
How I Escaped North Korea - Lightning
http://parkjiwoo.kinja.com/how-i-escaped-north-korea-479759525
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zapdrive
As touching as the story may be, it is not that different from billions of
other children who are starving right now, all over India, China and African
continent. I find it amusing that how we Americans love to bash North Korea
and Iran.

Does anyone know, that the Indian Government (under pressure from the World
Bank to reduce poverty) just lowered the poverty line? According to the new
poverty line, anyone who makes more than about 0.50 USD is not poor. By
lowering the poverty line, they brought down the number of poor people in
India from 42% to 35%. 66% of people in India live on less than 2 USD per day,
in conditions similar to those in which the author lived. And India in not
under any sanctions, or trade embargoes.

~~~
coldtea
> _As touching as the story may be, it is not that different from billions of
> other children who are starving right now, all over India, China and African
> continent. I find it amusing that how we Americans love to bash North Korea
> and Iran._

Well, North Korea is "communist" and Iran has oil resources and threatens some
of our allies in the area.

If it was a starving population, with a regime that's just as oppressive or
even more, but are US allies and offer their natural resources for a pittance,
then not only would the US would like them, but they would also get guns and
support.

Like all those dictatorships in Latin America. Or Saudi Arabia. Etc...

~~~
zapdrive
This is exactly the point I am trying to make, that other people here are not
understanding.

When we went into Iraq, we had three reasons: 1) It has weapons of mass
destruction. 2) It has ties with terrorist organisations (Al Qaeda), and 3)
It's a dictatorship. Well, the first 2 turned out to be wrong. But, at the
exact same moment in time, all 3 were relevant to Pakistan. 1) It had proven
nuclear weapons, 2) It had proven terrorist training camps, and links to Al
Qaeda (Where did we find Osama?) and 3) It was under dictatorship.

So, why Iraq and not Pakistan?

~~~
torkins
The point you made was that India et al are bad too, so why are we judgmental
Westerners always harping on North Korea.

North Korea is a grotesque among nations, reminding the Western observer more
of dystopian, cautionary literature more than a nation-state in the modern
era. It has a theocracy founded on a religion invented by its reigning family,
it has profound poverty, it is militant and provocative in a way that
overshadows even Iran. Especially recently this is the case, with North Korea
making nuclear threats against its neighbor and the United States which we
know are backed up with at least some know-how. It engages in such bizarro
control measures to keep its population as isolated as possible from the rest
of the world.

It couldn't be more clear to most why it is a country of focus for the
international community.

~~~
coldtea
> _it is militant and provocative in a way that overshadows even Iran._

"Overshadows even Iran"?

Sounds like Iran did some very militant and provocative things, to be singled
out as the second most offensive country after NK.

What exactly were those?

Iran, with the exception of the Iran-Iraq war (which Iraq started, with Saddam
supported by the US at the time), merely made some idle threats to neighbors
it has a beef with.

To contrast, the US has been involved directly in around 10 wars where it has
no place --thousands of miles away from home-- in the last 30 years. And lots
of proxy wars and interventions. Including toppling the legitimate, democratic
at the time, government of Iran, to install the dictatorship of the Shah.

So, people in glass houses et al...

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anxx
Touching story, but it leaves out the part that most intrigues me: how this
person made it to the US. Who would give this person a visa? Illegal resident
of China whose background you can't verify. Having been through the US visa
application process, I am genuinely baffled that she was given a visa.

~~~
fixxer
I've been addicted to these documentaries on Netflix lately, but they seem to
glance over those precious details.

~~~
anxx
This is a general pet peeve of mine - I hate it when people present "rags to
riches" or "prison to freedom" stories without giving a real sense of the
"how" part. To me that is where the real story and the real character lies.
Too often stories focus on the pain and suffering alone and the stories feel
very incomplete to me. That is also why I kike reading biographies or
autobiographies, because there finally the focus shifts from "what" to "how".

update: this was a general comment, not specific to this article where the
writer might need to protect her family and thus have good reason not to go
into details.

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hotshothenry
I know it's cliche, but it definitely puts things in perspective and makes me
realize how fortunate I am to have the life I have

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EternalFury
Good job on finding your way to a better life. Remember those you left behind
and work towards setting them free.

As for the other comments here, there is no doubt there are many other
countries all around the world that suffer poverty under the rule of
totalitarian regimes. Many of them are supported or ignored depending on
whether they can afford to buy stuff (mostly weapons) from leading powers. The
first-hand report in this article does nothing to deny or highlight that
simple fact. So, take it as the personal account that it truly is, and nothing
else.

