Have you read Nineteen Eighty-Four? Or seen the amazing movie? They have a five minute period designated towards rage in North Korea; Their government (much like the ministry of love in the novel) creates a situation in which they cause the citizens to practically foam at the mouth to exploit their emotions. South Korea is not much of a country either, but it is by far the lesser of the two evils. Of course you hear reports on how glorious it is; There are megaphones playing military music and catchy slogans on a loop, forever. In Nineteen Eighty Four, it raises the question; "If every person in the world were truly to think that 2 and 2 makes 5, does it?" If any single North Korean thinks that his situation is degrading even for a dog, but every other Korean is constantly yapping about how great their ideology is, then they will just keep their emotion in. The reason there is no coup de etat is because of the 5 minutes of rage; If it werent for that, it would build up and the people would topple their totalitarian government. In a way, the country is genius for how well it controls its people.

Prove me wrong though; Give me any phone number in North Korea that doesnt belong to a government agency. They dont even have a way to communicate.

Of course that i've read and seen 1984.. but to be honest.. are you sure that all the information coming from the DPRK are impartial?
All of them are filtered by the south korean media, as it happened for years and years during the Cold war toward the socialist countries..
I don't deny that the DPRK is actually a dictatorship.. as every socialist country is governed by a single party with a single politburò..
The situation of the DPRK now is more or less the same of the USSR during the years 20-30... total isolation from the rest of the world: that caused at first a famine for natural disasters (in both the countries) then inner purges, but with the instabilty of the western economy both the countries experience an improvement of the economy and the lifestyle.. the first point it's because it's a centralized economy that doesn't suffer for internatioanl crisis. (look what happened during the crisis '20, the USRR was the only country that recorded an improvement, and secondary because a socialist country focus much efforts on free education and health, and an hause and work for every citizen..
Are you sure that all the bile from the South Korean does not come out from pragmatic necessity as "keep your population focues on an external enemy" or "gather the electorate to vote you "making them believe they are in danger".
From the '90 years according to them the DPRK situation is only worse, despite the building of "Special zones" with opening of industries and business centers for Chinese and South Korean too..
And does never count the supposed "escaped" from DPRK that claim every day the death or disappearence of politics or even athlets.. (as the world cup's team of the England 1966, later proved false with a western documentary).

I was not a supporter of the DPRK some years ago, but then i've spoken with Italians that visited the country, also the countryside and the little cities.
It's not a "paradise" and still face economic problems, but not as a "living hell".. i've visited Cuba (where people with some difficulties go on..) and a guy that visited both said that actually the DPRK is more livable then Cuba....

Like I said, both Koreas are corrupt. Most if not all countries are corrupt. I am sure I could manage living in Oceania for a day or so, but I would never think of it for an actual life. Places in North Korea are fine, but their government can turn any place it wishes into a living hell at any time. As for the Italians you spoke with who visited the country, did they go with a tour guide? If so, then its naatural to think that they were only shown the best parts of the country. I know the situation is exaggerated, but it is still a horrible place to live. I ihave seen foottage from ia helicopter flight over a North Korean city. There are huge skyscrapers, anod it looks like New York, but when you look closely or zoom in, there is no electricity. Homeless people are living in the tall buildings, surviving off alcohol stoves, no electricity, and no keas of communication. Definately they are isolated to some degree by Western countries, but the fact that they place strict laws against owning a radio that wasnt made by their government shows that they are doing a great job of isolating themselves. Ive seen the insides of a North Korean radio, and the tuning capacitor that is used to switch through channels is made so that it cant pick up anything that isnt North Korean.

Um.. are you sure to be correct to blame NK for something called "propaganda"? i could reply that a country as the US live in a state of perpetual militaritic propaganda.. wich include (for example) the spreading of militaristic shooter games funded by the branches of the army.
There are different kinds of way to visit the DPRK, i've contacted both the ones that go with tours and both a secondary site that provide business's travels, people that don't go there to see museums and cleaned streets..
Are you sure that who made that videos simply doesn't show an unfinished building? Some anti-dprk video showed ...
And speaking about internet.. there are huge exemples.. some confronted satellite pics of NK and SK showing the South all green and the North "brown/gray" for
supposed pollution of earth and deforestation: but it's simply due for the more mountains in north and a coniferous vegetation.
Another exemple it's the electricity, with satellite-photos showing "all dark" in north: simply photomanipulation mixed with the fact that the electricity in North it's adjusted for saving it..
And for their "isolation" well.. if having open radio allow that anti-comm. hysteria as with"Radio Free Asia".. they have all my support.
As i said, i wasn't a supporter of DPRK some years ago.. it was just breaking the veil of distortion that i've began to understand a little more of that country..
(and understand a bit more of the supposed "free" south korea, that arrests and imprisons every opposing voice, and it's still under direct military US occupation...)

I think its best to just not to talk about politics. I will admit I am a little extreme in my views, but we both are, and I bet if we were put in the same room and argued politics we would tear eachother apart like cats! As the old saying goes: "There are two things you dont talk with friends, religion and politics." Ive lost too many friends because of my crazy views.

I think we can both agree that killing anyone in an act of war like that is wrong, reguardless of the circumstances, unless they were being shot at and provoked.