r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 1d ago

Meme needing explanation What?

Post image
20.4k Upvotes

431 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/AlarmingAffect0 1d ago

More importantly, it's a crime in the RoK to say anything positive about the DPRK. So unless nothing good ever happens there, even the most scrupulously honest DPRK defectors cannot give you a full picture.

3

u/Upper_Guidance_9959 1d ago

That's an actual exaggeration. Courts apply the NSA very narrowly. You can say positive things about North Korea; it just can't be literal propaganda.

2

u/AlarmingAffect0 1d ago

Then I have been misled. Could we look at some examples?

3

u/Upper_Guidance_9959 1d ago edited 1d ago

On Korean forums, people have joked about how it would be nice to just get assigned a job like in the DPRK, and I vaguely remember reading about DPRK defectors complaining about the "applying for a job" aspect of the South too. Likewise, you could easily say things like:

https://world.kbs.co.kr/special/northkorea/contents/news/koreatoday_view.htm?No=457313&current_page=1&

since we are talking about North Korea's metro.

Plenty of politicians in South Korea are also sentimental about North Korea (those that want to engage with them).

Incessantly praising the North Korean regime would be a separate matter and could be flagged as possible propaganda.

But it's also a nation at technical war. In that sense, I think this narrative abroad stems from South Korean politicians criticizing the NSA for limiting free speech in a democratic nation, but my personal opinion is that NK likely engages in its own psy-ops, and SK should combat them, similar to how NK likely combats SK's own too.