Article: A Nation of Racist Dwarfs - Hitchens

[Solaris]

A Nation of Racist Dwarfs
Kim Jong-il's regime is even weirder and more despicable than you thought.

Visiting North Korea some years ago, I was lucky to have a fairly genial "minder" whom I'll call Mr. Chae. He guided me patiently around the ruined and starving country, explaining things away by means of a sort of denial mechanism and never seeming to lose interest in the gargantuan monuments to the world's most hysterical and operatic leader-cult. One evening, as we tried to dine on some gristly bits of duck, he mentioned yet another reason why the day should not long be postponed when the whole peninsula was united under the beaming rule of the Dear Leader. The people of South Korea, he pointed out, were becoming mongrelized. They wedded foreigners—even black American soldiers, or so he'd heard to his evident disgust—and were losing their purity and distinction. Not for Mr. Chae the charm of the ethnic mosaic, but rather a rigid and unpolluted uniformity.

I was struck at the time by how matter-of-factly he said this, as if he took it for granted that I would find it uncontroversial. And I did briefly wonder whether this form of totalitarianism, too (because nothing is more "total" than racist nationalism), was part of the pitch made to its subjects by the North Korean state. But I was preoccupied, as are most of the country's few visitors, by the more imposing and exotic forms of totalitarianism on offer: by the giant mausoleums and parades that seemed to fuse classical Stalinism with a contorted form of the deferential, patriarchal Confucian ethos.

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Discuss

 

[Shyam]

Sounds like a nation Numbers wants. Except for the racism, and the communism.

 

[Shakermaker]

Scary article.

a North Korean is on average six inches shorter than a South Korean.

That's just criminal.

 

[The Monkey]

Hitchens is a plonker.

 

[Mr Stabby]

Up till now I've heard only great things about North Korea, I'm shocked.

 

[Planetary]

Since there's a grand total of zero black people in North Korea, I'm not surprised.

Of course, thousands escape the place each year. Even prison camp guards! So they're certainly not all as brainwashed as Hitchens thinks. I heard about a fisherman who could get South Korean soaps on his radio when at sea (beyond the jamming), and when they mentioned lack of parking space, he pretty much made up his mind what to do.
There's some great documentaries about the place: hidden camera footage, interviews with refugees etc. They're worth a watching for sure.

 

[15357]

Did you know that the commies show footage of protests and riots in S.K.? One defector commented as such: "I came to the South after watching how the bystanders looked so happy and well-fed."

And yes, those damn foreigners stealing our women.

 

[Planetary]

If you've visited the DMZ, can you confirm the bit about the guards' height? I find that bit hardest to believe of all, that the entire country has no soldiers of average stature? Surely he was exaggerating?

 

[Polaris]

Hitchens is excellent as usual. Great article.
My friend was in North Korea and he returned quite scared, that country is unbelievable, in comparsion, City 17 looks like a paradise .

If you've visited the DMZ, can you confirm the bit about the guards' height? I find that bit hardest to believe of all, that the entire country has no soldiers of average stature? Surely he was exaggerating?

Both sides have the biggest and toughest troops in the DMZ.

 

[<RJMC>]

all this are just lies by the evil capitalists of doom

go by yourself and open your mind

*sponsored by democratic republic of korea and olliver stone*

 

[15357]

If you've visited the DMZ, can you confirm the bit about the guards' height? I find that bit hardest to believe of all, that the entire country has no soldiers of average stature? Surely he was exaggerating?

They put out the tallest soldiers they can in the JSA (170 ~ 185cm). Other places have no man's lands nearly 10 kilometers apart and those that do get close enough to see each other are frontline infantry.

 

[Shyam]

They put out the tallest soldiers they can in the JSA (170 ~ 185cm). Other places have no man's lands nearly 10 kilometers apart and those that do get close enough to see each other are frontline infantry.

But their penises are still tiny though. It is common knowledge that American penis very big, Asian penis so small.

 

[15357]

But their penises are still tiny though. It is common knowledge that American penis very big, Asian penis so small.

Yeah, well, you need your big penis to **** sheep.


[Alternative Replies]

Yeah, that's because American women have loose vaginae from all the devilish orgies you attend, immoral western demon!


Yeah, such a shame that they don't actually get to use it on real women.


Yeah, and with your extremely useful penises you have won in Afghanistan!


Yeah.


*goes and cries in corner*


NO YOU


[Carriage Return][EOM]

 

[Planetary]

So apparently they let that missionary dude who crossed over walk free.
Just what is going on in there?