “reasonably well off” compared to their counterpart in most of the places you listed (if that is indeed what you’re claiming). Obviously Gaza is a hellhole right now, but saying that North Koreans are better off than people in Argentina, Croatia, Albania, or even Haiti, is just pure nonsense. And there is no active war zone in the Western Balkans while North and South Korea are still technically at war. The historical comparison to colonized and oppressed peoples also seems arbitrary and illogical.
the average North Korean “lay resident” is most def not “reasonably well off” compared to their counterpart in most of the places you listed
Just the fact that they’ve got basic utilities - electricity, running water, paved roads, public health clinics - puts them head and shoulders above the undeveloped third world.
And there is no active war zone in the Western Balkans while North and South Korea are still technically at war.
Koreans haven’t exchanged fire in over 70 years. Albanian insurgents revolted in Macedonia as recently as 2001. And extremist violence at the border persists to this day
The historical comparison to colonized and oppressed peoples also seems arbitrary and illogical.
Only if you aren’t familiar with your history. The crack up of the Korean peninsula follows a deliberate Strategy of Tension that Cold War (and colonial before that) governments employed to suppress large restive populations for centuries.
Of course they have basic utilities in the Balkans. They most definitely have access to the same basic utilities we are used to in the EU and the US. Newsflash - the Western Balkans are no longer part of the “undeveloped third world”. Contrary to what you say, “extremist violence” at the borders between these countries is extremely rare and border crossings are entirely peaceful 99.999% of the time. We can talk about border scuffles between Kosovo and Serbia, or inter-ethnic tensions throughout the region, but even that is nothing compared to the level of militarization and animosity at the 38th parallel.
I should know - I’ve travelled to every single Balkan country this past year, including Kosovo and Montenegro, as part of a border police exchange program, and enjoyed my stay at all of them.
The two Koreas haven’t exhanged fire in over 70 years? Go read the list of border incidents on Wikipedia and tell me again how they haven’t exhanged fire. Just this tear alone there has been artillery shelling in the border zone. For god sake, one country is actively testing nuclear ICBMs over the skies of the other one, and you want to compare that to the Western Balkans?! Ridiculous.
At this point I’m convinced you’ve never travelled to or studied the history and national policies of the countries you’re talking about. In other words - you’re quite obviously talking out of your arse.
The isolation may have delayed the impact of covid, but they were hit hard with it when it did get in. They cut off food imports as part of this effort and people were starving. Kim turned down vaccine offers on a couple of occasions, though they may have gotten the Russian vaccine.
I mean, when you compare North Korea to the poorer parts of the periphery that capitulated to neoliberal capital - Haiti, Liberia, the former Yugoslavian states, Argentina right now, the Philippines, Lebanon or Iraq or Gaza - even the lay resident is getting out reasonably well off. They aren’t living in an active war zone, they’ve got a backwards but still functional economy, and they’re even making inroads on foreign trade at long last.
The xenophobic siege mentality of the Kims appears to have spared them a far worse fate, just by keeping the country isolated from shit like COVID and The War on Terror. They never got the windfall of the 20th century industrial economy, but they also didn’t get systematically wiped out like American Natives or Black Angolans or Rohingya Muslims.
Most of those are some wild comparisons. With all due respect, but the average North Korean “lay resident” is most def not “reasonably well off” compared to their counterpart in most of the places you listed (if that is indeed what you’re claiming). Obviously Gaza is a hellhole right now, but saying that North Koreans are better off than people in Argentina, Croatia, Albania, or even Haiti, is just pure nonsense. And there is no active war zone in the Western Balkans while North and South Korea are still technically at war. The historical comparison to colonized and oppressed peoples also seems arbitrary and illogical.
Just the fact that they’ve got basic utilities - electricity, running water, paved roads, public health clinics - puts them head and shoulders above the undeveloped third world.
Koreans haven’t exchanged fire in over 70 years. Albanian insurgents revolted in Macedonia as recently as 2001. And extremist violence at the border persists to this day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodo_League_massacre
Only if you aren’t familiar with your history. The crack up of the Korean peninsula follows a deliberate Strategy of Tension that Cold War (and colonial before that) governments employed to suppress large restive populations for centuries.
My dude, what are you even saying.
Of course they have basic utilities in the Balkans. They most definitely have access to the same basic utilities we are used to in the EU and the US. Newsflash - the Western Balkans are no longer part of the “undeveloped third world”. Contrary to what you say, “extremist violence” at the borders between these countries is extremely rare and border crossings are entirely peaceful 99.999% of the time. We can talk about border scuffles between Kosovo and Serbia, or inter-ethnic tensions throughout the region, but even that is nothing compared to the level of militarization and animosity at the 38th parallel.
I should know - I’ve travelled to every single Balkan country this past year, including Kosovo and Montenegro, as part of a border police exchange program, and enjoyed my stay at all of them.
The two Koreas haven’t exhanged fire in over 70 years? Go read the list of border incidents on Wikipedia and tell me again how they haven’t exhanged fire. Just this tear alone there has been artillery shelling in the border zone. For god sake, one country is actively testing nuclear ICBMs over the skies of the other one, and you want to compare that to the Western Balkans?! Ridiculous.
At this point I’m convinced you’ve never travelled to or studied the history and national policies of the countries you’re talking about. In other words - you’re quite obviously talking out of your arse.
The isolation may have delayed the impact of covid, but they were hit hard with it when it did get in. They cut off food imports as part of this effort and people were starving. Kim turned down vaccine offers on a couple of occasions, though they may have gotten the Russian vaccine.